Let's just Hide the Mother under a Blanket!

Back in the day. And I do mean way back in the day...did you know it was popular to photograph small children while sitting on their mother's lap...while the mom was completely covered by a blanket?


Then later the lumpy Mom would be hidden further by a mat before the picture was placed in a frame.

So what did they tell the children? 
"Don't worry, Mommy's still here with you but we don't want her in the picture so we're covering her up." 


And just why did they not want Mom in the picture?


 This one is so well done, you can hardly tell!


 Perhaps they had a few hidden Dads back then too?



Oh yes, let's just stick Mom behind the drapes. 
Oh my, photography has changed through the years.

19 comments:

the Rich girl said...

I think those are the creepiest photos I have ever seen.

I, too, would really like to know the thinking behind these pictures.

Fisher Family Fun said...

Those are a bit creepy but not as creepy as the death portraits they use to take at that time. Odd to look at pictures and then someone tells you this portrait was taken a few hours after they died. CREEPY!!

Anonymous said...

On what planet was this?
darlene

Anonymous said...

OK, here's my guess: The people had to stay very still for a long time to get photographed back then. If they JUST wanted their kids in the pic, they needed to help them stay still (especially the babies!) by holding them or being able to grab them if necessary?
darlene

Grandma Honey said...

When I first saw these pictures that's exactly what I thought...creepy. But after looking at them for a few days I just see them as so odd. I know it took a very long time back then to take a simple picture so perhaps there was no way they could get kids to be still that long without a Mom right there with them. But I just don't get what they had against the Mom's face being in the picture

Susan Anderson said...

That is completely hilarious. What the heck were they thinking???

=D

Connie said...

I think they're hilarious...and weird. Are these photos of your relatives?

Rebecca said...

I thought this was so weird.....but then a memory came to me. I took my oldest son, 32 years ago to get his picture done at J. C Penney's, they had a "traveling photographer" that came every now and then to do photos at the store. He was a tiny baby and they had me hiding behind a blanket draped with the blanket, holding him up. Weird, I had forgotten about that!!!!

Darlene said...

Wow! This is just crazy!! Wherever did you get those pictures? It is hard to believe that they did that. Would it have been so awful just to have mother in the picture.

Eileen said...

I've never heard or seen this before, how interesting. My Aunt Marion was just here today and I wish I had read this before her visit because I'd like to ask her if she remembers this practice (Aunt Marion is 95!). I'll have to remember to ask her next time we visit.

Love and Prayers,
Eileen
PS ~ Yes! I do have a very heavy New York (Brooklyn/Queens) accent! In fact I was just working on a post about how I'd love to lose it! But from everything I've read that's a lot of work! I'll need a speech therapist for 'accent reduction'!

Becky Jane said...

I'm laughing so hard I can't stand it...where did you find these! I think you post should win the Funniest Post Award!

Karen Mortensen said...

Those pictures are something else. My sister-in-law actually had to do that once. (Amy, not Robin)

McKenna Heasley said...

I will be honest, sometimes I don't think I would mind doing this in pictures! I'm not the most photogenic and I always want pictures of Grant!

Grandma Honey said...

You aren't photogenic McKenna? Are you kidding me?? You are always beautiful. We are not covering you with a blanket!

Ammy said...

This made me laugh SO hard....that is crazy!

Mary said...

I have a bunch of old photos circa 1850-1910 or thereabouts. Now I'm going to have to go back and see if any of the children's pictures have suspiciously lumpy blankets behind them!!

Scrapally said...

That is very curious indeed. I can't imagine why they would do it...I will have to talk to someone "old" and see what they know about it...lol. Thanks for sharing! you always find the most interesting things to blog about!

Mar~ said...

This is so strange! It seems that women were really not revered the way they should have been.
And I read through the comments, I think McKenna is DARLING!! She should always be in photos with her sweet little Grant! (And McKay too!)

Grandmotherfairy said...

Those made me laugh out loud....too funny.

Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...