Heads above the rest? No. Below.

April 12, 2013 9:44 PM

We all know that people messed around with photos long before there was Photoshop. But you might not have realized how crazy the Victorians were about headless portraits. They literally lost their heads over this trend. Check it out.
posted by flapjax at midnite (25 comments total)

Looks like a 4-chan meme, before there ever was a 4-chan.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:46 PM on April 12, 2013

Ahead of their time.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:47 PM on April 12, 2013 [1 favorite]

Quite a professional job, if I do say so myself.
posted by cosmic.osmo at 9:52 PM on April 12, 2013 [1 favorite]

Terry Gilliam, anybody?
posted by salishsea at 10:32 PM on April 12, 2013 [1 favorite]

"Off with their heads!”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
posted by SteelDancin at 10:36 PM on April 12, 2013

They literally lost their heads over this trend.

.
posted by Drinky Die at 10:55 PM on April 12, 2013 [4 favorites]

Capital post!
posted by Segundus at 11:10 PM on April 12, 2013

More like DEcapital, amirite?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 11:46 PM on April 12, 2013

They should have combined this with the dead baby pictures and the invisible mother pictures.
posted by pracowity at 12:08 AM on April 13, 2013

They literally lost their heads? So... These aren't fake? Ew!
posted by Decani at 12:26 AM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]

They literally lost their heads?

Yeah, hah, before posting, I thought for a second "should I quote the linked copy, even though they're misusing the English language?", but then I thought "yeah, why not, let's see who'd drop in to the thread call 'em on it!" And lo and behold, our darling Decani is here! OMG!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:43 AM on April 13, 2013

Plates of beans.
posted by Segundus at 1:09 AM on April 13, 2013

Brain drain.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 1:13 AM on April 13, 2013

Hedoffistic.
posted by panaceanot at 1:41 AM on April 13, 2013

Ron?
posted by ersatz at 3:48 AM on April 13, 2013

These are interesting in light of the way that era is usually portrayed. I mean, I know people had fun - there's whimsical art and all manner of literature. Perhaps it's that most people don't smile in Olde Tyme photographs. The look on the face in the second-to-last photo is quite hilarious - all the more so due to the era it's from.
posted by notsnot at 4:24 AM on April 13, 2013

Off to record a cover of this, so I can use one as the sleeve.
posted by unSane at 5:12 AM on April 13, 2013

This looks shopped. I can tell from the knife marks, the red ink, and having seen a lot of shops in my tyme.
posted by Nelson at 7:25 AM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]

This is fake, right?
posted by gjc at 8:03 AM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]

The one with the woman's body in the black dress, neck stump showing, is slightly more impressive. I'm guessing they either fabricated a dummy and posed next to it, or painstakingly painted in the stump.
posted by acb at 8:23 AM on April 13, 2013

Quite a professional job, if I do say so myself.

I'd assumed that someone's child got hold of that photo at some point and added to it with crayon. Maybe I was wrong.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 8:28 AM on April 13, 2013

This has gotta be fake.
posted by windykites at 8:51 AM on April 13, 2013

Back then it was known as 'Photoshoppe'.
posted by mazola at 9:54 AM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]

This is fake, right?

This has gotta be fake.

I can tell from the pixels.
posted by FatherDagon at 10:03 AM on April 13, 2013

Yeah, hah, before posting, I thought for a second "should I quote the linked copy, even though they're misusing the English language?", but then I thought "yeah, why not, let's see who'd drop in to the thread call 'em on it!" And lo and behold, our darling Decani is here! OMG!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:43 AM on April 13


Drinky Die got there first. Only more subtly. :-)
posted by Decani at 10:50 AM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]