Before you were able to take photos on your phone, people would only snap pictures of very special events, although it seems that we all ended up with the same kinds of photos anyway.
One last photo before the bell
There was always one photo of a child on the front step of the house, wearing clothes that looked clearly new and carrying a backpack that was half the child’s size. Yes, it was the first day of school photo.
Taking it was a kind of family ritual, and parents would usually snap a picture before leaving home. They did it while everyone was still clean and vaguely cheerful. It’s funny, really, because the photo had to be taken either on the porch or the front steps. There was no other place for it.
A yearly meeting with Santa
The picture with Santa was one of those photos that came with some emotional uncertainty. You might be grinning, or you might look terrified, but either way, somebody paid for the photograph. It was the norm to get a picture taken with a department-store Santa.
These sorts of photos existed well into the 1990s. Having a photo taken while you were sitting on Santa’s lap became a regular December routine for many families, although the question of whether the child actually enjoyed it was something else.
Caught halfway through the wish
The thing with birthday cake photos was that they were never taken after things had calmed down. No, someone always took the shot when the candles were lit and the birthday kid had their cheeks puffed out. Everybody would lean awkwardly into frame.Â
Some people had their photos taken at a party, and others had theirs simply taken at home. But the photo was getting taken, that’s for sure. There was often an adult standing nearby saying, ‘Wait, wait, don’t blow yet,’ and taking too long. That was annoying.
The bath somehow required a camera
Nobody really questioned it at the time, but for some reason, bath time was a photographic event. There was always a photo with a baby covered in bubbles and wet hair stuck to their forehead. It’s not even a recent trend, either.
No, parents took photos of babies during baths long before digital cameras were even a thing. There are photos from the 1930s showing the exact same thing. It wasn’t a milestone. Instead, it was something just so ordinary, and maybe that’s why people wanted to save it forever.
Dinner ended up everywhere
There was something about high chairs that made them produce some spectacular messes. But parents wouldn’t always clean them up straight away. They’d get out the camera to take a picture of the toddler in the high chair looking absolutely wild.
They might have mashed potatoes in their hair and cake on both cheeks, but that didn’t matter. It was the sheer chaos of it all that made for a good photo, much better than one of a baby eating peacefully. That would be boring.
Everybody gathered around the tree
There was something you could guarantee would happen every December. Someone would make you take a photo with the Christmas tree. It would happen before you ripped the presents open, and all the children in the family would line up beside the tree for a relatively organized picture.Â
There were a few families that demanded the kids dress nicely, but there were also families that were fine with pajamas. The whole setup made sense, really. Nobody had to wonder where the picture had been taken or what month it was because, well, it was obvious.
Picture day had its own universe
No matter what school you went to, School Picture Day was almost the same. It involved students sitting in front of a mysterious blue, gray, or cloudy background that looked identical. These sorts of artificial backgrounds were everywhere during the 1980s and 1990s.
A lot of parents would buy sheets containing several sizes of the same photo, and then they’d share these around. Grandparents were always the first in line to get them.
The bucket always came to the beach
You couldn’t go to the beach without having your photo taken, and these photos usually went the same way. They’d feature a child holding a bucket and shovel, sitting in the sand by the ocean. Sure, they might be building something in the photo, but that part wasn’t always important.
It was the shot itself that mattered. These photos weren’t always taken on a child’s first trip to the beach, either, as they could be taken on the third or fourth trip. It just had to be a photo where the weather looked nice. That was what was important.
Suddenly there were two children
Anyone with a younger sibling will remember seeing this photo before. It’s the one where the older sibling holds the new baby, often while sitting on a couch or a bed. You often saw an adult hand hovering close to the baby’s head, too.
The photos themselves would always look so sweet, even though the older child probably had no idea what was going on. There was just something so special about these sorts of photographs.
The costume got photographed before trick-or-treating
You only had a short window when the Halloween costume looked exactly how it was supposed to. It was during that time that the camera came out. Kids would stand by the front door or on the porch with their candy buckets.
They’d try their hardest not to move while an adult fixed their masks, although it was very difficult. But the photo had to be taken then and there. If they waited even a little bit, the cape would get twisted, and the face paint would probably smudge.
Nobody moved the sleeping child
Not every picture for the photo album was planned. Sometimes, it was pure luck that the picture was taken, and one of the most common ‘accidental’ photos was of a sleeping child. It was never a picture of you sleeping in a normal place, though.
The photo was somehow always a photo of you in an unusual place or position, like in the car or under a blanket fort. It was one of those shots that parents or family members just couldn’t resist photographing.Â
Everyone stood next to each other
One of the most difficult shots to take featured all the siblings, and that’s because it involved getting everyone into a single frame. There was often someone who was too close and someone else who wouldn’t stop making a face. Then, the youngest would wander off while everyone was ready.
But parents kept trying, and the photo of all the siblings was a pretty common fixture in childhood albums. You might have yours taken while you were sitting on the couch, or maybe in front of the stairs. Wherever worked, really, and some families took it to the next level with matching outfits.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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