Victorian Family Portraits Were Actually Kind of Creepy

Seeing as the month of Halloween officially started two months ago at Spirit stores nationwide, we thought we’d show you something extremely creepy. Compiled by The Museum of Ridiculously Interesting Things, behold these 19th century photographs of carefully (?) hidden moms holding their children. Daguerreotype revolutionized the 1800s photo scene, capturing photos in a mere hour. It’s their version of Instagram, except instead of cupcakes and cats, it’s moms covered in carpets and in some cases, dead children. Cue Monster Mash.

Since even old-timey toddlers were squirmy-as-fuck (modern-day garbage food and drink isn’t to blame this time!) and they had to sit still for about an hour, I guess the best possible solution was to drape something over dear ol’ ma and hope she survives the ordeal. I have to say, some of these moms were pretty crafty with their concealment, I would’ve never guessed there was a full-grown woman where I thought a wall was. However, some photographers obviously got lazy and just threw old tapestries over these poor women. Good look!

As if that’s all wasn’t creepy as fuck, the terrifying quotient skyrockets when commenters suggest that some of these kids might actually be dead. You see, in Victorian times, it was common to snap a quick(ish) shot of your dead loved one as a heartbreaking memento. That means some of these women sat under blankets for long periods of time, while holding their dead babies. Happy Halloween! That is one of the super-saddest things I’ve ever heard and I weep a million tears for those women. Luckily, post-mortem photos are largely out of favor now – I’d hate to see my Facebook feed if they weren’t.

Hidden mothers in Victorian portraits [The Museum of Ridiculously Interesting Things]