Tuesday Tidbit—Old Wedding Portraits

Edward and Mary Knoch Murrer, 1898—Philip S. Hall

While compiling an article on the naming of Chappuis Lane, for an illustration I scanned the wedding photograph of Ed Chappuis and Nancy Johnston. Then, it dawned on me, that many wedding portraits of the 1890s and early 1900s, the man is always seated and woman is always standing. To me it seems rather peculiar and may be there is story about the custom that I am not aware of.

Tim

One thought on “Tuesday Tidbit—Old Wedding Portraits”

  1. My long gone father had an off color joke about this format when reviewing his parent’s pre 1920 wedding photo with me . . . . “He is too tired to stand up, and she is too sore to sit down”.

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