# People in 1905 really did laugh—a timeless photo **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 10, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183 "2010-07-10T03:06:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MickNickMaggies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@MickNickMaggies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MickNickMaggies)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/41 "2010-07-11T11:05:08Z")
You can see the old bath buildings on either side- if they didn’t live near the shore they might have actually rented the bathing costumes for the day from one of these baths or swimming clubs- I’m thinking specifically of the two kids wearing the same embroidered initials. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/42 "2010-07-11T12:00:15Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Except that’s his _sister-in-law_ and his _niece!_ :eek: Ewww! > [@Spoke](#): > > I do like how everyone is imposing their own interpretations on the picture. It’s like a photographic Rorschach test. If it is dude, you flunked! LOL! ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/43 "2010-07-11T12:03:04Z")
This is one of those things that are probably “just me” but I always get a really creepy feeling when I see a slice-of-life photo like this one and then realise that OH GOD EVERYONE IS THAT PHOTO IS DEAD. (Probably.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/44 "2010-07-11T13:47:50Z")
Not just you. ---
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/45 "2010-07-11T14:47:44Z")
I think the guy in the white cap immediately to the left of funny guy must have been very fecund . . . in the sense that I think 80% of white New Jersey males today are descended from him. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/46 "2010-07-11T14:56:34Z")
I’ve just noticed that the guy standing to the right of the guy in the striped suit and to the left of the woman with the ‘do’ looks quite a bit like me. He has a bigger forehead though. (Actually, it looks like he’s wearing a Frankenstein’s Monster-type appliance.) ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/47 "2010-07-11T15:38:23Z")
Look over funny guy’s right shoulder, and over the left shoulder of the guy behind him. There’s weird small blurry dark head, that is either Sayed from Lost sneaking up on them, or some sort of werewolf. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/48 "2010-07-11T16:04:05Z")
OK, I’ll say it…funny guy looks like Harry Potter. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/49 "2010-07-11T16:13:57Z")
Check out the bar of soap in the hand of the guy on the end on our right, their left. He’s like “Can I go bathe in the ocean now?” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/50 "2010-07-11T16:31:05Z")
I could be wrong, but I think the guy holding the woman’s face might be a young Larry King, only on about his 2nd or 3rd wife. ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/51 "2010-07-11T16:32:25Z")
Does it seem like the Italians are mostly on the left, and the Irish are mostly on the right? > [@multimediac17](#): > > This is one of those things that are probably “just me” but I always get a really creepy feeling when I see a slice-of-life photo like this one and then realise that OH GOD EVERYONE IS THAT PHOTO IS DEAD. > > (Probably.) Kind of. Whenever I see a photo like this, it’s more a feeling of “here’s a picture of some people who lived 100 years ago”, and I wonder about their lives. What would they be like to talk to? How many lived to old age? Have I met any of their descendants? Stuff like that. But yeah, I’m sorry that they couldn’t have lived forever, too, as silly as that might sound. 🙂 [Quote=Gestalt] I think the guy in the white cap immediately to the left of funny guy must have been very fecund . . . in the sense that I think 80% of white New Jersey males today are descended from him. [/quote] Holy Sopranos, you’re so right! [QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] I’ve just noticed that the guy standing to the right of the guy in the striped suit and to the left of the woman with the ‘do’ looks quite a bit like me. He has a bigger forehead though. (Actually, it looks like he’s wearing a Frankenstein’s Monster-type appliance.) [/quote] Well, you’re lucky then - you’re a reasonably good-looking guy, in spite of your too-small forehead. 🙂 If you’d been a big guy with almost-average looks, like the college lineman on the far left, some people (through no real fault of their own, I guess) might find your photo creepy-looking in 100 years. BTW, I wonder if Fester Roosevelt bought that suit in 1885, and - since it still fits - just can’t bear to part with it, out of style or not? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/52 "2010-07-11T16:34:28Z")
‘College Lineman’ reminds me of (the cartoon character) Baby Huey. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/53 "2010-07-11T17:21:30Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > Snap - that’s who caught my eye too! I tend to do that with old photos - see who could be considered good looking by today’s standards, and who would look completely 1905 even if they were alive today. He looks like Kay Kaiser to me. That’s right, you’re WRONG! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/54 "2010-07-11T17:36:50Z")
I’ve never been to Atlantic City and know little about it other than “NJ shore beach resort now with casinoes and not too far from NYC”. Does anybody know if the two buildings in the background (left with the minaret like towers and right with the more Gothic look) are still there? ---
**Author:** ![happyslappy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c37758/32.png) [@happyslappy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happyslappy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/55 "2010-07-11T17:55:20Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Look over funny guy’s right shoulder, and over the left shoulder of the guy behind him. There’s weird small blurry dark head, that is either Sayed from Lost sneaking up on them, or some sort of werewolf. You’re so right it’s intense. Sayed is clearly trapped in the early 1900’s and being “that guy” in probably thousands of old timey photographs. It’s so weird to think that every person in this photo is dead. This photo is so full of life, some of the people are so vibrant. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/56 "2010-07-11T18:00:20Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > He is a time traveller. Notice the cell phone in his hand? Here I figured it was a bar of soap and he was getting his monthly bath in the ocean. The Time Traveller is the guy, center left, just behind the two young men with the SV shirts. Looks like he’s wearing a modern t-shirt with an actual sewn collar, unlike every other person in the picture. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/57 "2010-07-11T18:12:01Z")
You know what I think makes this photo ‘modernly accessible’? Aside from the two obvious moustaches on the left, and Teddy Festerdelt on the right (and the two women on the right), the hair isn’t plastered down as it is in most shots of the period. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/58 "2010-07-11T18:47:06Z")
I do love old photographs, but somehow after I got past the “wow, everyone in this photo is dead, and what were they like to be friends with” and all that, I’m kinda ashamed to admit that I thought, “what a sausage-fest!” I mean, there’s a TON of guys and maybe three girls that seem like they MIGHT be unattached, though of course (1) I could be wrong and (2) they’re all dead now so it really doesn’t matter. There is obviously some blurring in the photo but of course it wasn’t like very early photography otherwise the blurry parts would have been way worse and more prevalent. I do wonder about the guy on the far right, and his monk-like suit; was that common back then? Even the KIDS in this photo are very likely dead now. Hell, even if laughing girl in the center had just found out she was carrying vise-grips’ child, THAT child is likely to be dead by now. Wow. Old photos can be depressing. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/59 "2010-07-11T20:01:41Z")
This kind of discussion makes me wonder what people 100 years in the future will think of YouTube videos. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183/60 "2010-07-11T20:23:54Z")
The younger curly-haired guy to the left of the two mustachioed Italian bros is Kyle Chandler’s grandpa. Johnny L.A., you’re right. He does resemble you. Maybe you should change your username to Zelig L.A. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-in-1905-really-did-laugh-a-timeless-photo/546183.md?page=4)