Can a period in time be dated as to when people 'smiled' while posing for photographs?

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The Short answer is soon after Kodak inntroduced the Box Brownie camera in 1900. A more detailed explanation follows "Why We say "˜Cheese': Producing the Smile in Snapshot Photography,"? Christina Kotchemidova, an Assistant Professor in Mass Communication at Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL. states: "Picture-perfect smiles weren't always the norm, says Kotchemidova. The photos of the nineteenth century were ruled by stony, solemn faces. These early photos took their cues from traditional European fine art portraiture, where smiles were only worn by peasants, children and drunks. The etiquette and beauty standards of the time also called for a small, tightly controlled mouth. At one London photo studio, the precursor to "say cheese"? was actually "say prunes,"? to help sitters form a small mouth." "Then, sometime in the twentieth-century, the smile became king, ruling over snapshots with an iron fist." Kotchemidova says, "Relate its rise to "the speedy camera shutter, attractive faces in media and politics, and the rise of dental care,"? technological and cultural factors that may have begun a process of "mouth liberalization."? Kotchemidova, though, proposes that we look at smiling for the camera as a cultural construction of twentieth-century American snapshot photography. Photography was once a pursuit for the rich. A the turn of the century, though, Kodak's $1 Brownie camera (introduced in 1900), created a mass market for photography and established the company as the leading expert on the subject." Kodak rose to a position of what Kotchemidova calls "cultural leadership,"? by framing the way photography, for which they supplied the technology, was conceptualized and used in the culture at large. In its leadership role, Kodak marketed photography as fun and easy. The company's slogan, "You press the button, we do the rest,"? assured consumers that the hard work, developing the film and printing the photos, was left to Kodak technicians, and that taking snapshots was easy enough for anyone. Kodak's ads and photography publications presented taking photos as a happy experience for both the photographer and the subject that served to preserve fond memories of good times." Kotchemidova, C. "Why we say "˜cheese':Â Producing the smile in snapshot photography."? Critical Studies in Media Communication, 22 (1), 2-25, winter 2005. http://mentalfloss.com/article/21357/why-do-we-say-cheese-when-having-our-photo-taken Feb 01 13, 8:14 PM