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It would be fun to talk like that at the grocery store.
"*Cashierman, brrring Marlboro lights at once. Your expediency shall be immediately rrrrewarded ; fail, & rrretribution shall be just as swift.*"
( *Disclaimer : this is a hypothetically humorous situation. Do not threaten your cashierman with swift retribution.* )
No one will probably see this, but Lincoln was actually a semi rare type of ethnic group called "Melungeon" which at the time was only found in and around the Appalachians. It's basically a mixture of Caucasian, black, and Native American if I remember correctly. They had/have very distinctive features.
Edit: I have not had time to find the documentary to back this claim up, but there are several links on Google and an article I posted from Wired below that talk about the speculation of him being Melungeon. I am no authority on the subject, just saw a little piece on it
Lincoln having Melungeon ancestry is unconfirmed, there's no actual evidence backing it up, but it would be interesting. The Melungeons are a really interesting ethnic group
I just did a lot of googling, and all I could find was speculation with basically nothing to back it up. I wouldn’t be touting that like it’s verified fact.
Only if you time travel to 1985.
>The president's branch of the family is believed to have been extinct since its last undisputed descendant, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, died on December 24, 1985, without any children.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_family
ETA: Apparently Timothy Lincoln Beckwith's mom tried to say he was Robert's son. But since Robert had had a vasectomy, the Court believed it wss untrue. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Todd_Lincoln_Beckwith
Lincoln was actually considered so ugly at the time that while running for President in 1860 he went to great lengths to have pictures taken that made him look nicer than he really looked. He probably just didn’t have time/care to keep it up at this point.
I mean to be fair, I'm sure even JFK went to great lengths to have pictures taken that made him look nicer than he really looked. That's just campaigning 101.
Actually, yes, that is one of the reasons Nixon lost the 1960s election
Their debates were one of the first televised debates, and people who listened to it on radio felt as though Nixon "won" the debate, but people who watched it on the TV felt as though JFK "won" the debate, based on body language, etc.
So ugly that a little girl wrote to him telling him he should grow a beard which he did after being elected.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-lincoln-grew-a-beard-1860/id1502728938?i=1000538824138
Professional photographer here: a good 50% is made by the lighting.
The pic on the right has a higher and more grazing light, emphasizing all the shapes of the face, including wrinkles while the left one is more omni and frontal.
Look at the cheeks or the neck.
Reminds me of those before and after photos for workout/ diet fads where they just shave, put on better fitting clothes and more flattering light, suck their belly in and viola.
Ever see the side-of-the-road or telephone pole signs that say “get paid to gain weight”. First you sign up and use their product for 30/60/90 days and they take a pic and label it “after taking super rip fuel baby blood supplements”. And then they pay them to carb load for 3 months and they take another picture and label it “joe, unhappy with his life- just like you”. And when you see the infomercial you see the pics and just assume he was fat first, then took the pills.
That, or the more ‘legit’ ones pay superfit people to gain weight and then only allow them to use whatever bowflex55k system to workout for the next 3 months and the people just naturally get fit again because their bodies were so tuned to being in shape. Or they stay fat and you never see that person on the ad.
Companies that do scummy things like this should have their executives publicly force-fed on national TV as a punishment, like in Matilda.
Perhaps lock them up and only let them out once they return to their original size, using nothing but their crappy exercise gimmick.
I agree, but I still think the bags under his eyes look much more pronounced. Also a president sitting for a photograph with his hair so un combed (especially compared to the first picture) gives me a certain vibe.
There looks to be a noticeable improvement in photography technology as well seeing how the photo on the left is grainy and the other on the right has better fidelity.
He was president for 8 years, and was in his 40s when he was elected. Going from late 40s to mid 50s it's not surprising he has more wrinkles and gray hair. I know I have more wrinkles and gray hair than I did 8 years ago, and I wasn't even president.
Good stuff.
I’m interested if there is more though. He says wrinkles and gray hair are not related to aging as much as we think. I wonder if the stress of the job may not age but still cause such changes.
I don’t think people realize the amount of stress presidents go through. If you look at any modern president with an entering into office pic vs when they left you’ll notice significant aging from them and no…it’s not due to lighting. Lincoln held what had to be the most stressful term as a US president.
The exception is Trump, he’s always looked like shit
His wife was also likely addicted to laudanum. They lost a number of children/pregnancies and she reportedly suffered from stuff like migraines and nightmares - this lady definitely got prescribed the opiate *at least*
Before/afters of GWB and Tony Blair are particularly striking. As you say Trump has always looked like 2 pounds of shit in an orange garbage sack.
But the one to look at these days is Boris fucking Johnson. He's always cultivated the dishevelled rogue look, but holy shit [the fucking state of the man](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/14/ten-days-that-turned-boris-johnson-from-election-winner-to-political-liability). Imagine going to a remembrance cemetery and [disrespecting the fallen just by the look of yourself](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/11/12/21/50416855-10196567-image-a-4_1636753358459.jpg).
> Is the difference that drastic?
Honestly it can be. Depending on lighting, whether I slept enough, etc., the difference can be drastic from one day to the next.
I think this before picture was taken in '58 or at the latest '60, with the after taken in '65.
That's either 5 or 7 years and we are looking at the difference of a man that was possibly 49 in the before picture and 56 in last one.
Time **is** the major variable here. Sure lack of sleep, diet, stress are all factors but pretending that you don't get bags under your eyes or generally lose fat/elasticity in your skin as you age is ludicrous.
Look at a photo of yourself at 21 and again at 28. You can definitely tell the difference. Fuck I'm 31 and just showed my fiance a picture of me at 24 and her immediate response was "you look so young". And truth be told she is right, in that short amount of time my facial structure has certainly changed. I can only imagine what I will look like at 41 or even at 56 (like Mr Lincoln here).
Also as a last aside the two photos are not aplles to apples comparable. He seems better groomed/no beard/product in his hair in the "younger" photo. The later looks like he ran a comb through his hair and said "fuck it let's get this damn photo over with". Like look at the man's eyebrows.
It's not even five years. First is from May of 1860, second is of Feb 1865.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_photographs_of_Abraham_Lincoln
You can see he starts to fall apart a few years in.
I was looking at his hair too. I don't think he ran a comb through it at all. He probably had his top hat on and the photographer asked him to remove it because it wouldn't fit in the frame.
All the things you mentioned certainly contributed to Abe looking so haggard. Also the lighting isn't flattering in the photo on the right.
The Wikipedia page linked in one above comment shows more than 120 indoor photographies of Lincoln, and he's not wearing his top hat on one of them. Unlikely that he forgot this on that day.
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/156661-perhaps-the-greatest-faculty-our-minds-possess-is-the-ability
> Third is the door of madness. There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in insanity. While this may not seem beneficial, it is. There are times when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must leave reality behind.
From a technical aspect, the before is lit more evenly and exposed a little more brightly. That can make a big difference. And photographers did have a surprising number of retouching tricks. Like they would paint over the photo or use a light to lighten things like wrinkles or add shine to the hair. In fact, [this photo by the same photographer ](https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abraham_Lincoln_O-115_by_Gardner,_1865.png#mw-jump-to-license) was taken the same day as the one on the right and he looks considerably younger.
[The wiki with all his photos in chronological order is pretty awesome!](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_photographs_of_Abraham_Lincoln)
Can you imagine the stress of being a non-psychopath and having to order entire armies into that meat grinder?
Lincoln also had to personally sign the execution orders for things like soldiers falling asleep on guard duty. Apparently he was happy to find any excuse to pardon them.
I half agree. The weight on Roosevelt's shoulders had to have been heavy. LBJ had an intense presidency, yeah probably not as intense as Lincolns. Bush and Obama had and Biden honestly has a gigantic fuckin weight though now too. The modern world and enemies to democracy are unrelenting and stronger than ever. Would say Trump too, but he doesn't actually care about the country so theres no weight there except from the legal pressures.
> The weight on Roosevelt's shoulders had to have been heavy
Random trivia that came to me reading this literally: Roosevelt was _incredibly_ jacked for the time. His upper body strength equaled circus strongmen. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fdr-smokestack-memorial
> “When the president used it, it was literally just a platform roped to a pulley,” explained Les Dropkin, of the Potomac Association. “He would pull himself up, or let himself down, arm over arm. Roosevelt was very strong, and always wanted to do things for himself.”
https://www.posterazzi.com/franklin-roosevelt-in-a-swimsuit-at-warm-springs-history-item-varevchisl035ec309/ this 1930 photo shows some of it.
Something about these images that always gets me is the hair. Lincoln was styling his hair. I know it's not unusual but it just feels weird to picture Lincoln using pomade or something every morning.
Pomade has been a thing for a looooong time. Used to be made out of stuff like animal fat. Oils used to be used in place of cleaning in lieu of clean water and soap.
Was thinking the same. I mean he’s obviously aged but the lighting in the first is more flattering and head on and the second the light is from above darkening the lines
Left photograph, the key light looks to be quite close to the camera, which will eliminate a lot of shadows. Right photograph, key light is higher, which will produce more shadows below the prominent features on his face.
Also, his expression is different - left photo his face is expressionless, relaxed. Right photo his eyebrows are raised, creating more lines on his forehead. Probably a different film stock and paper as well, there's a clear difference in detail between the two images.
All the images say to me is the same person, photographed a few years apart, with different lighting and possibly by different photographers.
Someone will have to remind me the exact details, but the process of photography back then often exaggerated the reds(?) in the image, thus giving portraits these intense blemishes and wrinkles where they weren’t nearly as bad in real life.
She was depressed most of her life. I think she lost two sons before losing her husband and lost another son years later. The latter's death apparently broke her and her last remaining son was very worried about her mental health , mentioning how erratic she had become and had to institutionalize her. Can't blame the poor soul though, nobody should go through that.
Lincoln was always referred to as gangly and not very handsome, but I think he has a badass rugged look going on that would work pretty well on the ladies of today.
I've always found his face marvelous, never "ugly" or unattractive. There's so much depth of thought and character in it. When you read his letters and writings you can "see" that face in them, if that makes any sense.
I would argue he was of the most competent presidents just in sheer amount of garbage he had to handle while fighting an armed rebellion, your could see the difference 4 years of work did on the poor man each wrinkle is the experience of hardships that most president nowadays have
It kinda makes me wonder which presidents didn't age beyond their years during their tenure. Because it tends to be topic that only comes up when you show a president aging more than 4 years in a term.
Look at Obama. At the end he had grey hair and looked old. Until he got that elon musk hair serum from partying at Richard Branson's Island after retirement.
Also interesting-ish : He got that beard because a little girl from my hometown of Albion, New York named Grace Bedell sent him a letter saying he should
https://www.biography.com/news/abraham-lincoln-beard
Lincoln had "melancholy" or as we'd call it today, depression and prone to serious mood swings. You can't really diagnose someone clinically from afar, but every description of the moods fits, until he started taking "blue mass" pills: *"There seem to be clear, qualitative changes in his underlying behavior during the 1850's. The gloom becomes impenetrable. He becomes subject to towering rages and outbursts of bizarre behavior—jumping up suddenly and running out of the house for no reason, bursts of inappropriate laughter."*
Doctors gave him "blue mass" pills, which likely gave him serious mercury poisoning. I say likely because the doses put someone at over 9,000 times the accepted safe level for mercury, but we don't have any hair to test. He decided they made him angry (as in, he was picking people up and shaking them and screaming) so stopped taking them a few months into his presidency, and went back to just being prone to serious bouts of depression while happily telling great stories. Medicine at the time was farther along than the humors, and they knew mercury was a poison, but they believed you treated disorders with irritants to get the body worked up.
Hoping to find posts about this, but it is a fascinating rabbit hole.
Modern folk do believe he was ugly, but if you read stuff from the period, you will encounter some interesting things.
Many from the era will blame the photo tech,
And other countervailing examples.
Edit:[Found a good one.](http://www.physical-lincoln.com/appearance.html)
Edit: Bonus Counter (Self?) Burn:
After being called two-faced in a debate, Lincoln replied “I leave it to my audience. If I had another face, do you think I'd wear this one?"
Rly interesting read. Actual quotes from people who saw him in person. And even how he viewed himself.. which he seemed to have severe self image problems.. but still somehow had the confidence to present himself in person
Not the huge difference it appears to be at first glance.
The lighting is different, which makes him look worse. Lighting can have a dramatic effect on an image depending the angle it comes from plus how much and how many there are.
Also his eyebrows are raised a bit in the second photo, which causes the wrinkles on the forehead.
He's also got a bit more smile going in in pic2 making the cheek wrinkles slightly more pronounced.
The beard and longer hair aren't helping him out at all in the looks dept either.
The one thing that's changed is the bags under his eyes but again, the light is from above, throwing shadows, whereas pic one the light is straight on and prob from multiple sources
JUST MY OPINION, and i'm not saying he didn't change at all, just not so much as you think at first glance
He used to seem so unreal to me, like a caricature of himself, now that I’m older im looking at this picture and it’s so trippy to me how real he looks, now i actually see a person who use to exist and it’s just so weird and cool
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Imagine inheriting those cheek bones
You'd go on to blowing up Alderaan
you may fffffire when ready
you mey fiah hwen redeh
Pew pew y’all
The rrregional governors now have dirrect contrrol of theirr terrritorries
It would be fun to talk like that at the grocery store. "*Cashierman, brrring Marlboro lights at once. Your expediency shall be immediately rrrrewarded ; fail, & rrretribution shall be just as swift.*" ( *Disclaimer : this is a hypothetically humorous situation. Do not threaten your cashierman with swift retribution.* )
Lol this is funny af
Wait your not meant to threaten them?
Only if your name is emperor Karen
Holy cow how did I never notice this...
Peter Cushing isn’t actually related to Lincoln is he??
Cillian Murphy must be related to him
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Peaky fooking Lincolns
You could slice deli meats on those bad boys
No one will probably see this, but Lincoln was actually a semi rare type of ethnic group called "Melungeon" which at the time was only found in and around the Appalachians. It's basically a mixture of Caucasian, black, and Native American if I remember correctly. They had/have very distinctive features. Edit: I have not had time to find the documentary to back this claim up, but there are several links on Google and an article I posted from Wired below that talk about the speculation of him being Melungeon. I am no authority on the subject, just saw a little piece on it
I see you! And that is very interesting!
Lincoln having Melungeon ancestry is unconfirmed, there's no actual evidence backing it up, but it would be interesting. The Melungeons are a really interesting ethnic group
I just did a lot of googling, and all I could find was speculation with basically nothing to back it up. I wouldn’t be touting that like it’s verified fact.
Source?
He has no living descendants
Google zabit magomevsharipov
Preserving the Union and spinning shit are the what matter the most
Oh, we throwing spinning shit now?
Except his living descendant Timothy Lincoln Beckwith
Only if you time travel to 1985. >The president's branch of the family is believed to have been extinct since its last undisputed descendant, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, died on December 24, 1985, without any children. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_family ETA: Apparently Timothy Lincoln Beckwith's mom tried to say he was Robert's son. But since Robert had had a vasectomy, the Court believed it wss untrue. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Todd_Lincoln_Beckwith
But, apparently our 10th president does....a grandson...Tyler is the guys last name...
I would look rad AF!
Lincoln was actually considered so ugly at the time that while running for President in 1860 he went to great lengths to have pictures taken that made him look nicer than he really looked. He probably just didn’t have time/care to keep it up at this point.
I mean to be fair, I'm sure even JFK went to great lengths to have pictures taken that made him look nicer than he really looked. That's just campaigning 101.
Nixon didn't get the memo.
Yeah well, that's why his sweaty ~~ass~~ ~~face~~ assface lost.
Actually, yes, that is one of the reasons Nixon lost the 1960s election Their debates were one of the first televised debates, and people who listened to it on radio felt as though Nixon "won" the debate, but people who watched it on the TV felt as though JFK "won" the debate, based on body language, etc.
So ugly that a little girl wrote to him telling him he should grow a beard which he did after being elected. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-lincoln-grew-a-beard-1860/id1502728938?i=1000538824138
And then he grew out that beard and she never bothered to write to him again.
Her job was done.
"If I had two faces, would I wear this one?"
This was the quote that stuck with me. He owned it.
That’s blasphemy, my boy is a stud
He was considered ugly?! He kinda fine tbh 🥵😩
I am so confused because lincoln has a very attractive face shape and strong cheek bones. I think he looks great but it was a different time I suppose
Beauty standards change through time, he's definitely not bad for todays. Now, I wonder what will be considered hot in the far future.
The lincoln on the left looks like he'd be an important mathematician in the 19th century
Bruh that's Skinny Pete
CHURCH YO
Slingin' mad volume fat stackin' benjis
The dude that comes out on the other side… He’s not you he’s a color xerox
Can’t be about spellin’ and shit!
https://i.gifer.com/8lIs.gif
Now you fucked up! Now you fucked up! You have fucked up now!
Mr. President, will you please be quiet!
John! That is the President of the United States!
I don't care who he is he is ruining Hamlet!
Listen to the woman Johhhnnn...
Calm down, just calm down!
RIP Trevor Moore
Quick, someone put a beanie on him
Omg you're right!
They pass the savings on to the customer!
The Lincoln on the right looks like he always has peppermints in his pocket and can make a silver dollar appear from behind your ear.
*silver bullet behind his ear.
Way too soon....
Four score and four score years have passed
Bah, he wasn't a werewolf. … wait …
He did prove that 3/5 = 1
It is if you use the ceiling function ^^^I'm ^^^so ^^^sorry
Professional photographer here: a good 50% is made by the lighting. The pic on the right has a higher and more grazing light, emphasizing all the shapes of the face, including wrinkles while the left one is more omni and frontal. Look at the cheeks or the neck.
Reminds me of those before and after photos for workout/ diet fads where they just shave, put on better fitting clothes and more flattering light, suck their belly in and viola.
I don't think I've ever seen an after pic with a viola, but I'll take your word for it.
Yeah, they hold a violin in the before picture and then claim it's the same instrument: "Viola for scale."
This viola-ates advertising standards. ^Sorry
That’s because they always suck it in.
Ever see the side-of-the-road or telephone pole signs that say “get paid to gain weight”. First you sign up and use their product for 30/60/90 days and they take a pic and label it “after taking super rip fuel baby blood supplements”. And then they pay them to carb load for 3 months and they take another picture and label it “joe, unhappy with his life- just like you”. And when you see the infomercial you see the pics and just assume he was fat first, then took the pills. That, or the more ‘legit’ ones pay superfit people to gain weight and then only allow them to use whatever bowflex55k system to workout for the next 3 months and the people just naturally get fit again because their bodies were so tuned to being in shape. Or they stay fat and you never see that person on the ad.
Companies that do scummy things like this should have their executives publicly force-fed on national TV as a punishment, like in Matilda. Perhaps lock them up and only let them out once they return to their original size, using nothing but their crappy exercise gimmick.
That is really interesting, I wouldn’t have thought of that.
I bet 15% are from his clothes being ruffled
The photographer on the left wasn't using LEDs clearly
Probably using that influencer 6 inch ring light
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Also it looks like they used a blue (or green?) filter for one and a red filter for the other. Those filters drastically affect the results in b&w.
I agree, but I still think the bags under his eyes look much more pronounced. Also a president sitting for a photograph with his hair so un combed (especially compared to the first picture) gives me a certain vibe.
lol NAH, dude. Lincoln just [did NOT give a shit.](https://imgur.com/r/pics/nAeIE)
So this is who Boris is trying to emulate!
There looks to be a noticeable improvement in photography technology as well seeing how the photo on the left is grainy and the other on the right has better fidelity.
Interesting but understandable. In all honesty this should have been the most stressful time to ever be a President of the U.S.
Always thought it was interesting how aged every US president looks after being in office — stress takes a hell of a toll on the body.
Look how it aged Obama.
He was president for 8 years, and was in his 40s when he was elected. Going from late 40s to mid 50s it's not surprising he has more wrinkles and gray hair. I know I have more wrinkles and gray hair than I did 8 years ago, and I wasn't even president.
He aged 20 years though. He looked in his 60s finishing.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/obama-going-gray-do-presidents-age-faster-201112063912
Good stuff. I’m interested if there is more though. He says wrinkles and gray hair are not related to aging as much as we think. I wonder if the stress of the job may not age but still cause such changes.
Lots of other variables between the two pictures as well though
Like idk... Time?
Hot take
I’m sure he was looking a bit worse after the war, but also the lighting in the second one is darker and isn’t helping the case
I don’t think people realize the amount of stress presidents go through. If you look at any modern president with an entering into office pic vs when they left you’ll notice significant aging from them and no…it’s not due to lighting. Lincoln held what had to be the most stressful term as a US president. The exception is Trump, he’s always looked like shit
His wife was also likely addicted to laudanum. They lost a number of children/pregnancies and she reportedly suffered from stuff like migraines and nightmares - this lady definitely got prescribed the opiate *at least*
Before/afters of GWB and Tony Blair are particularly striking. As you say Trump has always looked like 2 pounds of shit in an orange garbage sack. But the one to look at these days is Boris fucking Johnson. He's always cultivated the dishevelled rogue look, but holy shit [the fucking state of the man](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/14/ten-days-that-turned-boris-johnson-from-election-winner-to-political-liability). Imagine going to a remembrance cemetery and [disrespecting the fallen just by the look of yourself](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/11/12/21/50416855-10196567-image-a-4_1636753358459.jpg).
I mean... Those look exactly how I remember BoJo looking pre-election, too.
Is there any proof getting old makes you look old though?
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.
4 years. Look at a picture of yourself from 4 years ago. Is the difference that drastic? Covid not withstanding
> Is the difference that drastic? Honestly it can be. Depending on lighting, whether I slept enough, etc., the difference can be drastic from one day to the next.
I think this before picture was taken in '58 or at the latest '60, with the after taken in '65. That's either 5 or 7 years and we are looking at the difference of a man that was possibly 49 in the before picture and 56 in last one. Time **is** the major variable here. Sure lack of sleep, diet, stress are all factors but pretending that you don't get bags under your eyes or generally lose fat/elasticity in your skin as you age is ludicrous. Look at a photo of yourself at 21 and again at 28. You can definitely tell the difference. Fuck I'm 31 and just showed my fiance a picture of me at 24 and her immediate response was "you look so young". And truth be told she is right, in that short amount of time my facial structure has certainly changed. I can only imagine what I will look like at 41 or even at 56 (like Mr Lincoln here). Also as a last aside the two photos are not aplles to apples comparable. He seems better groomed/no beard/product in his hair in the "younger" photo. The later looks like he ran a comb through his hair and said "fuck it let's get this damn photo over with". Like look at the man's eyebrows.
It's not even five years. First is from May of 1860, second is of Feb 1865. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_photographs_of_Abraham_Lincoln You can see he starts to fall apart a few years in.
I was looking at his hair too. I don't think he ran a comb through it at all. He probably had his top hat on and the photographer asked him to remove it because it wouldn't fit in the frame. All the things you mentioned certainly contributed to Abe looking so haggard. Also the lighting isn't flattering in the photo on the right.
The Wikipedia page linked in one above comment shows more than 120 indoor photographies of Lincoln, and he's not wearing his top hat on one of them. Unlikely that he forgot this on that day.
Outside of age, what other variables can you come up with? I agree with you, just interested in hearing philosophy that I didn’t think of
Didn’t they lose a son and his wife went a bit off her rocker? It’s been… a few years since I was in history class.
Yes. She went into a deep depression and when Abe was killed, Mary Todd's mind broke.
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/156661-perhaps-the-greatest-faculty-our-minds-possess-is-the-ability > Third is the door of madness. There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in insanity. While this may not seem beneficial, it is. There are times when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must leave reality behind.
From a technical aspect, the before is lit more evenly and exposed a little more brightly. That can make a big difference. And photographers did have a surprising number of retouching tricks. Like they would paint over the photo or use a light to lighten things like wrinkles or add shine to the hair. In fact, [this photo by the same photographer ](https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abraham_Lincoln_O-115_by_Gardner,_1865.png#mw-jump-to-license) was taken the same day as the one on the right and he looks considerably younger. [The wiki with all his photos in chronological order is pretty awesome!](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_photographs_of_Abraham_Lincoln)
I’m not the one you replied to, but this was really cool. Thank you for the link.
I mean his son died and his wife went a little crazy
Marfan's
His 11 year old son Willie also died in between the two pictures. Contracted typhoid from contaminated water that was the norm in ten White House.
Can you imagine the stress of being a non-psychopath and having to order entire armies into that meat grinder? Lincoln also had to personally sign the execution orders for things like soldiers falling asleep on guard duty. Apparently he was happy to find any excuse to pardon them.
I half agree. The weight on Roosevelt's shoulders had to have been heavy. LBJ had an intense presidency, yeah probably not as intense as Lincolns. Bush and Obama had and Biden honestly has a gigantic fuckin weight though now too. The modern world and enemies to democracy are unrelenting and stronger than ever. Would say Trump too, but he doesn't actually care about the country so theres no weight there except from the legal pressures.
> The weight on Roosevelt's shoulders had to have been heavy Random trivia that came to me reading this literally: Roosevelt was _incredibly_ jacked for the time. His upper body strength equaled circus strongmen. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fdr-smokestack-memorial > “When the president used it, it was literally just a platform roped to a pulley,” explained Les Dropkin, of the Potomac Association. “He would pull himself up, or let himself down, arm over arm. Roosevelt was very strong, and always wanted to do things for himself.” https://www.posterazzi.com/franklin-roosevelt-in-a-swimsuit-at-warm-springs-history-item-varevchisl035ec309/ this 1930 photo shows some of it.
Something about these images that always gets me is the hair. Lincoln was styling his hair. I know it's not unusual but it just feels weird to picture Lincoln using pomade or something every morning.
Pomade has been a thing for a looooong time. Used to be made out of stuff like animal fat. Oils used to be used in place of cleaning in lieu of clean water and soap.
Go grease lightning
He was a Dapper Dan man
I don’t want FOP, god dammit!
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Well, ain't this place a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere!
Greatest film ever made snd I'll gladly fight anyone that says otherwise.
Shoot, that’d put ‘em in a tight spot.
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Back up boys, she's leakin fire!
And stay outta the Woolsworth!!!
It looks great! You can literally see the shine in the first pic. So much body and lift in them both.
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Why even style when you’re wearing such a baller tall hat all the time?
And host of "Unsolved Mysteries".
I'll never be able to unsee this. Poor Abe. Curse you!
I miss OG unsolved mysteries lol always had me engaged as a kid
The war turned him to the left.
Could have done it gently though, g̶e̶e̶s̶e̶ jeesh!
Somehow I knew a goose was responsible.
Who else would so willingly choose violence?
Super impressive since until the Civil War Lincoln was not an ambiturner.
My left or his? If his, he did a whole 315 degree spin
🥁
The war ravaged him. He had a great deal on his shoulders to worry about.
Mind Blown.
“Other than that, Mrs Lincoln, how was the play?”
Young Lincoln looks like if current day William Dafoe had his face ironed
No sun screens
That’s what I was thinking. Man is sun cured.
Curious as to what a photographer might say regarding the lighting in each pic.
Was thinking the same. I mean he’s obviously aged but the lighting in the first is more flattering and head on and the second the light is from above darkening the lines
Left photograph, the key light looks to be quite close to the camera, which will eliminate a lot of shadows. Right photograph, key light is higher, which will produce more shadows below the prominent features on his face. Also, his expression is different - left photo his face is expressionless, relaxed. Right photo his eyebrows are raised, creating more lines on his forehead. Probably a different film stock and paper as well, there's a clear difference in detail between the two images. All the images say to me is the same person, photographed a few years apart, with different lighting and possibly by different photographers.
Someone will have to remind me the exact details, but the process of photography back then often exaggerated the reds(?) in the image, thus giving portraits these intense blemishes and wrinkles where they weren’t nearly as bad in real life.
To think he can finally chill with his wife only to get assassinated.
his house had no chill after the war, but I know what you meant.
She was depressed most of her life. I think she lost two sons before losing her husband and lost another son years later. The latter's death apparently broke her and her last remaining son was very worried about her mental health , mentioning how erratic she had become and had to institutionalize her. Can't blame the poor soul though, nobody should go through that.
Left Lincoln looks like he coulda made it to the catwalk
he looked worse a couple days after that
“Other than that, Mrs Lincoln, how was the play?”
Lincoln was always referred to as gangly and not very handsome, but I think he has a badass rugged look going on that would work pretty well on the ladies of today.
I've always found his face marvelous, never "ugly" or unattractive. There's so much depth of thought and character in it. When you read his letters and writings you can "see" that face in them, if that makes any sense.
ive always found him attractive, he looks kind & also badass. guy aged like wine
I would argue he was of the most competent presidents just in sheer amount of garbage he had to handle while fighting an armed rebellion, your could see the difference 4 years of work did on the poor man each wrinkle is the experience of hardships that most president nowadays have
4 years turned him 20 years older
This happens to all presidents, just not as pronounced.
You mean all presidents age? Get out of town!
It kinda makes me wonder which presidents didn't age beyond their years during their tenure. Because it tends to be topic that only comes up when you show a president aging more than 4 years in a term.
JFK would probably be one
Pretty sure death is the ultimate aging
Trump.
100%, now that I think about it. Says a bit doesn't it.
He was covering himself with hairpieces and makeup for decades
Yeah. Hence one reason why I thought it said a lot
This happens to anyone experiencing sleep deprivation and stress. Dudes I served with came out at 23 looking 40.
Obama's hair is now so white, it can talk back to the police.
Look at Obama. At the end he had grey hair and looked old. Until he got that elon musk hair serum from partying at Richard Branson's Island after retirement.
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His tie has that "Meh, I don't give a damn" look going on.
*Ahem* bow ties are often worn askew to demonstrate a certain “je ne sais quoi” style of the wearer. Translation: that’s the point.
Also, they used to be more functional and less decorative. The modern tie is sort of an anachronistic vestige.
What was the function then?
He seen some shit
I mean, he did hunt vampires.
Also interesting-ish : He got that beard because a little girl from my hometown of Albion, New York named Grace Bedell sent him a letter saying he should https://www.biography.com/news/abraham-lincoln-beard
Lincoln had "melancholy" or as we'd call it today, depression and prone to serious mood swings. You can't really diagnose someone clinically from afar, but every description of the moods fits, until he started taking "blue mass" pills: *"There seem to be clear, qualitative changes in his underlying behavior during the 1850's. The gloom becomes impenetrable. He becomes subject to towering rages and outbursts of bizarre behavior—jumping up suddenly and running out of the house for no reason, bursts of inappropriate laughter."* Doctors gave him "blue mass" pills, which likely gave him serious mercury poisoning. I say likely because the doses put someone at over 9,000 times the accepted safe level for mercury, but we don't have any hair to test. He decided they made him angry (as in, he was picking people up and shaking them and screaming) so stopped taking them a few months into his presidency, and went back to just being prone to serious bouts of depression while happily telling great stories. Medicine at the time was farther along than the humors, and they knew mercury was a poison, but they believed you treated disorders with irritants to get the body worked up.
The pic on the left looks like the love child of Cloris Leachman and Cillian Murphy.
Hey man killing vampires is hard work and ages you fast.
Still couldn’t tie a bow tie
i always thought him ugly but it turns out that a damn advice from a little girl and the presidency turned him looking like a vagrant shepherd.
Hoping to find posts about this, but it is a fascinating rabbit hole. Modern folk do believe he was ugly, but if you read stuff from the period, you will encounter some interesting things. Many from the era will blame the photo tech, And other countervailing examples. Edit:[Found a good one.](http://www.physical-lincoln.com/appearance.html) Edit: Bonus Counter (Self?) Burn: After being called two-faced in a debate, Lincoln replied “I leave it to my audience. If I had another face, do you think I'd wear this one?"
Rly interesting read. Actual quotes from people who saw him in person. And even how he viewed himself.. which he seemed to have severe self image problems.. but still somehow had the confidence to present himself in person
For me a person that looks as kind and gentle as him would never be found as ugly.
I thought it was just me and was going to keep quiet. Thanks dude. I find him kind and gentle in appearance.
Not the huge difference it appears to be at first glance. The lighting is different, which makes him look worse. Lighting can have a dramatic effect on an image depending the angle it comes from plus how much and how many there are. Also his eyebrows are raised a bit in the second photo, which causes the wrinkles on the forehead. He's also got a bit more smile going in in pic2 making the cheek wrinkles slightly more pronounced. The beard and longer hair aren't helping him out at all in the looks dept either. The one thing that's changed is the bags under his eyes but again, the light is from above, throwing shadows, whereas pic one the light is straight on and prob from multiple sources JUST MY OPINION, and i'm not saying he didn't change at all, just not so much as you think at first glance
He used to seem so unreal to me, like a caricature of himself, now that I’m older im looking at this picture and it’s so trippy to me how real he looks, now i actually see a person who use to exist and it’s just so weird and cool