Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
My mother, born in 1945, had a large cyst over her right eye, which could not be removed until she was five years old. She was only four when this photo was taken, but she remembers someone saying she had turn the "ugly" away from the camera. She was extremely bashful and this really hurt her feelings. I think she was a beautiful little girl (of course) and I cannot imagine a photographer saying such a thing today.
You can see the hurt on her cute little face, from what that jerk said to her! I'll bet you'd like to hop in a time machine and tell him a thing or two! I know that people used to do mean things to children, and often thought it was funny! Old movies, including several of the Our Gang shorts, portray adults being just horrible to children. Fortunately, in the movies the adults often "got theirs" by the end!
If she were my mother, I would spend thousands of dollars to restore this photo. What a horribly cruel comment. I was always very insecure as a child due, in part, to five ornery brothers telling me how "ugly" I was. But then something happened. A very kind elementary school photographer told me I looked just like Goldie Hawn. Now, 40-plus years later ... well, Goldie's got some competition!
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5