It may have taken Oxford Dictionaries till 2013 to name the word “Selfie” as the Word of the Year, but selfies have been in existence before the duck face – or even the smile – were popular picture expressions! As a testament to our new word of the year, here are some of the best vintage selfies from well before the invention of the smartphone or the webcam or (gasp) Instagram, dating all the way back to the 1800s.
1. Robert Cornelius, 1839
2. Belgian artist Henri Evenepoel, 1898
3. Woman, 1900
4. Australian artist Harold Cazneaux, 1910
5. Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, 1914
6. Trooper George Simpson Millar, 1915
7. Gunner Thomas Charles Richmond Baker, 1917
8. Street Cart Photographer, 1930
9. Chaloner Woods, 1938
10. Florence Vandamm, 1947
11. Fox Staff Photographer, 1948
12. Jackie Kennedy, 1954
13. Rene Jules Gustave, 1959
14. Terry Fincher, 1966
15. Rick Smith, 1970