When Olan Mills Goes Bad

1. AndyIII
   January 14th, 2009 at 11:18 pm

   My dad still has an Olan Mills picture of my brothers and I from about 1978 hanging up where we all have our arms on a fake piece of 'farm fence' and a paper background behind us of an old mill. It's brutal, and a good laugh for every girlfriend I've taken out there.

2. sadtomato
   January 15th, 2009 at 12:06 am

   Thank you so much for this. I laughed until I cried. I have some Sears photos tucked away too. My mom was unfortunately a big fan of the portrait studio.

3. The El Bee En
   January 15th, 2009 at 1:45 am

   I dunno...I guess humor IS an aquired taste.

4. LisaL
   January 15th, 2009 at 1:49 am

   Ugh.... my mom has a big photo of my brother and I in one of those sears photo things. I'm standing there in a hot pink number with that 80's teased up bangs thing going on, while he's there w/ long hair and his blue NC jacket on lol. It's AWFUL.

5. LisaL
   January 15th, 2009 at 1:50 am

   And I must say, even though the 2 guys in that photo are a bit odd, that woman is gorgeous! Beautiful hair and such a pretty face.

6. JoeD
   January 15th, 2009 at 2:38 am

   An oldie, but a goodie. I hadn't seen this in a while and was hoping more pictures had been added. Alas, it was not the case. Still a good read anyway.

7. SenorMysterioso
   January 15th, 2009 at 4:51 am

   I agree with LisaL, the woman is gorgeous. The kid in the back looks like Shawn White if he was in the Partridge Family.

8. Michael-M
   January 15th, 2009 at 6:46 am

   For seven years I was one of the people on the other side of the camera.
   They photos, poses, and backgrounds may look funny now, but nearly 40 years ago we were creating memories for those involved.
   One particular child had birth defects and I worked for 20 minutes to get some good shots of her.
   Yea whoopee, I hear, 20 whole minutes. The average sitting took under 5 minutes and we did upwards of 400 sittings a day.
   The mother came back the next time I was in town to thank me for my efforts. The little girl had died the day after her 5th birthday, two weeks after the sitting.

9. Evilbeagle
   January 15th, 2009 at 7:42 am

   I was about nine when I had to sit for some of these. The "Thoughtful Lance" type picture brought back some memories. I think my mom still has that one in a frame, which is scary.

10. ted
    January 15th, 2009 at 8:25 am

    Deja vu.
    Still just mildly amusing, if that.

11. Rocky Rook
    January 15th, 2009 at 10:04 am

    What an amazing collection. But I'd surmise that you could go into almost any home and find a box full of these type of pictures.

12. Jessi
    January 15th, 2009 at 10:46 am

    Am I the only one who thinks it looks like her hair ate her neck?

13. Dianne
    January 15th, 2009 at 2:25 pm

    Yea, her hair is really pretty and you can tell she is proud it is taking over the planet.

14. SenorMysterioso
    January 15th, 2009 at 4:01 pm

    Jessi, she has no neck. Her head is held aloft above her body by her magnificent hair

15. sise
    January 15th, 2009 at 4:06 pm

    My mom had one of these taken when she was around my age in like, 200bc, and despite the cheesy background and her funny dress, it is the most gorgeous picture of my mother ever.

    Awww *tear*

16. peril
    January 15th, 2009 at 6:05 pm

    Brilliant!

17. Justin
    January 15th, 2009 at 10:34 pm

    Oh man, I've gotta control my breathing or I'm gonna pass out from laughing! Neatorama you've had some real gut busters today! (well today and yesterday technically)

18. The Slapster
    January 17th, 2009 at 3:51 pm

    Is there a site dedicated to "Glamour Shots" too? Those places should be burned to the ground & seeded with holy salt to keep anything from ever springing up again.

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