An old technique to keep children still while in front of the camera?

[Ian Jarvis Whitfield]

This is my first post...You need to zoom in on the faces of these children and you will see that each and everyone has a loop of thread, or whatever, gripped between their lips.  Nobody I have asked so far has ever seen this before. 

Was it a common event in 1900, when this picture was taken in Yorkshire, to keep the little dears still?

[Ian Jarvis Whitfield]

I believe each child has a device held between their lips, possibly with a bead or button or similar, attached and appearing to be a hole, to avoid the child actually swallowing it in error.  I imagine a photo like this in those days required them to sit or stand very still for much longer than we are used to seeing today. Even today a smile is quite hard to hold for any time, and in this way, they were able to retain an expression while the camera did its work.  I am surprised that, so far, nobody has told me it happened all the time, but to be honest, many photos of this age are so small and, maybe, out of focus, you might never see the device.  How do you feel now, Gavin?

[Gavin Maitland]

So are you saying that the 'holes' are not in the print but actually in the children lips?!!

[Ian Jarvis Whitfield]

I'm afraid I don't accept your comment.  I have seen the original print but only borrowed it to scan.  I guess it is fair to say at present that nobody has a better explanation than mine.  Anybody else out there?

[Gavin Maitland]

Looking closely you can see that there are holes in the lips of the figures suggesting that the string was added to the photograph and notto the sitters themselves. have you seen the original photo or just a scan? It is interesting either way but is probably more likely to relate to some provincial English custom/superstition than what you suggest.