By now, it’s hard to find someone out there who hasn’t taken a selfie.
It’s okay to admit it. There’s no shame in taking a photo or yourself in front of the State House or out to dinner with some friends.
Selfies are just a part of everyday life these days, and you might as well get on board with it. While it seems to be a relatively newer craze – and one that’s basically taken over the world – pictures of one self have been around for quite some time.
Bill Luti got in on the fun a little over 70 years ago. It was the spring of 1946 and Luti was at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Corona, Calif. He had returned state side in August 1945 after serving in World War II. But before his discharge from the Navy, it was determined he had Tuberculosis.
Anyway, he and his wife Marjorie Barnes Luti, who Luti had married on Valentine’s Day 1946, were on the grounds of the hospital and with a picturesque little pond as their back drop, the two wanted a picture. There was only one problem: there wasn’t a sole in sight.
So Luti set up his Kodak Box Camera on a rock, found a long stick and the two sat got in position with the pond in the back ground.
“I wanted to find some way to get a picture of the two of us and there was no one around to take it,” Luti said.
Luti, using the stick, reached out and pressed the camera button to capture the moment. Gives a whole new meaning to the term selfie stick.
As you can see, it came out quite nice, not blurry and good composition.
“I was surprised it came out as well as it did,” Luti said.
And the Luti’s didn’t have the ability to see it instantaneously like we do now. They had to wait for the film to be developed. Yes kids, there was a day when pictures were taken using film.
And Luti, who moved to Concord in 1957 with Marjorie and the two were married 59 years before she passed away last year, recently came across it and just wanted to share what is the earliest selfie we’ve ever printed.
“I think it’s interesting that I had this in my possession,” Luti said. “Thought people would like to see it.”
