Behind the Awkwardness: Northern Exposure
February 3rd, 2010
“This is my family in the 90′s. We lived in Alaska at the time, so I guess my
parents thought our relatives would like to see us as Eskimos.”
(submitted by Ashley)
Tags: matchy-matchy, props
My brother and I have this exact picture, from the 90s, when we lived in Alaska. Never thought it was that embarrassing until now…
HA! I Currently live in Alaska, and work for the Photography company that TOOK this picture! How do I know this, you ask? Because at Christmas time, I was the photographer using this exact background, with these exact furs, and that exact Dog sled!
It’s great to see that the snowy Eskimo-in-a-Dog sled look is Timeless!!
nice furs.
wow.. nice quality. what a collection!
they must be real heavy. what a beauty.
and as a kid, i always wanted a real pelt, with the face on there… ah…
I also lived in Alaska in the 90s and we have the same family picture at home! And just in case anyone was super worried, they’re fake furs. Real fur is expensive and no photographer is going to buy a ton of furs that have a good chance of being ruined just for family portraits being taken down at the mall or the family center on Base.
If you’re really sure they’re fake, then mea culpa for the comment I wrote before. I don’t mean to persecute anyone who didn’t deserve it. No hard feelings. Now don’t anybody start in with the “I told you so.”
Can’t believe nobody’s said it yet:
“When in Nome….”
Lets go to Alaska everyone!
Wow. What really struck me here was that this is a really NORMAL picture for me. I think most everyone who has lived here (in Alaska) has seen these types of pictures or been in one at some point. Tourists get them taken more often than locals I think. And no, they aren’t wearing their own fur coats, they are just props from the studio usually.
Where is PETA?
Lol my family took a picture just like this, in the 90′s when we lived in Alaska.
We killed fifteen foxes to say “MERRY CHRISTMAS!”
Sarah Palin’s sister’s family portrait?
HA-Nope, I’ve seen one of Palin and her family just like this though. They pull it off a little better though cause her husband is part Eskimo- and her girls looked like Eskimo babies when they were little.
I have a picture almost exactly like this made of me when I was about 5. They had this eskimo photobooth thing down in the Sullivan arena and my mom thought it would be cute to get one made of me… for reasons I still don’t understand.
I think it’s one of those mandatory things you have to do at least once while living in Alaska… I was born in Anchorage and lived there for 13 years… so I know would know, lol
My family and I have photos exactly like this too. Oh, to be Alaskan.. Ridiculous, really.
How many animals had to be injured in the making of this photo?
If you don’t have anything nice to say…
We have a family portrait exactly like this from back in the days when WE lived in Alaska!! No joke. We also have portraits of both me and my younger brother as babies dressed in mukluks and boots, sitting on snowshoes.
I think that maybe this sort of thing is was a 90′s Alaskan tradition.
HHHHHEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYY KIDS LETS GET ON OUR COATS THAT YOUR UNCLE EARL SHOT…..I MEAN BOUGHT
I wonder what PETA thinks of this.
(I wonder how many people have mentioned PETA already).
I think I feel like some hummus right now.
My family (dogs included) had that same pic taken in 96-97ish at Elmendorf AFB, right outside Anchorage. Its still hanging on the wall at my parents’ house…
I hope they didnt send this family pic to PETA… lol
Did you think about sending that picture to PETA (that association that protect animals and hate when people wear fur…)?
hahhahahaha yeah and i bet they also live in an igloo and car pool on the dog sled to work
It may just be the glasses and mustache, but the dude looks a little like an older version of Tobias Funke.
The Donner party embarks….
As for the fur comments – they are dressing up like eskimos. What natural fiber would eskimos be able to find that would keep them warm enough to survive winter on the tundra? Uh huh. It’s easy to be anti-fur when you live in California next to a hemp shop.
Amen sista! I had a rabbit hat, beaver mittens, seal skin boots, and a wolf ruff to go around my face. I guess you can call me an animal lover. :0)
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if he had a chainsaw?
I live in AK now and I KNEW this was taken up here before I even read it! Not because everyone wears fur up here, but when someone does wear fur, they go ALL OUT.
Many animals were used in the making of this photograph….
And yes, They were tasty!
no, meat is usually not eaten in the fur industry. ex.: annual Canadian seal hunts – done for fashion only.
wow that is all i have to say
I’m not convinced Mom and Dad need all this fur to stay warm….
How much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?
Someone could make a couple of nice crossbows out of that dogsled.
OMG!!!
So this is what the neighbors did to our cats!!! I KNEW IT!!!
Poor Fluffy! Poor Zippy!
Ewwww… it looks like Mittens is now actually a pair of… oh dear…
I am a fly fisherman and i tie my own flies, They are wearing a fortune in fly tying material.
All I have to say is thank God THIS family isn’t just wearing leaves!
Now that would be awkward.
Holy squirrel hides, the dad is killing me. But, you do need to stay warm on your toboggan at olan mills.
Yuck, fur.
Agreed, yuck. I actually have a PET fox, so stuff like this just makes me feel sick to my stomach.
Screw PETA! I didn’t just go through 13 million years of evolution, fight and struggle to get on top of the food chain to become a vegetarian.
unfortunately YOU apparently traded intelligence for alleged food chain dominance.. and regarding that, you’re far from the top of the food chain genius
Grrrr
You can all stop bickering now that I, the food chain genius, have arrived. I will also personally vouch for the whereabouts of Ida during this whole exchange.
Now, move along…
Yes, Ida, tell us, when was the last time you personally hunted and killed your dinner, outside of your local Applebee’s?
[Disclaimer: I am a carnivore, but don't pretend to like the way the meat gets to my plate. But I eat it, and enjoy it anyway. I'm conflicted.]
Yeah, Ida! How dare you come on a serious website like this and make a joke!!
You’re right Steph. I’m usually right there with you, poking fun at those who are getting too serious here. Looking at this exchange now, I just didn’t recognize that Ida was making a joke. My apologies
Won’t happen again…
HA Ha HA! That should have been the caption!!!
btw…I think a pre-requisite for going on this site is a sense of humor!
13 million years, huh? Willard Scott needs to hear about you.
BTW, I’d bet the average adult lion or bear on its *worst* day is still higher on the food chain than most of us…
How is going through 13 million years of evolution that equates to “fight and struggle” get us at the point where we have to wear someone else’s skin? That’s pure de-evolution. I don’t consider it fair that we fight animals with machines.. (guns), when they just have claws. After we all kill ourselves with greed, corporate control, nuclear war, many non-human species’ will thrive, re-form the earth with natural, non-destructive instinct, and laugh at us all…. extinct humans. Wake up.
Oh my gosh. A lot of you people need to lighten up. Or else, let’s persecute this (obviously cold) family for wearing animal skin that were probably already dead for twenty years when they wore them TWENTY YEARS AGO. I’m pretty sure I can look at every picture in here and find something on which to take a stand. *Gasp* Easter Bunny! Are you people proud for paganizing a holiday for which Christ rose from the tomb? *Gasp* Floor lamps! Oh how COULD they? *Gasp* (insert anti-progress, anti-war, anti-capitalist, profound, internet commentary here)! THE HORROR! I’m awake and I’m happy, but oh, it only must be because I see everything through rose-colored glasses.
When they put up the hoods are they aardvarks, like in “Better Off Dead”? That would be cool.
That’s too funny!!
I want my two dollars
Go that way really fast. When something gets in your way, turn!
So THAT’s what Alaskans look like…
No, it’s not.
HA! HA! HA! HA! Beautiful response.
Dad looks like a professor I work with. I’ll never see him the same way again.
HAHAHA!! I also lived in Alaska in the mid 90′s and if this was taken sometime around 1996, 1997 in Anchorage, I think I know where it was taken at!!! I worked in the mall that they used to take these “sled dog” pictures. Too funny!
haha, I live in Alaska now and I think everyone has a picture of a dog sled mine was at alyeska
They still do these at the Anchorage Market in the summer. I was thinking about it. Not so much any more ..lol
You always look at these and don’t expect to see anyone you know. Imagine my surprise when I scrolled down to see my best friend and neighbor from middle school. Atleast you were living in Alaska at the time. Would have been really awkward if you were living down south.
Very true, Kristen, very true.
Sarah Palins’ Extended family!!
ROFL!!!!! But could they see Russia from their house!
She never said that- it was Tina Fey
SICK.