The earliest passports used written descriptions instead of photographs
Imagine trying to pass through border security when all you have to prove your identity is a piece of paper that says “brown hair and freckles.” While that wouldn’t fly today, it’s typically how things worked before passports had photographs. Early passports simply included details such as the holder’s name and the location they were traveling; photography wasn’t invented until the 1820s, and it took many more years for the technology to allow for easy passport photographs. Then around 1825, U.S. passports began to include written descriptions of the subject’s facial features, such as their eyes, forehead, and nose, to help aid in identification, and other countries followed suit.
Imagine trying to pass through border security when all you have to prove your identity is a piece of paper that says “brown hair and freckles.” While that wouldn’t fly today, it’s typically how things worked before passports had photographs. Early passports simply included details such as the holder’s name and the location they were traveling; photography wasn’t invented until the 1820s, and it took many more years for the technology to allow for easy passport photographs. Then around 1825, U.S. passports began to include written descriptions of the subject’s facial features, such as their eyes, forehead, and nose, to help aid in identification, and other countries followed suit.
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