There are some fascinating newspaper columns in The Archive.

While looking for a story about something else (we can’t remember what it was!), we stumbled upon the ‘Our Weekly Portrait’ feature, which was published in ‘The Western Mail’.

The way this column worked was that people would send in a photograph of a person, and a reading of that person’s character would then be published, based on the photograph supplied.

Admittedly, this was all done long before people perfected their ‘serious look’ for passport photos.

In these PC days, we think it unlikely that this column will ever be revived in a modern newspaper.

We also think that SAE is a phrase that, alas, seems to be limping its way (as one of the ‘walking wounded’ words) into the history books.

The Western Mail – 5 November 1898

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http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000104/18981105/159/0014