Dead Dreamboats

My friend, Courtney, and I share the hobby of drooling over dead guys. It sounds weird I know, but…. ok, it’s weird. I take a lot of comfort in knowing we’re not alone. My Daguerrotype Boyfriend is dedicated to the early photographs of hot dead guys.

The first time I realised I crushed on long-gone hotties was during a music history course at university. His name was Gustav Mahler, and aside from composing some of the most beautiful music ever written (am I biased?) and being a total hottie, he also died 75 years before I was born. It wasn’t until I met Courtney that I realised I wasn’t alone in my infatuation.

Gustav Mahler, composer and hot stuff

I discovered heaps of hot dead dudes sprinkled throughout New Zealand’s history.

Barry Brown, NZ boxer and cutie patootie

Barry Brown, boxer, standing on a ladder which is propped against the exterior of a building. Negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: EP/1957/0387-2-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22448353

George Nepia, All Black and alright in my book

Alexander Turnbull, NZ merchant, dreamboat and Keanu Reeves doppelgänger

Alexander Turnbull, bonafide hottie and Keanu Reeves lookalike. More officially: Weyde, van der, fl 1877-1902. Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull - Photograph taken by Van der Weyde. Ref: 1/2-032603-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22461338 — Weyde, van der, fl 1877-1902. Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull – Photograph taken by Van der Weyde. Ref: 1/2-032603-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22461338

I suppose fawning over cute dead guys is really no different from a tween plastering posters of Justin Bieber above her bed, but at least I’m forced to learn a little history while I trawl the archives of historic photographs in search of cute boys. Perhaps we should introduce a Cute Dead Guys subject into the curriculum.