photo #8671037

The 'History In Pictures' Twitter account has a lot to answer for. When they shared this snap of an unfortunate child placed in a waste basket next to a shocking sign, it was taken as sinister and abusive. The reality, as it often is, is much, much different. That's not what the sign actually read. Instead of saying, 'Dispose Of Your Ugly Children Here', the note said, 'Please Keep Off The Grass'. It was merely altered later to become more provocative. Getty's 'Best Of News' archive revealed the hoax as a snap from 1928. Parents had likely stuck their daughter inside the bin as a joke. In other words, they were creating internet humour long before the World Wide Web was even a thing. We wonder if they knew what memes were too.