This photo on Getty was called “Loretta Layson Buys an Old Mirror,” which, quite apart from reminding me of Kristin Wiig’s brilliant Liza Minnelli Tries to Turn Off a Lamp, is a very strange caption considering she had already bought the mirror and appears to have taken it home to snuggle up to it in her nightie. The caption also notes that Loretta was a noted collector of mirrors, which is intriguing if true, because I don’t think she ever became a particularly noted actress. This was taken exactly 90 years ago today, in 1932, when Loretta was barely embarking upon a decade-long career that never progressed beyond “Young Matron” and “Girl in the Navy Yard.” I have to assume this was little more than a studio- or agent-driven shoot designed to… I don’t know, promote her ability to hold mirrors with feeling and pretend it was just for her own fulfillment rather than at the behest of a nearby lens? Then again… wait a second, isn’t this basically what influencers do on social media? DID LORETTA LAYSON INVENT INSTAGRAM?

[Photo: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystine via Getty Images]