Fact Check

Ugly Children Disposal

A photograph of a child standing in a litter container next to a sign that reads "Dispose of Your Ugly Children Here" is fake.

Published Dec. 1, 2015

Claim:
A photograph shows a child standing in a litter container next to a sign that reads "Dispose of your ugly children here."

An old photograph purportedly documenting a child standing in a litter container next to a sign reading "Dispose of your ugly children here" took another viral lap around the internet after it was shared by the "History in Pictures" Twitter account on 30 November 2015.

This image has been circulating online since at least 2007, when it was posted to the LOLHome web site. Clearly, however, the picture is the product of someone's employing digital manipulation to alter the wording on the sign as captured in the source photo.

The original 1928 photograph, which is part of Getty Images' "Best of News" archive, was a humorous one that pictured a child standing in a litter receptacle next to a sign reading "PLEASE KEEP OFF THE GRASS" (the joke being that the child had been placed in the receptacle in order to enforce her compliance with the sign's request):

The Getty Images caption for this photograph simply reads "A child standing in a park rubbish bin" and is dated 1 October 1928.

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.

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