41 Spot-On Memes That Express The Feelings Words Can’t Capture

Nowadays, memes could arguably be considered an art form or a piece of cultural heritage. Not only do they provide a much-needed giggle to people of all walks of life, they also help immortalize the realities of current society, this way allowing future generations to see what people were mostly focusing on or dealing with at a certain time.

Take the cartoon from 1921, for instance, found in the satirical magazine The Judge (published by the University of Iowa), which is considered by some to be one of the first memes ever recorded. Following the common ‘expectations vs. reality’ template, it is a drawing of a gentleman as he imagines himself looking when a flashlight (photograph) is taken vs. a drawing of what he actually looks like.

While probably quite a few people back in the early 1920s could have related to the unmet expectations of taking a flashlight, nowadays individuals might have to make a quick internet search to be sure what that is exactly; and that perfectly sums up the actualities of both—societies back then and now.