Arris Poulos was 27 and had returned from World War II when he had to face something no army had prepared him for.
On April 22, 1946, at Lutheran Hospital in New York, his wife Nora gave birth to triplets, all boys. At the time, ultrasounds were not available for prenatal care, so many fathers didn’t find out they were having multiple babies until they were in the delivery room. Three nurses and a doctor were holding the newborns while Arris, pictured, leaned backward, his head drooping and eyes closed, as if the world had suddenly gone dark for him.
The curious thing is that no one in the picture seems worried. Everyone is smiling. The reason is that the news caption that accompanied the photo when Associated Press distributed it explained that it was a humorous reenactment: a pose for the camera with all the theatricality of the era. Although over the years some archives mistakenly described it as an actual fainting spell, the original record confirms that it was a comedic stunt.
The photo appeared in newspapers across the United States and abroad, and decades later it still makes people who see it laugh.