Use This to Keep the Mice and Rats Away

A cyanotypes photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

"You can use this to keep the mice and rats away. Yes, I will keep the dog in and put out the key. A.S."

Addressed to: Miss Maud W. Parker, North Lubec, Maine.

Postmarked: South Lubec, ME, Oct. 18, 1906, and North Lubec, ME, Oct. 18, 1906.

The joke about a photographic portrait being so bad or ugly that it scares away rodents, insects, and burglars was evidently a common one in the early twentieth century. Another version, for instance, appeared in a 1911 letter sent to American musician and composer William D. Dawson:

"My Dear Mr. Armstrong: I duly received, welcome, and possessed myself of your portrait and am glad to have it. At the same time I am ashamed to recall that I have so long neglected to acknowledge it or to send the reciprocal photo to you. I have autographed one this evening and it will be shipped by freight tomorrow. It is warranted to scare away rats and burglars" (see W. T. Norton, William Dawson Armstrong, American Composer, New York: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1916, p 87).

For another 1906 real photo postcard with a "scare away the rats" joke, see Guaranteed to Rid Any Cellar of Rats, Roaches, or Other Creatures (below).