Real Photo Postcards

Caption at bottom (difficult to see): "179. Copper River Salmon, Cordova , Alaska. Photocraft." Sign on building: "Northern Meat [Market]." Addressed on the other side to Bob Bern, Seward, Alaska, and postmarked Cordova, Alaska, Sep. 30, 1937. Message: "Dear Bob, How is everybody in Seward? Cordova ain't so bad, but I haven't met any girls yet. We are about a half a mile from town so I go every day. Write some time and let me know how you are. Vic Hughes, c/o Wright & Stock, Cordova, Alaska."

Yet another Halloween photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A real photo postcard with a Halloween portrait of kids (including twins?), a cat, and a jack-o'-lantern all posing on the front porch (see also a cropped version of the photo). The family sent this as a Christmas greeting (notice the decorative holly leaves and berries added at the bottom) to Miss Geneva B. Haley, Cornish, Maine. The card was postmarked in Brunswick, Maine, on December 17, 1943. Handwritten message on the other side: "Yours was a lovely card. Peter read it to the other children. It's their favorite Christmas carol. Greetings from all, Cecil & Marion." I don't recall ever seeing any other Halloween-themed Christmas cards.

For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard.

An additional Halloween photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park ( post as many photos as you want--no limit!--that relate directly or indirectly to Halloween ). I'm not certain whether this photo was actually taken at Halloween, but I wouldn't want to run into this scary group in a dark alley on trick-or-treat night. See also the full version of this real photo postcard.

See also a cropped version of this real photo postcard.

A hotels/motels photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "The Glen House, Pinkham Notch, White Mountains, N.H." According to Wikipedia, " Glen House was the name of a series of grand resorts, between 1852 and 1893, in Pinkham Notch very near Mount Washington in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA." This seemed puzzling to me, since the Glen House pictured on this real photo postcard certainly wasn't one of those "grand resorts" of the nineteenth century. Fortunately, I discovered Steven Caming's book, Mt. Washington Auto Road (Arcadia Publishing, 2014), which contains a chapter about the history of the Glen House. As Caming explains, there have actually been four different Glen Houses. The one shown here was built in 1925 as the fourth Glen House and "was only a mere shadow of those grand hotels that had come before." So what happened to the previous hotels? All three of them burned to the ground, with accidental fires occurring in 1884, 1893, and 1924. This view of Glen House No, 4 was intended to illustrate what a relaxing and convenient place it was (mouse over the image above to see a cropped version ). A man and women are resting on comfortable chairs in the front yard as a small child plays nearby. Another man has parked his car right in front and is carrying a suitcase up the steps toward the entrance of the hotel. Sad to say, a fourth fire in 1967 destroyed this hotel, too, and put an end to this idyllic scene. Fifty yeas later, however, a fifth Glen House is now under construction and is scheduled to open in June 2018.

For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard.

A memorials photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Inscription on the monument: "The Lost Children of the Alleghenies were found here, May 8, 1856, by Jacob Dibert and Harrison Whysong." See also a detail showing the inscription and the full version of the real photo postcard (below). The Lost Children of the Alleghenies monument stands as a memorial to the sad story of George and Joseph Cox, ages 7 and 5, whose bodies were discovered at the site on May 8, 1856. The boys wandered away from their home in the Allegheny Mountains of northern Bedford County , Pennsylvania, on April 24. The boys' parents sought help when they were unable to locate their children, and hundreds of people eventually came to help search through the mountainous terrain during the following days. After two weeks of searching, however, the boys still had not been found, and the freezing cold weather in the higher altitudes was a cause for concern. A man named Jacob Dibert, who lived some distance away and had not participated in the search, dreamed that he was out in the woods looking for the boys. He dreamed for three nights in succession that he saw a dead deer, a little shoe, and a tree that had fallen across a stream. After crossing the stream, he found the boys' bodies. He sought the help of his brother-in-law, Harrison Whysong, who was familiar with the area where the boys had gone missing. After Jacob described what he saw in his dream, the men attempted to locate the site. They noticed a dead deer, found a boy's shoe, and spotted a tree that had fallen over a stream. They crossed over, and discovered George and Jacob's lifeless bodies. The poignant story of the boys "found by a dream" circulated widely in newspapers and books and by word of mouth. The monument was built and dedicated on May 8, 1906, fifty years after the sad event. For more information, see the Wikipedia article about the Lost Children of the Alleghenies . The boys' story was also the subject of Alison Krauss's 2007 song, "Jacob's Dream."

Inscription on the monument: "The Lost Children of the Alleghenies were found here, May 8, 1856, by Jacob Dibert and Harrison Whysong." For more information, see the cropped version of this real photo postcard.

For more information, see the cropped version of this real photo postcard.

A sailor suits photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "Whiteley Studio, 2345 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, N.J." This little fellow doesn't look too happy at having his picture taken, even though his sailor suit fits in well with the ocean backdrop chosen for this seaside souvenir photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of when I grow up (children dressed as adults or dressed for work, e.g. as policeman, nurse, train driver, etc.) . A real photo postcard addressed on the other side to Mrs. J. O. Hare, #313 Albany Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y., and postmarked September 21, 1909, in Orange Lake, N.Y. Message: "Do you know the little man on the back? Mrs. J. Garrison." This "little man" dressed in overalls looks ready for grown-up work like winching up buckets of water from the well.

A photo of someone/somewhere famous for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Caption at the bottom of this real photo postcard: "#9685. Little Round Top, Gettysburg, Aug. 27-'07." A man and a woman pose for a souvenir photo next to a statue of a famous general— Gouverneur Kemble Warren —at a famous landmark— Little Round Top —on a famous battlefield—the Gettysburg Battlefield . General Warren's statue continued to be a popular subject for photographs. For later examples, see a real photo postcard of two women posed in front of the statue and an even more recent snapshot .

A real photo postcard of two women posing in front of the statue of Union Army General Gouverneur Kemble Warren , which is located at Little Round Top on the Gettysburg Battlefield . For similar photos, see Man and Woman at General Warren Statue, Little Roundtop, Gettysburg, Pa., August 27, 1907 and General Warren Statue at Little Roundtop, Gettysburg, Pa.

An early twentieth-century real photo postcard with the solid three-dimensional letters of "Hearty Christmas Wishes" dramatically positioned against a background of snow-covered trees and hills.

A looking at the camera photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Sign on the wall behind the train: "Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden, 17.9.62" ("Berchtesgaden Salt Mine, 9/17/62.") Twenty-four riders on a mine train are peering intently at the photographer's camera in this souvenir photo from the Berchtesgaden Salt Mine in Bavaria, Germany, on September 17, 1962. For a similar photo from a different mine, see Hallein Salt Mine Tour, near Salzburg, Austria, July 31, 1962

A cyanotype real photo postcard for the Vintage Photos Theme Park theme of pick a particular format (daguerreotype, cabinet card, CDV, real photo postcard, cyanotype, slide, Polaroid, or what have you?) . Handwritten message: "It's been a long time since we saw this, and we will never see it again. I'm sorry it has been destroyed. I haven't forgotten the promised pictures of St. L. You shall have them some day. Yours, J.W." Addressed on the other side to Miss Virginia Stone, Pulaski, Va., and postmarked at Tazewell, Va., on Jan. 24, 1907 (the year is illegible on this card but I have another St. Louis cyanotype from J.W. that was postmarked on Aug. 25, 1907). J.W. and Miss Virginia Stone were two of the more than 19 million people who visited the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. The Ferris Wheel that's visible in this blue-tinted cyanotype photo was originally constructed in 1893 for the Chicago World's Fair . The wheel was disassembled in Chicago, transported to St. Louis, and rebuilt in time for the fair in 1904 (mouse over the image above for an enlarged view of the Ferris Wheel ). After the St. Louis World's Fair ended, the Ferris Wheel met its fate on May 11, 1906, when it was dynamited and sold for scrap. "It's been a long time since we saw this," said J.W. in his note to Virginia in 1907, "and we will never see it again. I'm sorry it has been destroyed." The Missouri Historical Society's World's Fair Ferris Wheel album on Flickr contains photos showing the installation and demolition of the wheel.

For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard.