Real Photo Postcards

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

Agnes Conrad circled her high school portrait (in the lower right-hand corner), which was part of a montage of 98 photos that formed the letters "NCHS" on a real photo postcard in 1915. For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard.

"The March, May 1914." A real photo postcard of a May Day march. A couple of guys with drums are leading the way, and a group of children are carrying a maypole rather than dancing around it. For a better view of the maypole marchers, mouse over the image above to see a cropped version .

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

An unused real photo postcard. There's no handwritten message on the other side, and there's no indication of a photo studio. For more trick photos like this, see my Mirror Photos album.

A photo of hikers from the Victorian era or another time period for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A real photo postcard with a handwritten note: "Taken in Sages Ravine, Mass. Helen Allison." Curiously, although the photo was taken in Massachusetts, the address on the back of the card is "Mrs. A. G. Briggs, Grundy Centre, Grundy Co., Iowa," and the postmark is "Saegerstown, Pa., Aug. 18, 1906."

A real photo postcard with "McDowell Studio, Clearfield, Pa." embossed in the lower right-hand corner. "The Brown Family" is the only thing written on the other side. Nineteen graduating seniors—seventeen young woman and two young men—posed for this photo in 1912. Given the location of the photo studio, these may be Clearfield High School graduates, but I haven't been able to confirm that (one site— Old C.H.S. Yearbooks - The "Bison Project" —reproduces yearbooks from the school but the earliest one currently available is the1915 edition).

An on the road photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "Columbia Highway, Ore. Shepherds Dell, #254. Cross & Dimmitt ." Travelers on what is now called the Historic Columbia River Highway in Oregon stop along the road to look over the side of Shepperds Dell Bridge . See a cropped version of this real photo postcard for a closer look at the bridge and automobile.

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

An on the water photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A curious photo of a boy and a dog in a rowboat out on the water. Both of them are looking toward the photographer, who's on the shore or in another boat. The boy is holding a fish in one hand and a fishing rod in the other, and he's wearing a headdress and other clothing in imitation of Native American garb (for a closer view, see a cropped version ). Along the far shore in the background is what looks like the silhouette of a swan, though it seems much too big to be a real bird. This is an unused real photo postcard with an AZO stamp box on the back that suggests that the photo may date to sometime between 1904 and 1918 (or perhaps later).

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

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo of backyard sports (e.g., croquet, badminton, horseshoe pitching, bocce ball, etc.) . A tinted French real photo postcard from the early twentieth century showing children with a dog and toys, including a hoop and stick, doll, badminton racquet and shuttlecock, jump rope, and rings.

A photo of books for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A real photo postcard of the lighted tables and two-level book stacks in a library, location unknown, unfortunately. Notice the bridge on the far wall that connects the upper level of stacks on the left with those on the right. For another view of a library interior, see Krauth Memorial Library, Mount Airy, Pennsylvania .

A teddy bears photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A real photo postcard of a gathering of women along with their dolls, teddy bears (including a Steiff, I'm told), and maybe one or two stuffed lions or dogs. No date, location, or other information, unfortunately. For close-up views, see cropped versions showing the front row and the two back rows

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

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

A real photo postcard of a man holding a deer head. For a similar photo, see A Man and His Moosehead Bier .

A real photo postcard showing the Tressler Orphans' Home Band. "Tressler" was part of its name beginning sometime in the nineteenth century, so I'm not sure why it's missing from the drum in this early twentieth-century photo. For a later incarnation of the band—with spiffier uniforms and a different drumhead—see Tressler Orphans' Home Band, Loysville, Pa.