Children in Vintage Photos

Lists of ingredients and descriptions of the procedures for making "Butter Cake" with "Boiled Frosting" appear on the chalkboard behind the teacher and students in this image from an early twentieth-century photo postcard. See also the full version of this photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of side by side . Five girls with dolls stand side by side as they pose for a photo. The girl on the right seems to be smiling and is looking toward the camera, but the other four have glum expressions with downcast eyes (see a cropped version of the photo for a better view of their faces). Are the four glum girls annoyed at having their picture taken? Is the smiling girl happy with her doll and are the others disappointed with theirs for some reason? It's difficult to tell what's going on. This is an unused real photo postcard with an Azo stamp box design (four corner triangles pointing up) on the other side, which indicates a date that may be as early as 1904 to 1918.

A real photo postcard of five girls holding dolls. For more information, see the full version of this photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of on vacation / holiday . Sign: "The Club." Life preserver: "U.S. Vol. Life Saving Corps." This is a hand-tinted real photo postcard addressed on the other side to Miss G. Manning, 331 W. 29 St., N.Y. City. It was postmarked at Midland Beach , Staten Island, N.Y., and New Dorp , N.Y., on August 25, 1908. Handwritten message (with original spelling): "Dear Grace, I'm having a splendid vacation down here. We have a bungaloe down here for the month of August & part of Sept. It's great sport. I would have written sooner but never think of writing down here. I didn't attent that millinery class in the YWCA because you didn't. Love, F. Cooper." Added to the message: "Drop me a card. My address -- name. c/o W. H. Putnam, New Dorp, St. Island, N.Y. Woodland Beach." See also the full version of this card.

A real photo postcard from 1908. For more information, see the cropped version of the card.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of at the playground . Five girls pose on playground equipment in Mayo Park, Rochester, Minnesota, circa 1910. Caption on the front of this real photo postcard: "The Playground. Mayo Park. 143." Printed on the other side: "Bert Crowell, Rochester, Minn." Postmarked in Rochester, Minn., May 14, 1910, and addressed to "Miss Hilda Swanson, #85 Cambridge Ave., St. Paul, Minn. Macalaster Park, c/o James Beddie." Handwritten message: "Rochester, Minn. Dear Aunt Hilda, I have not heard from you for a long time, but I had a card from Myrtle today and she said you had gone to St. Paul to live. Mama has been sick all the time lately. She seems to have a cold all the time. She has been lying down all morning. I hope she gets better. How are poor little James and William. Mama says that she wishes you would write soon and tell her. With love and kisses, Beth."

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of three in the front / two in the back . The handwriting on the other side of this real photo postcard indicates that the photo was "Taken July 9, 1911" and this copy of it was intended for "Mrs. O. W. Wesner." For a similar souvenir photo with an automobile, see Out for a Drive in Coney Island .

Printed on the other side of this real photo postcard: "Souvenir Post Card, Seagate Photo-Studio, Coney Island, New York. Mrs. Quartner, Prop., Surf Ave., Opp. 15th Street."

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of school days . This is a real photo postcard that's dated 1913 on the other side. The photo shows a teacher and her students at Rhode's School, a one-room schoolhouse -- now a private residence -- located along Old U.S. 22 about two miles east of Krumsville in Greenwich Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. A local publication reprinted this photo in 1969 with the following caption: "The teacher in this picture was Miss Carrie W. Kline [1857-1931], a native of Richmond Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. She was a graduate of the Keystone State Normal School [now Kutztown University ], class of 1877. She started teaching at the age of 19 and followed the profession for fifty years in the schools of Penna. She taught at Rhode's School from 1908 to 1915." -- From Da Ausauga (Kempton, Pa.: Fereinicht Pennsylfawnish Deitsch Fulk, Inc.), vol. 9, no. 4 (June-July 1969), p. 1.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of (modest) bathtub shots . Mom is smiling but Junior looks a little worried as dad snaps a photo at bath time. For a basin instead of a bathinette, see Baby in a Basin, Photographed by Galen Piper, Bainbridge, Pa.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of photo with decorative border or frame . Printed on the other side of this real photo postcard: "White House Photo Parlor, W. H. Burnham, Prop., 25 Clinton Ave., Cortland, N.Y." A portrait of a young girl with glasses. Her dress has a lacy collar, she has a bow in her hair, and she's wearing a necklace and a lapel watch with chain. The type of Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) printed on the other side suggests a date that may be as early as 1904 to 1918. Compare the oval border of this photo with the one used for Man's Portrait in Elaborate Border .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of a high school prom photo (yours or someone else's) or any photo of a dressed-up couple , Handwritten note on the other side of the photo: "May 17th, 1969. Prom." A prom photo taken over fifty years ago. Anyone know the meaning of the symbols on the mat-like wall decorations? For another prom photo, see Prom Night .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of infant adoration (babies with those who love them) . This is an unused real photo postcard with a nicely lit portrait of a doting mother and her young child. The Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) printed on the other side indicates that the photo may date to sometime between 1904 and 1918.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of tricks or treats! (any kind of Halloween photo, including costumes, masks, jack-o'-lanterns, decorations, ghosts, skeletons, haunted houses, or anything spooky, scary, or frightening; no limit—post as many Halloween photos as you'd like!) . As far as I've been able to determine, the boy in this photo is wearing a Fred Flintstone costume -- a Ben Cooper TV Hero Costume -- that dates to 1966. He's posing behind three jack-o'-lanterns. Note the flame at the top of the middle one and the used matchsticks on the floor.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of leave-taking photos (at the door, next to the car, or near the front gate as visitors are getting ready to depart) . A young man and woman pause at the front gate as a photographer snaps a photo. Are they getting ready to leave to go somewhere together, or have they just returned? Both of them appear to be dressed up, and the man is holding an umbrella while the woman has a rolled-up piece of paper in her hands. Two buildings stand across the road, and a hill with trees is visible beyond them. In the foreground, a young boy is grinning and looking up at the photographer. This is an unused real photo postcard with only a name, "Doroles," written on the back. The Velox stamp box (with diamonds in the corners and "Place Stamp Here" in the middle) on the other side indicates that it may date to as early as 1907 to 1917.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of odd, unusual, or quirky . Trick photos with double exposures usually involve typical scenes with props like wheelbarrows (see A Man Simultaneously Pushing and Riding a Wheelbarrow ) or playing cards ( Aunt Maggie's Trick Shot ). The setting for this one, however, is rather unusual. A huge pile of firewood dominates the scene. On the left, two boys stand at the bottom of the woodpile. Partially visible behind them is a farm wagon and beyond the wagon are some trees. Both boys are looking toward the photographer. One of them is pointing toward the top of the pile and wielding a piece of wood as if he intends to use it as a weapon. The other boy is about to start climbing up the pile. On the right, standing at the top of the woodpile are the same two boys. They're both drawing bows as if they're about to shoot arrows, but neither of them has an arrow. So, it appears that the storyline is that the boys are about to climb the woodpile to stop themselves from shooting arrows as they stand on top of the pile. Or at least that's all I can make of it.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of toys or gifts . A Christmas photo of a girl, who is smiling and seems happy, and her doll, who is rigid and tense -- and seems a little scary! Before you cautiously back up and quietly exit the house, take note of the metallic Christmas tree, the granny square afghan on the chair, and the girl's striped shirt and Santa pin. For another potentially scary situation, see The Doll Waited Patiently for Them to Come Home .

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.) . It also fits the monthly theme of group portraits . Caption in the upper right-hand corner: "The Deestrick Skule." A penciled-in dealer's note on the other side identifies the location as "Strasburg, Pa." This is a photo of children dressed in costumes to portray pupils, the schoolmaster, school committee members, and local citizens for a play about the funny goings-on at the old-time "Deestrick Skule" or district school -- the one-room schoolhouse of the early nineteenth century (not the school districts that resulted from the later consolidation of these small schools). Mrs. M. H. Jaquith of Topeka, Kansas, was the author of The Deestrick Skule of Fifty Years Ago (1888) and "Exerbition" of the Deestrick Skule of Fifty Years Ago (1890). Both of these provided scripts and suggestions for producing local theatrical productions that could accommodate fifty or more participants (there are forty kids in this photo). The Cyko stamp box (Cyko 5, variation A2.66) on the other side of this divided-back real photo postcard has an earliest known usage date of May 2, 1910, according to Brogan and Weseloh's Real Photo Postcard Guide (2006).