Vintage Photos of Groups

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.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo of trains, planes, ships, and buses (people photographed traveling inside one of these modes of transport—preferably shot from the inside) . A souvenir real photo postcard of tourists at the Cliff House restaurant, San Francisco, Calif. They're riding in "Pacific No. 14," one of the Pacific Sightseeing Company's tour buses. Mouse over the image above for a close-up view of the passengers . For similar photos, see the Cliff House Project's Transportation Web page (scroll down to the Tour Buses section).

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

A photo of rocks and stones for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A real photo postcard showing a group of women, men, and children posed on top of a big ol' rock. See also a cropped version of this photo for a close-up of this rock group .

Cropped version of a real photo postcard showing a group on top of a big ol' rock. Notice how some of the women are posing with men's hats perched jauntily on their heads. See also the full version of this photo.

A photo of a school or college group for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Young schoolchildren pose in front of a Christmas tree in their classroom. Take a closer look at the decorations on the tree and the children on the left and on the right.

Notice how the children are facing the front of the classroom, but many of them are looking over at the photographer. Only one of the kids--the girl behind the one with the bow--is smiling. A length of paper chain is lying on one of the wooden school desks.

Some of the kids on this side of the room are also looking at the photographer, and there are more paper chains on the desks.

A classroom Christmas tree adorned with paper chains, teddy bears with movable arms and legs, fireplaces with stockings, and other handmade decorations. See close-ups of the children on the left-hand side of the photo and those on the right-hand side.

The Cosmopolitan Club was the precursor to the International Students Organization at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Springfield College Digital Collections contains additional Cosmopolitan Club photos from various years.

For the Vintage Photos Theme Park, a photo of people photographed in bushes or plants (not beside them but in them--as seen in the Vintage Floraflage group on Flickr) . An early twentieth-century real photo postcard of people dallying in the daisies. For some similar photos, see my Floraflage album.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of making friends with the locals (travelers photographed with people from the indigenous population) . English-language sign on one of the buildings in the background: "Here you can have your photo taken in Volendam costume." The members of a Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) tour group (notice the men's overseas caps ) pose with three young girls who are wearing the traditional clothing of Volendam , a town in the Netherlands (mouse over the image above for a close-up of the girls and part of the group ). For another example of a tourist posing with the locals, see Amish Folks at Dutch Wonderland, Lancaster, Pa.

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

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of trick or treat (go crazy with this one and post as many photos as you want--no limit! Halloween, costumes, masks, skeletons, devils, human monsters, things that go bump in the night, ghostly apparitions, or anything you find scary or creepy) . A real photo postcard addressed on the other side to Miss Lizzie Moyer, Frackville, Pa., and postmarked in Selinsgrove and Frackville, Pa., during December 1905. Handwritten message: "I suppose you will know one among the crowd, Lily Row." The presence of the two jack-o'-lanterns in front of the group suggests that the photo was taken during a Halloween party. In front of the jack-o'-lanterns are ears of corn wrapped in paper or cloth. There's also another pumpkin in the lower left-hand corner of the photo, but this one hasn't been carved into a jack-o'-lantern. Instead, the letters of the alphabet have been stenciled on the pumpkin (see a cropped version of the photo for a better view of the details). I haven't figured out how the partygoers used the ears of corn, but I was able to determine what they did with the stenciled pumpkin. A fortune-telling game listed in a book of Games for Hallow-e'en (Barse and Hopkins, 1912), by Mary E. Blain, p. 21, provides an explanation: Pumpkin Alphabet Carve [or stencil, in this case] all the letters of the alphabet on a medium sized pumpkin. Put it on a dish and set on a stand or table. Each guest in turn is blindfolded and given a hat-pin, then led to pumpkin, where he (she) is expected to stick pin into one of the letters on the pumpkin, thus indicating the initial of future life-partner. Perhaps the wrapped corn was used in a party game, too.

Notice how the letters of the alphabet are stenciled on the pumpkin that's visible in the lower left-hand corner of the photo. For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard.

A photo of two or more people peeking over something for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Seven men and women wearing hats peer over the shrubbery in this undated real photo postcard.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of the secret lives of grown-ups (adults letting loose and having fun or possibly behaving badly with other adults; all in good taste, of course) . Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "Novelty Studio, 1118 First Ave., Seattle." These three couples are ready for a party. The woman on the left, who's a little out of focus for some reason, is holding a ratchet noisemaker . The man in the back on the left is holding a BPO[E] ( Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks ) flag that's draped over the shoulder of the woman in the middle. The woman on the right is holding a mask (mouse over the image for a better look at the noisemaker, flag, and mask ). The man on the right has some sort of flag tucked under his right arm, and all of them except that man are wearing party or regular hats. Were they attending a New Year's party at an Elks Lodge?

The woman on the left is holding a ratchet noisemaker . A BPO[E] ( Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks ) flag is draped over the shoulder of the woman in the middle. The woman on the right is holding a mask. Take a look at the full version of this real photo postcard to see the entire group of partygoers.