Vintage Photos of Groups

A waiting photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. This snapshot shows a crowd of people standing along both sides of a wide tree-lined street. Across the street is a bus, and there are various buildings in the distance, but there's nothing that identifies the location. In the foreground, a man is looking down the street to the left, and next to him a woman is glancing back toward the photographer--perhaps she's a friend or family member. Visible on the lamppost near the woman is what I think the photographer was trying to capture--a poster of Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower with the caption, "Welcome, Ike. Buy extra E bonds" (mouse over the image to see an enlargement ). After a couple of Google searches, I located a front-page article in the Daily Republican , Monongahela, Pennsylvania, June 18, 1945, that mentioned the poster: "If Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower has any loose money lying around, he'll know what to do with it after today. On practically every lamppost along his homecoming parade route is a big poster bearing his photograph and the words: 'Welcome Ike. Buy extra E bonds.'" In 1945, General Eisenhower, who was later to become the thirty-fourth U.S. President (1953-1961), returned home to the United States following the end of World War II in Europe, which occurred on May 8 (hostilities didn't end in the Pacific, of course, until later that year). He continued to promote the sale of E bonds , which were U.S. Savings Bonds used to finance the war effort. So it's possible that the people in this photo are waiting to see General Eisenhower in a homecoming parade on June 18, 1945, in Monongahela, or maybe the parade actually took place in nearby Pittsburgh. Or perhaps this photo was taken at another in a series of homecoming parades for General Eisenhower. In any case, it's interesting to catch a glimpse of the people who were there in this little window to the past.

For more information, see the uncropped version of this photo:

"Pomeroy's Juvenile Hour. WEEU. Bernie, program director. Photo by Pomeroy's." Pomeroy's was a department store that had locations in Reading, Harrisburg, Wilkes-Barre, and other Pennsylvania cities. This real photo postcard, which shows the Reading store in the upper left-hand corner, was used to advertise Pomeroy's Juvenile Hour radio show, which debuted sometime in the 1930s. Various local radio stations carried the show, including WEEU in Reading and WHP in Harrisburg. Pomeroy's ran ads for the Juvenile Hour in newspapers, too, as this excerpt from the Harrisburg Telegraph , Sept. 29, 1932, p. 8, demonstrates: "Pomeroy's, 'Harrisburg's Greatest Department Store,' Saturday, 9:30 a.m. You are invited to attend our first 'Juvenile Hour' radio broadcast direct from our broadcasting studio on the third floor. See and hear Harrisburg's future radio stars as they broadcast over radio station WHP. These performers are all between the ages of 2 and 12, and you'll marvel at their exhibition. If you are unable to attend the broadcast in person, tune in at 9:30 Saturday morning on station WHP and you'll get an hour of radio sunshine and happiness that will thrill you for a long time to come. Pomeroy's 'Juvenile Hour' will be on the air every Saturday morning, 9:30 to 10:30."

A Vintage Photos Theme Park posting for the topic of hands/feet (a photo in which hands or feet are prominent)--if you have both, please feel free to post 2 photos . All but one of the gents in this photo have raised one of their hands in order to point upward with their index fingers (mouse over the image for a closer look ). Are they pointing toward heaven? Is their sports team ranked number 1? Whatever their gestures might mean, the guys certainly don't look too enthusiastic about it.

For more information, see the uncropped version of this photo:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park posting for the topic of hands/feet (a photo in which hands or feet are prominent)--if you have both, please feel free to post 2 photos . This jolly bunch documented their trip on board the steamer Dubuque by writing "STR DUBUQUE" on the bottom of their shoes and then propping their feet up for the photo (mouse over the image for a better view of the shoes). If you look closely enough, you may be able to see a faint erased "S" on the "T" shoe. Notice also the steamboat's smokestack, which is located behind the boy on the right. Part of the boat's decorative trim is visible to the right of the smokestack, too. This Dubuque was the fourth and last steamboat with that name, according to the Encyclopedia Dubuque . The description for a postcard in the collection of the Davenport Public Library (see Steamer Dubuque on Mississippi River ) provides some additional details about this Dubuque , which was "a stern wheel packet steamboat originally named Pittsburgh and built at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1879. It was rebuilt at Dubuque, Iowa, in 1896 for the Diamond Jo Line and renamed Dubuque . The boat sank in 1901 but was raised and Streckfus Steamers [another steamboat company] took over. In 1919-1920 it was converted to an excursion boat and renamed Capitol ." Given that chronology, it seems likely that this photo was taken sometime in the 1900s or 1910s. Whatever the date, I'd wager that this photo was a shoe-in for the funniest one taken of this bunch during their excursion on the steamer Dubuque .

For more information, see the uncropped version of this photo:

"61. House of David - Benton Harbor, Mich." The House of David was a religious commune in Benton Harbor , Michigan, whose members performed in touring bands (like the one above), played on baseball teams, and ran an amusement park that featured miniature trains (like the ones below). Benjamin Purnell (see below) and his wife Mary formed the group in 1903.

Four men and two women pose for a photo in front of a house, date and location unknown. One of the men is holding two dogs, and the other three are carrying rifles (mouse over the image above for a close-up view of the scene). All of the armed men are also wearing light-colored armbands or shoulder patches. Could they be getting ready to go on a hunting trip?

See also the full version of this real photo postcard:

A breakfast photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. (In selecting images for the VPTP, I normally attempt to find a new photo that I haven't previously posted on Ipernity. But the frig was bare when I went to look for breakfast, so I'm reheating this pic for this week's theme.) An early photo mounted on cardboard captures a group of young women in a student dormitory room (note the bed with folded blanket at lower right). These fourteen ladies have apparently crowded into a single room to share breakfast. Many of them are holding doughnuts, and one--standing in the corner at right--is eating a banana. Some of the students are pretending to feed each other, and a number of them have their eyes closed, possibly due to whatever the photographer used for a flash. Various photos and artworks adorn the walls, including a print hanging in the upper right-hand corner that's derived from Heinrich Hofmann 's painting of Christ in Gethsemane (1890). The blinds on the window at the back of the room are pulled down, and what seems to be an American flag is partially hidden in the folds of the curtains. There wasn't any caption or description on the photo, unfortunately, and we may never know what special occasion or celebration it was that prompted this dorm-room get-together.

A crowds photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "Real photograph printed from negative by Harper B. Smith , 1637 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, N.J." Addressed to: "Mrs. Roy H. Passmore, Christiana, Lanc. Co., Penna." Handwritten message: Dear Dot - Does thee see the girls that are marked—they are our bunch & also "The Man of the Hour"? (Woodrow)? People are naming their kiddies after him thee know. Tell Agnes Schultz [that the] girls got homesick and went home and I am working here at one of the best places if not the best. Spent one week boarding & "doing it" as that crazy song says. Met a very nice girl from Wilmington whom I like very much. Hetty Marked Girls Hetty points out the "girls that are marked" on the photo (mouse over the image above for an enlargement showing the marks ). I'm not sure whether these are the same girls who left after getting homesick. Woodrow Wilson That's Woodrow Wilson , governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913 and president of the United States from 1913 to 1921, who's addressing the audience in this photo (mouse over the image for a close-up of Wilson ). Although I haven't been able to confirm it, the unfinished brick wall on the lower right-hand side suggests to me that this may be a view of Wilson's speech during the laying of the cornerstone for the new YMCA building (now the John Brooks Recovery Center ) on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on July 10, 1912. Wilson appeared in front of a crowd of about 5,000 on that day in one of his first appearances after receiving the Democratic nomination for president on July 2 (see " Wilson at Cornerstone Laying ," Reading Eagle [Reading, Pa.], July 10, 1912, p. 9). As Hetty alluded to in her message, Wilson used "The Man of the Hour" as his slogan when he ran for president in 1912, and he was apparently popular enough that some parents did name their children after him. One famous namesake, for instance, was Woodrow Wison "Woody" Guthrie , who was born on July 14, 1912, and grew up to become a famous folksinger and composer of songs like " This Land Is Your Land ." Doing It Hetty mentions that she "Spent one week boarding & 'doing it' as that crazy song says." The song was " Everybody's Doin' It Now" (1911), by Irving Berlin. What was it that everybody was doing? Why ragtime dancing, of course: "See that ragtime couple over there / Watch them throw their shoulders in the air / Snap their fingers / Honey I declare it's a bear / It's a bear, it's a bear / There! / Everybody's doin' it / Doin' it, doin' it / Everybody's doin' it / Doin' it, doin' it." Thee Why does Hetty use "thee" instead of "you" in her message? As it turns out, she was writing to Dorothy "Dotty" Passmore, a woman who was a member of the Quakers (or Friends), a religious group that used "thee" as a pronoun at the time. It's likely that Hetty was a Quaker as well. The Friends Journal: Quaker Thought and Life Today , Nov. 1, 1964, noted the death of Dorothy's husband on June 21 of that year. He was a member of the Sadsbury Friends Meeting , a Quaker church that still exists today. His wife, who presumably was also a member of the church, had passed away a month earlier on May 19, 1964, as reported in an obituary that appeared in the New York Times .

See also the full version and a detail from this photo:

See also the full photo and a cropped version of this photo:

"Rockefeller Center Roof Studio, New York, 850 feet, 70 stories." Handwritten date on the back of this real photo postcard: "Taken June 4th, 1952." For a similar souvenir photo, see Man and Woman at the Rockefeller Center Roof Studio, New York City :

A photo of the family car for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Well, I guess these family members are pretty much ready to go for a ride in the car, but I suppose they should get that broken headlight fixed if they plan to be out after dark (mouse over the image for an enlargement of the automobile and its occupants). Anyone recognize the make and model of the car?

See also the full version of this real photo postcard:

A flags, bunting, or banners photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. I'm guessing that these are students (along with some teachers, perhaps--see front and upper left) posing for a patriotic picture in front of an American flag. Notice how translucent the red stripes of the flag are--you can see right through to the building behind the flag. And isn't the U.S. flag typically displayed with the field of stars on the left? Could it be that the photo is reversed? Here's the mirror image for comparison: