Vintage Photos of Groups

For more information, see the original photo :

Photographer's name and locations on cabinet card: "Smith, Lykens and Williamstown." A group of quilters from a cabinet card photo by W. W. Smith (1834-Jan. 22, 1892), a photographer who had studios in Lykens and Williamstown , both of which are towns located in northern Dauphin County , Pennsylvania. How do we know that these women are quilters ? They're all holding quilting squares (or blocks) , and many of them have scissors (mouse over image above for a close-up view ). Some of them are also pretending to sew their squares with needles and thread.

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

Drumhead: "Singer, Mechanicsburg, Pa." Caption at the bottom of the photo: "Grangers Picnic, 1915." The Singer Band of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, posed for this photo in 1915 at the Grangers' Picnic, which was an annual event held each summer at the Williams Grove Amusement Park . Prior to the picnic, the Harrisburg Telegraph newspaper, August 28, 1915, p. 4, announced the Singer Band's participation: "Concerts at the Granger's Picnic at Williams' Grove next week will be given by the Singer Band of Mechanicsburg." The Singer Band--named for David Singer, an early leader of the group--is still in existence today. Additional photos of the band are available on the Singer Band's Web site .

A souvenir photo of three families in automobiles at Devil's Den , a rock formation located on the Gettysburg Battlefield in Adams County, Pennsylvania. For other photos, see my album of Souvenir Photos from the Gettysburg Battlefield .

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park monthly topic of quirky humor (submit a photo on this topic each week in addition to—or instead of—a photo for the weekly topic). I was saddened to learn that Barbara "Babs" Bird (aka corduroy cat), a former member of the Vintage Photos Theme Park, passed away on February 9, 2020. I always appreciated her quirky sense of humor. Although all of her comments disappeared when she left Ipernity a couple of years ago, I remember that she said that this was her favorite photo of mine. -------- Lots of fun details here--pouts, grins, somber looks, closed eyes, big hats, wall hangings, patterned wallpaper, a mirror. And then there's that kid in front who's yelling at the top of his lungs and ruining the picture: Aieeeeee!!! The photo came in a nice paper frame , too:

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

An unused real photo promotional postcard.

A photo of something beginning with C —in this case, a coach on a photographic Christmas card —for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "Best wishes for a Merry Christmas. Ollie." Oliver "Ollie" Fawcett coached the Lycoming Dairy team, which was an early Little League Baseball team in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He used a photograph of himself and the team on this Christmas card from the 1950s. Coach Fawcett and the boys are posing in front of the field house at what is now known as the historic Carl E. Stotz Field , which is named after the founder of Little League .

Coach Oliver "Ollie" Fawcett and the Lycoming Dairy Little League Baseball team posing in front of the field house at the historic Carl E. Stotz Field . Fawcett used this photo on a Christmas card in the early 1950s.

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park for the topics of spirit photography / ghostly images / haunted houses (post up to 3 images on any combination of these themes) . Representatives from the spirit world have seemingly materialized just in time to sing "Happy Birthday" in what is actually just a double exposure. See my Ghosts and Hauntings album for more spooky photos.

What appears to be an odd game of hide-and-seek in a spooky forest is captioned "Peek-a-Boo, July 3, 1908," on the front of this real photo postcard. The image's irregular edges add to the strangeness of the scene. The imprint on the back—"W. W. Deatrick, Kutztown, Pa."—identifies this as a photo by William Wilberforce Deatrick (1853-1925), who was a longtime faculty member at what is now Kutztown University . Additional examples of Deatrick's photos are available for viewing in the Kutztown University Postcard Collection . See also " W. W. Deatrick Left His Mark at Kutztown ," an article by George M. Meiser that appeared in the Reading Eagle , April 6, 1983.

Apologies to Lisa for missing her posting of the VPTP themes for May until now! If I may be permitted to catch up, here's a photo for last week's theme. A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo of May Day Celebrations - May Pole dancing, May Queens, or anything else associated with May Day . A maypole dance scene from an unused real photo postcard. The girl standing in the middle next to the pole doesn't appear to be too excited about the festivities--perhaps she's hanging her head in embarrassment over being the center of attention.

A family with pets photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Printed on back of the back of this real photo postcard: "Penn Park Studio, 25-29 W. College Ave., York, PA. Near the York High School. Duplicate orders can be obtained any time." One dog, five bunnies, and fifteen people posed for this picture (mouse over the image for a close-up featuring the pets ).

For more information, see the original photo :

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of: And the band played on (people enjoying themselves while a band plays) . In this real photo postcard, musicians pretend to play an accordion, drum, and triangle in the midst of a group of young men, most of whom have flowers in their boutonnieres and mugs of beer in their hands. The German sign in the middle appears to say, "Jahrgang. 1895. Die Bassgeig kan̈ein jeder Kratzen selbst der Bär mit seinen Tatzen." But I haven't been able to determine what this means (something about a bass fiddle and a bear scratching himself with his paws?). In any case, I suspect that these guys enjoyed some more beer and music after they finished posing for the photo.

Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "Souvenir of Salt Air Beach , Dave Levene, mgr., season 1915."

A school days photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A young schoolteacher—not much older than some of the students seated around her—stands at the back of the classroom in a one-room schoolhouse. Although the stove and a couple of school desks dominate the foreground, the faces of the students and the items posted on the wall in the background are the most interesting parts of the photo (mouse over the image above to see enlargements of the left , middle , and right sections). Five calendars are among the twenty-seven items on the wall. The lettering on one of the calendars is large enough that I was able to determine that it displays the month of March 1911 and came from the Limestone Mutual Fire Insurance Company in Limestone , Pennsylvania. This suggests that the schoolhouse may have been located in Clarion County or somewhere else in the surrounding area of northwestern Pennsylvania.