Interiors

It's Party Time (Happy Birthday VPTP) . I propose a taffy pulling party to celebrate the third anniversary of the Vintage Photos Theme Park! These folks will show us how it's done! For more on taffy pulls and similar get-togethers, see Candy Stew, Candy Pull, and Other Pull Parties , a posting on culinary historian Patricia Bixler Reber's Researching Food History - Cooking and Dining blog. See also the full version of this real photo postcard.

Posted for "Smoking" theme week in the Vintage Photos Theme Park group. The man in the middle of the photo is smoking, and I just hope he doesn't burst into flames! 8-) Actually, I suspect that this photo shows a group of teachers or chemists (notice the bottles of what may be chemicals on the shelves at the back of the room, and is that a periodic table chart hanging on the wall at right?) hamming it up for the camera in a school or workplace.

Photographer's name embossed on photo: "S. W. Kuhnert, Harrisburg Pa."

A 35 mm slide for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. I believe that this couple is related to the Pipe-Smoking Man , who smokes a pipe, wears yellow socks, and appears in some other slides I've posted (see, for instance, The Silence in the Room Was Deafening , below left). This woman and man, who may have been Pipe-Smoking Man's parents or in-laws, didn't always seem to be in such bad moods. Take a look at Here's the Lady You Ordered! (below right) to see the hilarity that ensued as the man and another fellow carried the woman through a doorway into a house (judging by the corsage that the woman was wearing and the flower in the man's lapel, I suspect that they were celebrating a wedding anniversary). I wasn't able to see a date or determine who's on the cover of the Life magazine on the coffee table, and it looks like there's also a Toby jug on the table near the magazine. Update: Thanks go to goenetix for identifying the Life magazine issue! It was published on October 9, 1950, and that's British actress Jean Simmons on the cover. See the comments section below for additional details.

For more information, see Grumpy and Grouchy (below):

An example of color photos or slides for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A Boy Scout gives a three-finger salute while wearing his uniform as he poses for a photo in a living room with distinctive furniture and decor dating to the 1960s. The same sofa and wall decorations appear in a pre-prom photo , and the same boy appears with his sister in a Christmas photo .

A playing cards and board games photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A scary scene during a card game! The four young men pictured in this real photo postcard have obviously been playing all evening. One of them is holding a bottle of Tokay wine, and we can see that a tobacco pipe, playing cards, and various coins and bills are strewn across the table (mouse over the image above for a close-up view of the table ). The guy on the left with the unruly hair is staring intently at the one on the right, who has drawn a gun and seems to be trying not to laugh. The two other fellows, however, haven't even noticed the gun. Perhaps the guy with the gun is angry because he suspects that one of his friends has been cheating, or maybe he's just upset that the print hanging on the wall behind him is starting to fall down. Judging by the humorous poem that's written on the other side of this photo postcard (see below), it's doubtful that any gunplay ever took place. Instead, considering that we can see a bed on the right-hand side of the photo and a dresser piled with books on the other side, it seems likely that these lads are simply students in a dorm room or apartment posing for an amusing photo of a card game gone wrong. -------- Handwritten poem on the other side of this real photo postcard (note: "out of chine" seems to mean "out of alignment" or "out of sync" in this context): Perhaps we had a big old time And maybe it was a spree But really I don't know What actually did happen to me. I only know my poor intellect Was most awful out of chine And I longed for just one drink of--- Well it wasn't wine. L. Messersmith, Fairmont, Minn.

A couple dressed for a prom or dance in the 1960s. The same sofa and wall decorations appear in a photo of a Boy Scout who's probably the brother of one or the other.

A trick or treat photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A real photo postcard with no writing or information on the verso. Presumably these guys were dressed for success at Halloween or some other occasion that called for fine feminine fashions.

. . . or lyrics to that effect. 8-)

A miserable Christmas trees photo (Charlie Brown Christmas trees) for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A red-border Kodachrome slide dated July 1959, which suggests that the photo was taken during the 1958 holiday season. This spindly twig Christmas tree is similar to (or the same as?) the one that appears in another slide that I purchased at the same time. See A Sparkly Christmas Tree and a Shiny Fireplace (below).

A poses by a Christmas thing photo (anything holiday) for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A double-exposure snapshot of family members posing by a Christmas tree makes for a haunting holiday image. Date and location unknown. I'd like to take this opportunity to extend best holiday wishes to all my Theme Park friends! Thanks for all the amazing photos you've posted this year, and thanks, too, to Angelica for all her work in keeping such an interesting and fun group going! Here's to more of the same in the New Year!

A photo combining one or more previous themes (Happy New Year, poses by a Christmas thing [anything holiday], people playing musical instruments, interiors, and possibly others) for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Handwritten note on the back of this real photo postcard: "New Year, 1912. Chicago, Ill." The Christmas tree is still standing for this family's New Year celebration in 1912. A woman is playing a guitar, but no one is seated at the piano, surprisingly enough. Happy New Year to one and all!

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 fruits and vegetables photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. This is a real photo postcard postmarked on the other side at: "Glenwood, Pa., Dec. 2, 1909." Addressed to: "Miss Sara Leggett, S.W. Cor. Peach & Media, West Philad." Message: "Dec. 2/09. Glad [that] kind Providence is allowing you to pass another Mile Stone on Life's Journey. M.M.L. Psalms 91.16. A picture of our Harvest Home." Bible verse cited in message (Psalms 91:16): "With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation." Although the message on the back of this card is a birthday greeting, the front of it is an interesting "picture of our Harvest Home" that shows fruits and vegetables arranged around the altar at the front of a church (mouse over the image above for a close-up view ). "Harvest Home" was--and continues to be--a religious celebration that's typically held at Lutheran, Reformed, and other churches in Pennsylvania and elsewhere during the late summer or early fall. As seen here, one of the notable aspects of the observance is a display of tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins, cornstalks, flowers, and other fruits, vegetables, and grains. For additional examples, see my Harvest Home album.

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

Mouse over the image above for close-up view of the fruits and vegetables that surround the pulpit in this Harvest Home church display. If "Day: 40" on the hymn board on the wall refers to the fortieth week of the year, then it's likely that this church was decorated like this for a Harvest Home service sometime in late September or early October.