Alan Mays' photos

(I'm still catching up on the Vintage Photos Theme Park postings I missed while Ipernity was offline.) A photo of shoes for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. This is an early twentieth-century comic photo postcard, issued as part of Bamforth's "Life Model Series." The " Babes in the Wood " caption is an ironic reference to the expression meaning a "person who is innocent, naive, inexperienced, or helpless, especially with respect to an unfamiliar situation or environment." Here, however, we have two not-so-innocent "babes" in wooden stocks who are being punished for some unknown crime. Judging by the debris on the ground around the stocks, it appears that passersby have been throwing garbage at the miscreants.

Hurray, hurray, it looks like Ipernity is up and running once again! Thanks very much to the IMA Team for the many, many hours they spent in getting things fixed and back on track! I'm going to reopen the Vintage Photos Theme Park by catching up on the theme postings I've missed during the last week or two. To begin with, here's a Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of And the winner is . . . (a person or a team winning or with an award/medal/prize) . This photo shows a single-file parade of young women marching along a boardwalk in front of a crowd of onlookers. The first two in line are wearing the sashes for "Miss Harrisburg" and "Miss Johnstown," which identify them as winners of beauty contests in those two Pennsylvania cities. As far as I've been able to determine, this photo was taken sometime in the 1920s during the early years of the Miss America competition, which was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At that time, there were a number of city-based competitions in Pennsylvania rather than a one state-wide contest, and until 1953 Pennsylvania sent multiple representatives—rather than a single " Miss Pennsylvania "—to compete in Atlantic City. According to Wikipedia , there were only two years—1922 and 1923—when contestants from both Harrisburg and Johnstown competed in Atlantic City. Gertrude Shoemack and Helen R. Knisely competed as Miss Harrisburg in 1922 and 1923 respectively, while Velma Ziegler and Betty Grening served as Miss Johnstown in the same years, but I haven't been able to match any of the names with the women in the photo.

A couple of turkeys arrive at (or depart from?) the United States Capitol Building , Washington, D.C., in this illustration from a Thanksgiving postcard dated 1910. The postcard is addressed on the other side to "Mrs. Geo Hamlin, 9 Dean[e] St., Portland, Me.," and postmarked in New York City on November 23, 1910. Handwritten message: "Rena & Geo out for a ride. Best love to both of you & hope you have a happy Thanksgiving. Kitty." Rena (1882-1974) and George Hamlin (1882-1958) were both twenty-eight years old and had been married for about three years when they received this postcard. It's possible that Kitty, the sender of the card, was Catherine Lewis , Rena's mother. For some other turkey motorists, see Thanksgiving Day Fugitives and A Wingless Steed Will Take the Winner to a Fine Thanksgiving Dinner .

The handwritten note on the other side of this photo says, "Taken on Nov. 7, 1916. Election of Pres. Wilson." Judging by the grizzled appearance of this bearded fellow, the 1916 U.S. presidential election —when incumbent Democratic President Woodrow Wilson fought the Republican candidate Charles Evans Hughes to win reelection to a second term—must have been as harrowing and distressing an experience as the 2020 presidential election turned out to be.

"Taken on Nov. 7, 1916. Election of Pres. Wilson." For more information, see the front of this photo .

A photo of books for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A real photo postcard of the lighted tables and two-level book stacks in a library, location unknown, unfortunately. Notice the bridge on the far wall that connects the upper level of stacks on the left with those on the right. For another view of a library interior, see Krauth Memorial Library, Mount Airy, Pennsylvania .

"Reading room, Krauth Memorial Library, Lutheran Theological Seminary , Mt. Airy, Philadelphia."

A drinking photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Seventeen of the twenty men in this image from a real photo postcard are holding glasses of beer. The keg in the middle of the crowd bears the name " Lebanon ," which refers to the city that's the county seat of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. A handwritten name and address—" Samuel D. Watson , Rexmont, Pa."—and a year—"1912"—appear on the other side of the photo card, but there's no stamp, postmark, or message. Rexmont is now part of Cornwall , which is also located in Lebanon County.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of grandma and grandpa (grandparent(s) featured in a family photo) . A grandmother and grandfather hold a two-tiered cake as they pose for a photo with their grandson. All three of them are wearing flowers in their coat and jacket lapels. The presence of the cake and flowers makes me wonder if the grandparents are celebrating a special wedding anniversary. Given how the cake is tilted, I just hope that it didn't slide off onto the grandson's head!

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the monthly theme of two's company—photos of two people (submit a photo on this topic each week in addition to—or instead of—a photo for the weekly topic). One of two photos of girls dressed as a clown and a bunny for Halloween in 1979 ("December 1979" is stamped on the back of the photos, but there's no location information). See also the second photo with its portrait orientation .

The second of two photos of girls dressed as a clown and a bunny for Halloween in 1979 ("December 1979" is stamped on the back of the photos, but there's no location information). See also the other photo with its landscape orientation .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of Halloween (costumes, masks, jack-o'-lanterns, decorations, ghosts, gravestones, or anything else spooky or scary; no limit—post as many Halloween photos as you'd like) . A photo of a man (or possibly a woman) wearing a grotesque mask, overalls, suit jacket, gloves, neckerchief, and straw hat. He's carrying a cane in one hand and a package wrapped in newspapers in the other. Could this be a Halloween costume? If so, is he dressed as a farmer? Or do the cane and package suggest a stick-type bindle characteristic of a hobo? This is an unused real photo postcard with an AGFA-ANSCO stamp box on the other side, which indicates that it may date to the 1930s or 1940s. A couple of other details point to a specific locale. First, under magnification, the heading on part of the bundled up newspapers says, "New Era," so it's possible that it was the Lancaster New Era , a paper published in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Secondly, a pouch of "Good Bite" chewing tobacco with a fish logo is sticking out of the breast pocket on the man's suit jacket. The Good Bite brand of chewing tobacco originated in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. For some other disconcerting masks, see Costume Creepiness .

A tall photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Signs: "World Famous Tree House. Believe It or Not. Fraternal Monarch." "Visitors Welcome. Entrance." Caption: "#721 Lilley Redwood Park, Redwood Highway." A tall photo of a tall tree. This photo is twice the usual length of a real photo postcard (although this isn't a postcard--the back is blank), and the tree itself is over 250 feet tall. Named the "Fraternal Monarch," the redwood tree has a hollow base big enough to contain a gift shop. After Robert Ripley featured it in his nationally syndicated Believe It or Not! cartoon in 1933, the unique tree was billed as the "World Famous Tree House." For more informtion, see the Roadside America article about the World Famous Tree House, Piercy, California . See also a cropped version of the photo for a better view of the base of the tree.

The "World Famous Tree House" in Piercy, California. For more information see the full version of this photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of over the shoulder (something or somebody) . Everyone in this puzzling photo is holding something. The man on the left is holding a cane over his shoulder, and the second man has a rope wrapped around his left hand. Both men are watching the woman in the middle, who's holding sheet music and singing. The woman on the right, who's seated in a chair, is holding a lute and is playing it to accompany the woman who's singing. The woman standing beside the singer and both of the men are all holding rolled-up papers of some sort. A closer look at the photo reveals some curious details. First, the sheet music that the woman is holding is entitled A Signal from Mars: March and Two Step , which was published in 1901 (hear a piano version on YouTube). Since the piece is an instrumental "march and two step" without any lyrics, why is the woman pretending to use it as she's singing? Secondly, the rope that the second man is holding extends down to the floor where it's coiled around a small horse pull toy . Why did the man lasso a tiny toy horse? I don't have any answers for the questions that this photo poses. Although the painted backdrop and patterned floor covering suggest that this picture was taken in a photo studio, I wonder if this might be a scene from a theatrical production. There was a popular comedic play with a similar title— A Message from Mars —that toured the United States between 1903 and 1905. As far as I can determine, however, A Message from Mars was not a musical, and there was no connection to the sheet music for A Signal from Mars .

A woman poses for a photo and pretends to sing as she holds the sheet music for A Signal from Mars: March and Two Step . For more information, see another detail from the same photo along with the original version .

The rope of a lasso surrounds a tiny toy horse. For more information, see another detail from the same photo along with the original version .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of reflections in a window . Signs on and in the window: "Chinaland. Chow Mein. Famous for Chinese food. Cantonese Food. Try our delicious egg roll." A woman poses for a photo in front of a "Chinaland" restaurant. She's clutching a purse in her left hand, and she's wearing a pair of slip-on shoes but only a single sock (on her left foot). The signs and objects that we can see through the window don't provide any clues to the location of the restaurant, and there's no date on the photo. A closer look at the window behind the woman reveals that the reflections of the buildings on the other side of the street are mixed in with views of the ceiling lights and window blinds inside the restaurant. In addition, reflections of the photographer's shoulder and arm are visible to the immediate right of the woman's upper arm and elbow. To the right of the photographer is the name of a business reflected from a window across the street, but I can only make out the word "laundry." See also a cropped version of the photo .