Snow

"Boston Art Gallery, 109 Franklin St., Johnstown, Pa."

A photo of ice skating/skiing/sledging or any fun in the snow for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. This is a photo mounted on cardboard (see the full version below) with the handwritten caption, "On the Normal Campus." Written on the back of the photo are the names of these four young women (mouse over the image above for a close-up view ), who were obviously having fun in the snow as they posed with snowballs: To the left of tree, Catharine Shoup. To the right, and back, Jennie Moyer, Altoona, Pa. To the right, Kathryn Kleckner, Mifflinburg, Pa. In front, Lulu Patton, Warriors' Mark, Pa. I believe that they were studying to be teachers at one of the "normal schools" in Pennsylvania at the time the photo was taken, which was probably sometime in the late 1890s or early 1900s. A normal school , as Wikipedia explains, is simply "a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers." Today we'd typically call them teachers' colleges rather than normal schools. Given the women's names, the home locations for three of them, and the distinctive building with a tower or belfry in the background of the photo, I thought it would be an easy matter to determine what school they were attending when this photo was taken. But I haven't yet been able to place them at a specific school. After searching Find A Grave and other sources, however, I was able to find some information about two of them. Catharine H. Shoup (1883-1977), who's holding a snowball as she stands to the left of the tree in the photo, was a teacher and principal for many years at the Irving School, which I believe was an elementary school in Altoona, Pa. I also located an obituary for Lulu Rose Patton (1881-1932), who's pretending to fend off snowballs as she sits in front of the tree. The Daily News , Huntingdon, Pa., Thursday, August 4, 1932, p. 12, reported the following: ". . . Miss Lulu R. Patton, a missionary in Canton, China, under the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, died on Tuesday night [August 2; other sources give the date as August 3]. . . . Miss Patton was visiting her brother, the Rev. Charles E. Patton, vice president of the Presbyterian board and located at Shanghai, China, at the time of her death. . . . Miss Patton went to China in 1908 as a missionary, coming home about every five years for a vacation. She was last home three years ago. She was identified with the Union Normal School in Canton." When I finally found this obituary and realized that Lulu Patton was a teacher at the Union Normal School in Canton, China, I thought surely that the photo must have been taken there. But then I discovered--alas!--that the city of Canton (now called Guangzhou ) is located in a humid subtropical region, where there is no snow for making snowballs.

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

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

A snow photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park . If the woman has just fallen down in the snow, why is she smiling? What happened to her coat? And why is the girl in the background smiling and just standing there on her skis? An amusingly contrived photo that makes me wonder why it was taken.

A snow or sand photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Handwritten caption on the back of this snapshot: "Dec. 1951. Nancy Ellen Isaacs."

A real photo postcard.

"Mein erster Schultag" ("My first day of school"). Handwritten note on the back of this real photo postcard: "Ostern 1966" ("Easter 1966"). Schultüten (school cones), miniature Easter baskets, and a stuffed first-day-of-school toy dog? Evidently these boys began their school career around Eastertime in 1966. For additional examples of these conical first-day-of-school gifts, see the Schultüte - School Cone group.

A real photo postcard, possibly from York, Pa. Date unknown.

"First Snow. Log Cabin Inn. F&J." Date and location unknown.

A cars photo for the Vintage Photos Theme [Car] Park . A car and trailer are the focus of this photographic greeting card from "George and Norma," who have compiled a montage of images illustrating their transition from the chilly northern United States to the sunny south. Their car is magically pulling a trailer through a holly wreath, transporting them from the snowy northern woods to the grassy slopes of a southern golf course. Perhaps that's Norma--barely visible--standing beside the travel trailer. And presumably George is one of the golfers playing among the palm trees. In any case, it's evident that they've willingly traded a pair of ice skates for a set of golf clubs in order to spend the holiday where the weather is warmer.

Or Joyeux Noël? Although "Happy New Year" is the French greeting on this hand-colored real photo postcard, the greenery, snowman, and red and green coloring seem to suggest a Christmas scene.

"Apr. 16 '11. Here is a Easter chicken. Easter greetings to Bertha from Clifford."

"I'll eat oranges for you—you throw snowballs for me." Embossed studio name and address: "Flag Studio, 25 E. Colo. St., Pasadena." Vacationing in sunny California during the winter? You could rub it in by sending a souvenir real photo postcard like this one to your friends and family in colder climes back home. Here's the full version of this real photo postcard:

"I'll eat oranges for you—you throw snowballs for me." Embossed studio name and address: "Flag Studio, 25 E. Colo. St., Pasadena." See also a cropped version of this real photo postcard:

An early twentieth-century real photo postcard with the solid three-dimensional letters of "Hearty Christmas Wishes" dramatically positioned against a background of snow-covered trees and hills.