Real Photo Postcards

A multigraph or mirror photo for the theme of photographic tricks and amusements during the free-for-all week of Wild Card Month in the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Initials at lower right-hand corner: "F.W.H." Handwritten name on the other side of this real photo postcard: "Fred W. Hopping" (or possibly "Happing"). Printed on the other side: "Broadway Photo Shop, 1593, B'way, N.Y." The AZO stamp box on the back suggests a date possibly as early as 1904-1918. The same stamp box style also appears on the back of another real photo postcard of Fred W. Hopping that shows him in a triple exposure . For additional examples of photos featuring five fellows or females, see my album of Mirror Photos .

A triple-exposure photo for the theme of photographic tricks and amusements during the free-for-all week of Wild Card Month in the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Printed on the other side: "If it's a photo we make it. Empire Photo. Co. 815 Westchester Ave., Bronx." A triple-exposure trick photo of "Fred W. Hopping" (or possibly "Happing"), whose name is written on the back of a second photo that I purchased along with this one. While this photo shows three Freds--as he checks his wallet, faces the camera, and crosses his arms--the other is a mirror photo (or multigraph) showing five Freds seated around a table . Both of the images are real photo postcards with identical AZO stamp boxes that suggest a date as early as 1904-1918. For more fivesomes, see my album of Mirror Photos . For another triple exposure, see Man Playing Checkers with Himselves .

A reflections photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. The water captures a reflection of an outdoors scene, with trees, a rustic bridge, a man and his dogs , and a building.

For more information, see the original photo :

Rotated version, with the reflection at the top. For more information, see the original photo :

Mister Peabody , the cartoon dog in the Rocky and Bullwinkle TV show , wore eyeglasses, and Addison MacHenry, the fictional dog in Ransom Riggs's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children book series, had goggles and a pipe, but I'm not sure why the dogs in this real photo postcard are wearing glasses and a top hat, smoking pipes, and pulling a cart (mouse over the image above for a closer look ). And then there's the girl with the spinning wheel. What are these kids up to?

Do you have ideas for future topics for the Vintage Photos Theme Park ? If so, please add them to the Suggestion Box ! A photo of musicians and musical instruments for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "Pop Morehead's Family. Alma, Pop and Jean, J.W., Moss, Henry, Mary." Charles M. "Pop" Morehead, Sr. (1891-1973), lived in Littlestown, Pennsylvania, and performed in groups billed as Pop Morehead's Family, Pop Moorehead and His Kentucky Mountaineers, and the Kump Station Ramblers. For other real photo postcards of country music groups from south central Pennsylvania, see Arizona Kid and His Cow Girls, Reading, Pa., 1941 ; The Lone Rangers, Lancaster, Pa. ; and The Oklahoma Travelers, Highspire, Pa.

Plain dress for the mother, less so for the daughter.

What is it that's "Better Than Haying," as the caption says? For an explanation, see the cropped version of this real photo postcard.

A fishing photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park topic of knitting, fishing, and kissing (photos of people who are knitting, fishing, or kissing; post examples of all three if you have them.) . "Better Than Haying" is the caption of this real photo postcard by Vermont photographer Edwin T. Houston, who published it in 1906 (take a look at the full version to see Houston's inscription at the bottom of the photo). Just about any activity would be better than "haying," or making hay by hand, which is a laborious chore that usually has to be done on a hot summer day. The farmer in the photo, with his dog by his side, is taking a break from haying by casting his fishing line into the water. The farmer has literally turned his back on his haymaking tools, which are visible on the left-hand side of the photo. We can see the teeth of a rake , the blade of a scythe , and the handle of a third tool, which must be a hay fork with its tines stuck in the ground. So the humorous moral of the story told by this carefully constructed scene is, of course: Fishing is better than haying!

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park that has us seeing double (a photo with 2 things/people that are the same or that look the same) . A real photo postcard that uses a double exposure to show two girls who are inexplicably pulling the same wagon that they're riding in. This trick photo is so well done that I haven't been able to detect the dividing line between the two exposures. Compare this photo with these others in which the trick is more obvious:

Detail from a trick photo of two Girls Pulling Themselves on a Wagon . For more information, see the full photo :

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park expressing the sentiment, I hope it's not goodbye . Like Ipernity, I don't know whether I'm coming or going most days, so I'm not sure whether hello or farewell would be appropriate, and I certainly hope we won't have to say goodbye anytime soon. This young fellow was wearing a sailor suit and coat--note the neckerchief visible on the left and the eagle insignia on the shoulder of the coat at right--as he posed for this trick photo along a dirt road with ramshackle buildings in the background. The photographer was quite skilled, however, and only a little blurriness at the top of the hill is noticeable as the result of the double exposure. It's curious, though, that there's an old shoe at the kid's feet on the left. See also the full version of this real photo postcard:

See also the cropped version of this real photo postcard:

An anything goes - free choice photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. I'm not sure of the origin of this souvenir "Ocean View" photo, but I have to chuckle over the carefree smile on this woman's face as she pretends to zoom her speedboat over the fake waves. I used a caption--"I don't know where I'm going but I'm on my way!"--that I've seen on other postcards and souvenir photos (like the one below ) since it seems that both this woman and Ipernity may be headed into uncharted territory. If you haven't seen Team Ipernity's latest posting about the future of the site, take a look at An association proposes to save ipernity . I'm not sure I completely understand all the pros and cons of the proposal, but I filled out the survey there and indicated my willingness to make a donation to help save Ipernity. My fingers are crossed !

Men pose in their work areas at the Standard Pattern Works in York, Pennsylvania, sometime early in the twentieth century. As Wikipedia explains, "In casting, a pattern is a replica of the object to be cast, used to prepare the cavity into which molten material will be poured during the casting process.... The making of patterns, called patternmaking..., is a skilled trade that is related to the trades of tool and die making and moldmaking, but also often incorporates elements of fine woodworking."

"Jackalope (Rabbit with Horns). Sanborn X-1732." A real photo postcard of the elusive North American jackalope .

A tables photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. More than twenty tables were available for diners amid the rustic wood and stone construction in the dining room of the Bear Mountain Inn when this photo was taken sometime in the 1920s. The inn was built in 1915 and is located in Bear Mountain State Park in Rockland County, New York. A posting on the New York History Blog includes this same photo and reports that the inn was extensively renovated a few years ago. See Bear Mountain Inn Reopening Saturday [February 18, 2012] After Renovations .