Real Photo Postcards

I chose musicians in order to pick a theme about people (or any other topic) for the first week of Wild Card Month—Pick Your Own Theme! in the Vintage Photos Theme Park. The handwritten message on the front of this real photo postcard (see the left-hand side) is: "Vara Light, 928 Maple St., Lebanon, Pa. Answer soon." There's no stamp or postmark on the other side, but Vara Light addressed the postcard to " Miss Sarah Zimmerman , Linglestown, Pa.," and also wrote a message: "This is a picture taken at Mt. Aetna last summer. The one standing is my uncle, a minister. Also the one with the violin [meaning that the violinist is also one of her uncles?]. The lady with the guitar is my aunt. Am working now in Lebanon. Tell Miles to answer my card." This postcard back has an AZO stamp box (four corner triangles pointing up), which suggests a date as early as 1904 to 1918. Vara Katherine Light married William Hoehle Keller on September 1, 1910, and at that time her address was 330 N. 9th Street, Lebanon, Pa. It seems likely, then, that the card dates to sometime prior to their wedding. I haven't been able to identify which of Vara's aunts and uncles might be the musicians in the photo, but they may have been siblings of her father, Harry Henry Light , who was a prominent businessman in Lebanon, Pa. I previously posted a Small-Town Parade with Cornet Band and Church Float photo for the theme of people playing musical instruments in 2014 and another photo showing Pop Morehead's Family for the theme of musicians and musical instruments this past April. For other photos and ephemera, see my Music and Musicians album.

A real photo postcard of two women and five children posing for a picture along a dirt road. One of the kids is holding a stick or branch, and the youngest is holding an oversized hat (see an enlargement for a better view of the group). A brick house surrounded by trees is in the background. The AZO stamp box on the other side (four corner triangles pointing up) suggests a date as early as 1904 to 1918.

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

I chose ostriches in order to pick a theme about animals (or any other topic) for the second week of Wild Card Month—Pick Your Own Theme! in the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Sign: "Cawston Ostrich Farm, South Pasadena, Cal." This is an unmailed real photo postcard with an AZO stamp box (four corner triangles with two pointing up and two pointing down) on the other side, which suggests a date as early as 1917 to 1930. The Cawston Ostrich Farm in South Pasadena, California, was in operation from 1886 to 1935, and many visitors posed for souvenir photos like this. For another example, see Rajah Shriner at the Cawston Ostrich Farm, South Pasadena, Calif.

I chose Fourth of July celebrations in order to pick a theme about events, happenings, or celebrations (or any other topic) for the fourth week of Wild Card Month—Pick Your Own Theme! in the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Caption on this real photo postcard: "Liberty, Me." Addressed on the other side to Mrs. William Wellington, Terryville, Conn., and postmarked Liberty, Me., Aug. 26, 1908. Handwritten message: "This is a 4th of July view as you will see. Many thanks for your card. Caroline B. Brown." As the message indicates, this is a photo of what appears to be the tail end of a Fourth of July parade that took place in Liberty , Maine, in 1908. On the left-hand side (see a close-up view ), some men are standing in front of a store that's displaying a "stoves" sign, while a number of participants in the parade--some wearing costumes and carrying umbrellas--pass in front of them. On the other side (see a close-up of the right side ), there are some women on a porch looking up the street to catch a last glimpse of the parade. A couple of flags are hanging from the top of the porch, and horses and wagons are visible at hitching posts next door.

Participants in a Fourth of July parade--some with costumes and umbrellas--march past a store with a "stoves" sign. For more information about this parade, which took place in Liberty, Maine, in 1908, see the full real photo postcard .

A group of women look up the street to catch a last glimpse of a Fourth of July parade that took place in Liberty, Maine, in 1908. A couple of flags are hanging from the top of the porch where the women are standing, and horses and wagons are visible at hitching posts next door. For more information, see the full real photo postcard .

Handwritten message on the back of this real photo postcard (no address or postmark): "Dear Cousin, Am sending you a picture of our new house. Ella." "Mervin" or perhaps "Merwin" was added after "Ella" by someone else. The photo may date as early as 1904 to 1918 (it has an AZO stamp box with four corner triangles pointing up on the other side). Unfortunately, there's no indication of the location. Take a gander at a cropped version of the photo for a closer look at the couple.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of machinery or equipment . This is a real photo postcard with a perplexing scene of destruction. Strewn around in a field are various equipment parts typical of a steam-powered machine shop, including a steam engine, flywheel, line shaft , pulleys, and belts, along with other unidentifiable pieces of metal and wood. Four people -- a boy perched on a downed tree at left, a woman and man standing near the center, and a woman standing next to the steam engine on the right -- posed for the photo. Visible behind them in the background are undamaged vehicles (a wagon and a carriage), a grindstone, trees, and farm buildings. It's difficult to say what happened. Did a tornado tear through here? Could a steam explosion have caused this much damage? For additional views of the puzzling scene, see enlargements of the left-hand side and right-hand side of the photo.

See also an enlargement of the right-hand side of the photo. For more information, see the full version .

See also an enlargement of the left-hand side of the photo. For more information, see the full version .

"Mein erster Schultag am 19.4.1922." ["My first day of school, April 19, 1922."] Handwritten note on the back of this real photo postcard: "Das ist meine kleinste Tochter." ["This is my youngest daughter."] A girl with a Schultüte (school cone) on her first day of school.

A photo of hair—in all its glory or eccentricity for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. On the glorious-eccentric scale for hair styles, this girl's hair seems to me to fall a little toward the eccentric side. There are no clues on the photo to provide any information about the girl's identity or location, but one interesting detail is the small Red Cross pinback button that she's wearing on her dress. The Cyko stamp box on the back of this real photo postcard suggests a date of either 1904-1908 (according to Playle's ) or 1920-1928 (according to Metropostcard.com ). My runners-up for this week's theme include the following previously posted images of: -- Clara Rousby, British Stage Actress, ca. 1870s -- Rasputin and the Amorphous Enigma -- Benjamin Purnell, Founder of the House of David, Benton Harbor, Michigan

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of playing cards and board games . Two young men pretend to play Parcheesi against themselves as they pose (two times!) for this double exposure photograph. Take a look at a cropped version of the photo showing a close-up view of the Parcheesi board on the top of the table. This is an unused real photo postcard with the words "Post Card" and "The address to be written on this side" printed on its undivided back, which suggests that it may date to sometime during the first decade of the twentieth century.

An enlarged view of the board, game pieces, and dice cups in a trick photo of two young men playing against themselves in a game of Parcheesi. The photo is well composed with only a translucent part of the Parcheesi board underneath the hand on the right and a slightly darker streak running vertically through the middle of the photo to give away the double exposure. I'm not certain what might have caused the dark shape on the side of the building directly above the board. For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard. .

Handwritten note on the back of this real photo postcard: "This is as we looked Monday, July 5th, 1909, after the floral parade. Ed, Edith, Edward, Russell, Hattie, and Otto Zahn." Hand-lettered card attached to the car: "29." Number above the doorway of the building in the background: "1004." I didn't think I'd be able to uncover any information about a "floral parade" held in 1909. As it turned out, however, the Washington Post newspaper sponsored an Independence Day celebration in the form of a "Floral-Flag Automobile Parade" on July 5, 1909, that received widespread coverage. The weekly Horticulture magazine on July 3, 1909, p. 8, for instance, expressed the hope that the event would sell more flowers during a hot summer: "Washington has been sweltering under the most torrid wave that has visited the city in years. Business is quite dull, commencements are over, and even Cupid is enervated by the heat. All the city is agog, though, over the forthcoming automobile and flower parade that will take place on the 5th of July. Autos will be decorated with flags and flowers. The Washington Post offers a first prize of $100 for the handsomest decorated auto. It is to be hoped that this flower parade, at least, will become an annual custom. It will be of inestimable value to the florists, as well as to the flower-loving public." Henry Litchfield West, in an article about "A Safe and Sane Fourth of July" in The Forum , August 1909, p. 108, described some of the parade cars: "The Washington Post conceived the idea of an automobile floral-flag parade, and this event proved to be a genuine spectacular and artistic success. There were over a hundred motor cars in line, and the decorations were extremely novel and pleasing. One automobile was reconstructed into an accurate representation of the Confederate ram Merrimac, and was manned by young men in sailor costumes; another was converted into a yacht with masts and sails; another was a floral boat apparently drawn by an enormous white swan; and still another was in the form of a pergola, decorated with wistaria vines and blossoms. An electric machine which elicited the applause of the thousands who lined the route of parade was apparently a huge wicker basket of pink roses, in the centre of which and surmounted by a canopy of roses was seated the lady who operated the car. Another electric machine was a symphony in red, white and blue. Altogether the event proved to be a most unique and beautiful celebration…." The decorations on this automobile weren't as elaborate (see a cropped version for a closer view), but it's remarkable that with a few details we can find information about a Floral-Flag Automobile Parade held over a century ago.

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

A double-exposure trick photo of a woman pushing herself on a wheelbarrow. The double exposure did produce an amusing photo, but the photographer had to add white outlining at the bottom to make the wheelbarrow stand out from the dark streak that runs vertically through the center of the photo. This is a real photo postcard postmarked in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on October 1, 1908, and addressed to Miss Flossie Minch , Waldo, Wisconsin. The sender of the postcard, who's the woman pushing and riding the wheelbarrow, was a schoolteacher. She identified herself only by her initials—N.B.—on the other side of the card. (It's possible, I suppose, that a schoolteacher might use N.B. as the abbreviation for the Latin phrase nota bene , but my guess is that these are the initials of her name.) The message that N.B. wrote on the front of the card (to the left of the photo) has been erased, but enough of it remains that I was able to decipher it. Her written caption for the photo was: "On my way to school in my own private automobile. Ha. Ha." Here's my transcription of N.B.'s message on the other side of the card: Hello Floss, How are you spending these cold days? I enjoy teaching ever so much. Have 21 pupils. Regards to Miss Thomas, Miss Patterson, Miss Stratton. N.B. Sheb., Wis., c/o Mr. J. Kuemmet , R.#4. Love to all the girls. For some other double-exposure trick photos with wheelbarrows and wagons, see: -- A Man Simultaneously Pushing and Riding a Wheelbarrow -- A Man Pushing Himself on a Wheelbarrow -- A Woman Pulling Herself on a Wagon -- Girls Pulling Themselves on a Wagon