Real Photo Postcards

Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "Glad-U-Kum, 543 Main St., Johnstown, Penna."

Compare with A Girl with Her Bunny and Mom .

Based on the messages written by Louise, a former teacher, on the front and back of this postcard, this photo shows two young students dressed in rabbit costumes for a springtime (possibly Easter) school program in Ault, Colorado, in 1910. They're posing in a backyard (perhaps a schoolyard) and seem to be holding a string between them. Handwritten message on the front: "These are the two rabbit characters which made such a 'hit' in our closing program last spring. Mrs. Harding and I made the costumes." Postmarked: Ault, Colorado, Oct. 13, 1910. Addressed to: Miss Grace Burgess, Victor, Colo. Handwritten message on the back: "Dear girlie, Since I am not teaching, I am so busy doing nothing that I don't seem to find time to write to anyone. Wanted to tell you that I have joined the Christian Church. Louise." See also a cropped version of this real photo postcard for a close-up view of the rabbit costumes :

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

The Alpine Harmonaires, a Swiss-German polka band from Walnut Creek, Ohio, performed at local events and recorded a couple of albums during the 1960s and 1970s. This real photo postcard shows off their comical costumes nicely. That lap steel guitar is a bit of a surprise for a polka band, and I can't even figure out what the fellow in the back is playing.

License plate: "Penna. 1907 8267." Salvaged from a grimy real photo postcard.

A real photo postcard showing a group of men dancing 'round the maypole.

Maypoles on May Day for the ABC Group (4/24/2017). Mouse over the image above to see close-ups of the maypole on the left and the maypole on the right . This real photo postcard shows the organized chaos of May Day festivities at a playground or schoolyard--location and date unknown, unfortunately--where two groups of students are dancing around two maypoles as other students and adults view the proceedings. Could this be a maypole dance competition between two classes or schools? Are the two groups racing to see who will be the first to finish weaving their ribbons around their maypole? It's not clear whether this is a competition, but it's interesting to note that older boys are holding up each maypole while girls wearing dark-colored skirts dance around one of them and girls in light-colored skirts dance around the other. Also, many of the boys standing in the background beyond the maypoles are wearing shirts emblazoned with the letter E, so I suppose it's possible that the clothes are athletic uniforms reflecting different classes or schools. In any case, even if we can't tell exactly what's going on, the image provides an intriguing glimpse at a May Day celebration from days gone by.

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

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

An undated real photo postcard. A man carrying a package was hurriedly walking down the street when the Movie Shots photographer took his picture. For a similar photo, see Woman Walking, Movie Shots Photo, Philadelphia, Pa.

A sleeping photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Why is a sleeping baby perched in the crook of this tree? Who or what is holding the baby up so that it doesn't fall down? Unfortunately, there's no message or other information on the back of this real photo postcard to provide answers to these questions.

A double exposure photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. This real photo postcard captured a group of six women posing for a photograph on a porch (note the porch columns to the left and the slatted wooden ceiling above the women). The two women at the front of the group--both seated and wearing hats--apparently did not realize that their doppelgängers were silently gliding along the ceiling above them.

"Nicollette at Boswell, Pa." Sign: "Come In. Only 5¢." I haven't been able to uncover any information regarding this "Nicollette" (or "nicollettes," perhaps, if there were others besides this one), but my best guess is that this was an early nickelodeon move theater . See also a cropped version of this photo for a close-up of the entrance and the guys sitting on the steps.

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

A real photo postcard showing miners at the Atlantic Coal Company's Mine, Boswell, Somerset County, Pa.

A machinery photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Although this real photo postcard shows what looks like a complicated Rube Goldberg contraption , it actually appears to be some sort of elaborate one-man music machine. The postcard dealer who sold this to me described the scene simply as a "pipe organ player at keyboard," but upon closer inspection I was able to identify a number of other musical instruments--a guitar, string bass, and bell, for instance--among the pulleys, belts, tubes, and pipes (mouse over the image to see my tentative identifications of some of the instruments). Although this unique machine seems to be related to the fairground organ , orchestrion , or some other type of mechanical musical instrument , I haven't been able to uncover any specific information about it or the man playing it. Has anyone else ever seen anything like it? Update: See The Mighty Nelsonian (One-Man Music Machine Mystery Solved) .

"G. C. Liesenberg, B.O. Box 48, Empangeni, Zululand, S. Africa. Photo by H. Duncan Abraham, P.O. Box 1699, Durban." A photographic QSL card from 1939 that provided G. C. Liesenberg's old radio call sign--exZT5F--as well as his new one--ZS5AW. The writing on what was intended to look like an oversized QSL card that Liesenberg's holding is an acknowledgement that he made contact with another radio operator on January 14, 1939. I like how his kid is pretending to turn one of the dials on the radio.