Interiors

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

A church Harvest Home display with a variety of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and cornstalks. The man in the picture is probably the pastor of the church.

A church Harvest Home display with jars containing recently harvested and canned fruits and vegetables. For similar photos, see my Harvest Home album.

Words on the bell-shaped decorations in the middle: "Harvest Home." Text on the wall at left and right: "O give thanks unto the Lord. Praise the great giver. God giveth the increase." Text at top: "Siehe Ich bin bei Euch alle Tage bis an der Welt Ende" [translation: "Behold I am with you all days, even to the end of the world," a Bible verse, Matthew 28:20]. A photo of a church Harvest Home display, location and date unknown. For more examples, see my Harvest Home album.

In this 1907 Bamforth real photo postcard by Robert McCrum, a poor beleaguered husband sits on the floor and performs his household chores while his wife relaxes with a magazine and cigarette in a comfortable chair. One of his kids appears to be crying loudly, and the other one has climbed up on the table in the background to try out dad's tobacco pipe. It's interesting to see that the same wallpaper appears in another Bamforth postcard entitled Try This on Your Piano :

A stores (department, grocery, five and dime, etc.) photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A tobacconist poses among his wares in a cigar store, date and location unknown. One interesting aspect of this photo is how many different packages and advertisements for tobacco products are visible (mouse over the image above to see close-up views of the counter and wall behind the proprietor and the display case in front of him ). Some of the tobacco posters, placards, and packaging visible behind the counter include items for Red Star Plain Scraps Chewing and Smoking Tobacco ("pure tobacco never harmed anyone"), Murad the Turkish Cigarette, Town Talk, American Navy, Helmar Cigarettes, Our Principal, Quaker Boy, Bold, and cigarette packs for Camel and Lucky Strike. Gum and candy was available, too, with Beech-Nut Chewing Gum, Black Jack Chewing Gum, Schrafft's Chocolates, Hershey's candy bars, and Life Savers candies among those represented. Cigar brands in the boxes on the top shelf of the display case include Muriel, Rose-O-Cuba, Lord Clinton, Our Principal Senior, Lord Romeo, Summons, Londres, Golden Belle, Let-Er-Rip, and O.K. Among the tobacco products on the display case's bottom shelf are Sach's All-Right Plain Scrap, Red Man, Beech-Nut Chewing Tobacco, Master Workman Scrap, Tub Tobacco, and Picnic Twist.

Some of the tobacco posters, placards, and packaging visible behind the counter include items for Red Star Plain Scraps Chewing and Smoking Tobacco ("pure tobacco never harmed anyone"), Murad the Turkish Cigarette, Town Talk, American Navy, Helmar Cigarettes, Our Principal, Quaker Boy, Bold, and cigarette packs for Camel and Lucky Strike. Gum and candy was available, too, with Beech-Nut Chewing Gum, Black Jack Chewing Gum, Schrafft's Chocolates, Hershey's candy bars, and Life Savers candies among those represented. See also the full version of the photo.

Cigar brands in the boxes on the top shelf of the display case include Muriel, Rose-O-Cuba, Lord Clinton, Our Principal Senior, Lord Romeo, Summons, Londres, Golden Belle, Let-Er-Rip, and O.K. Among the tobacco products on the display case's bottom shelf are Sach's All-Right Plain Scrap, Red Man, Beech-Nut Chewing Tobacco, Master Workman Scrap, Tub Tobacco, and Picnic Twist. See also the full version of the photo.

A close-up of the table in We Had a Big Old Time--Playing Cards and Drinking Wine . Note the puzzling letters (including "TAITN," I believe) that appear underneath and adjacent to the pipe. I haven't been able to figure out what the letters might spell or even what they're printed or inscibed on.

An in disguise / in costume photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. This may appear to be a Halloween-time scene at first glance, but this real photo postcard of women dressed in men's clothing was actually taken during the month of June, judging by the calendar on the wall behind them. Although the calendar is partially hidden behind the women, I believe it's a bank calendar ("The ----- National Bank"), and it's possible that the location printed on it is Liberal, Kansas. Since June 4 falls on a Friday as shown on the calendar, I'm guessing that the year is 1915 (other possibilities are 1909, 1920, and 1926). The square for Saturday, June 12, seems to be specially marked, so perhaps they're getting ready for a party or some other frivolity on that date. For an interesting comparison, take a look at the trick or treat photo-- Boys' Night Out --that I posted to the Vintage Photos Theme Park about this same time last year:

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park demonstrating the quality of being vice versa .* A real photo postcard of a couple amusingly posed on a piano bench with the woman wearing men's clothes and vice versa. I was able to identify the sheet music on the left side of the piano as " Flower Song (Blumenlied) ," Beaux Arts Edition, by Gusatv Lange, ca. 1907. An issue of The Etude , a music magazine, is barely visible on the piano between the woman and man (I couldn't determine the date, but it may be one of the issues from 1907 or 1908 judging by the typeface used for the title and its position at the top of the cover). The framed print hanging on the wall at upper right appears to be a copy of a lithograph entitled "2 Spirited Horses," one version of which was published by Jos. Hoover & Sons, Philadelphia, in 1908 (it's also similar to a Currier & Ives lithograph "Horses in a Thunderstorm," but the the horses in that print are facing to the right instead of the left). *The full description of the theme: "Vice versa"--"A lady and a gentleman dressing in clothes of the opposite sex are vice versa." This definition comes from a letter in a 1923 newspaper regarding a fancy dress/costume competition, and as the judge ruled in 1923, “the dress of each is complete without the aid of the other." Your photo can be of an individual or a couple.

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park monthly topic of quirky humor (submit a photo on this topic each week in addition to—or instead of—a photo for the weekly topic). I was saddened to learn that Barbara "Babs" Bird (aka corduroy cat), a former member of the Vintage Photos Theme Park, passed away on February 9, 2020. I always appreciated her quirky sense of humor. Although all of her comments disappeared when she left Ipernity a couple of years ago, I remember that she said that this was her favorite photo of mine. -------- Lots of fun details here--pouts, grins, somber looks, closed eyes, big hats, wall hangings, patterned wallpaper, a mirror. And then there's that kid in front who's yelling at the top of his lungs and ruining the picture: Aieeeeee!!! The photo came in a nice paper frame , too:

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

An at the piano photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Handwritten note on the back of this real photo postcard: "3/24-12. Taken March 10, 1912, about 1:40 p.m. Parlor and sitting room. First sitting. M. B. Wittle, Elizabethtown, Penna." A man sits at—or at least near—a piano in this wonderfully detailed glimpse into a parlor and sitting room in Elizabethtown , Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1912. Judging from the note, Milton B Wittle (1877-1963) was the subject and/or the photographer. Mouse over the image above for closer looks at the lamp and fern , the top of the piano (with a stuffed squirrel and cornet!), the Hasbrouck Cabinet Grand Piano and stool , the mustachioed man and the fish bowl , and the man in his chair .

For more information, see the original photo :

For more information, see the original photo :

For more information, see the original photo :