Interiors

A detail from a photo of a restaurant interior , date and location unknown. I was hoping that an enlargement of the menus would be sharp enough to determine the name of the restaurant, but the image doesn't seem clear enough to even make a guess at the words. A close-up of the doorway of the restaurant similarly provides a peek out onto the street, but identifying the business signs by the partial words that are visible presents another challenge.

Another detail from a photo of an unidentified restaurant interior . This is a close-up of an entrance or window,, and it shows what may be parts of signs from other businesses along the same street. I haven't been able to decipher the partial words or figure out what the signs might say. I haven't had any luck reading the words on the menus that are visible in the photo either.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of playing a trick: high jinks . Handwritten note on the back of this photo: "Aunt Maggie trick shot by Art." Aunt Maggie certainly played her cards right! This trick photo uses a double exposure to make it look like she's playing cards with her doppelgänger. This is an undated photo mounted on cardboard (see the full photo ) with no further identification of "Aunt Maggie" or her photographer "Art."

Aunt Maggie is playing cards with herself! For more information, see the cropped version of the photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of someone's in the kitchen . Seven students and two teachers pose for the camera during a cooking class in a school kitchen. Judging by the recipes visible on the chalkboard, the subject of the day's lesson was "Butter Cake" with "Boiled Frosting" (see a cropped version of the photo for a close-up of the recipes). This is an unused 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.

Lists of ingredients and descriptions of the procedures for making "Butter Cake" with "Boiled Frosting" appear on the chalkboard behind the teacher and students in this image from an early twentieth-century photo postcard. See also the full version of this photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of school days . This is a real photo postcard that's dated 1913 on the other side. The photo shows a teacher and her students at Rhode's School, a one-room schoolhouse -- now a private residence -- located along Old U.S. 22 about two miles east of Krumsville in Greenwich Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. A local publication reprinted this photo in 1969 with the following caption: "The teacher in this picture was Miss Carrie W. Kline [1857-1931], a native of Richmond Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. She was a graduate of the Keystone State Normal School [now Kutztown University ], class of 1877. She started teaching at the age of 19 and followed the profession for fifty years in the schools of Penna. She taught at Rhode's School from 1908 to 1915." -- From Da Ausauga (Kempton, Pa.: Fereinicht Pennsylfawnish Deitsch Fulk, Inc.), vol. 9, no. 4 (June-July 1969), p. 1.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of (modest) bathtub shots . Mom is smiling but Junior looks a little worried as dad snaps a photo at bath time. For a basin instead of a bathinette, see Baby in a Basin, Photographed by Galen Piper, Bainbridge, Pa.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of sitting on the sofa . I like the colors and patterns in this undated photo of a couple and their dog posing for a picture in their living room. Note especially the bright red sofa (with white antimacassars ), the busy design printed on the curtains, and the woman's striped blouse and distinctive eyeglasses. For another unique sitting-on-the-sofa photo, see Easter Bunnies and Baskets .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of holding hands . A photo of eleven women -- six standing, one seated on a chair, two kneeling, and two holding hands as they sit on the floor -- taken in front of a window in the parlor. Notice the distinctive wallpaper and the pump organ on the left. There's a partial list of the women's names written on the other side (see below), but there aren't any clues about the location or reason for their get-together. This is a real photo postcard, and the type of Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) printed on the back suggests a possible date that may be as early as 1904 to 1918. Written on the other side: Top row left to right 1 Ethel May 2 Maud Ressler 3 Mered Diets 4 [no name] 5 [no name] 6 Gertrude Harrington Setting down 1 Fern Rinker 2 [no name] 3 Mrs. Cora Pommert 4 Wave Pace [possibly Wave Bernadine Pace Sanderson ] 5 Irene Rinker

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of toys or gifts . A Christmas photo of a girl, who is smiling and seems happy, and her doll, who is rigid and tense -- and seems a little scary! Before you cautiously back up and quietly exit the house, take note of the metallic Christmas tree, the granny square afghan on the chair, and the girl's striped shirt and Santa pin. For another potentially scary situation, see The Doll Waited Patiently for Them to Come Home .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of a tabletop or desktop and the things on it . Handwritten note on the other side of this snapshot: "This is my work bench in the supply office." This is an undated snapshot of a desk or workbench in an unidentified "supply office." Arranged on the desk are a pen in a holder, a travel alarm clock, some sort of metal boxes, another pen, an ashtray, a large photo of a woman, a desk calendar, another ashtray (this one full of cigarette butts), a telephone, and a half empty cigarette pack. Ten or more photos and documents are visible through the glass that covers most of the desktop. Paper trays are mounted on the wall to the right of the desk, and a pencil sharpener attached to the wall above the desk is partially visible on the left.

"The Museum" was the name of Skinner, Day & Co.'s store in Keene, New Hampshire. For similar cards with a red or pink background illustration, see Eugene O. Chase, Second Leading Hoseman, Danielsonville, Conn. , and Fireman Calling Card . Museum. Skinner, Day & Co., Jewelers, Dry Goods, Carpets, Fancy Goods and Everything Keene, N.H.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of haunted by Halloween (Trick or treat, give us something good to see! Halloween photos of any kind, including costumes, masks, jack-o'-lanterns, decorations, skeletons, ghosts, haunted houses, monsters, or anything spooky or scary. No limit—post as many Halloween photos as you'd like!) . The kid standing on the right flashed a V sign (or peace sign) here and in another photo where he's dressed in a Fred Flintstone costume . The jack-o'-lanterns also make an appearance in the other photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of books (books appear prominently in the photo) . A little boy smiles up at the camera as he sits on the edge of his parents' bed. One section of the headboard behind him contains a radio, and a bookshelf takes up another section. See an enlargement of the shelf for information about the books.

Some of the titles on the spines of the books in the bedside bookshelf photo are visible in this enlargement. At least fifteen of the twenty-two books are Modern Library imprints (see the list below). I was able to make out the Modern Library's running torchbearer logo on many of the books. For additional information about the imprint, see Bibliography of the Modern Library, 1925-1959 , by Gordon B. Neavill. 1-4 - unidentified 5 - Cervantes (Modern Library) 6 - [Camille?] 7 - The Divine Comedy (Modern Library) 8 - Pickwick Papers (Modern Library) 9 - unidentified (Modern Library) 10 - Dracula (Modern Library) 11- Nana (Modern Library) 12- De Maupassant (Modern Library) 13 - unidentified (Modern Library) 14 - Dead Souls (Modern Library) 15 - unidentified 16 - The Possessed (Modern Library but no logo on spine) 17 - unidentified (Modern Library) 18 - unidentified 19 - Nine Plays by Eugene O'Neill (Modern Library) 20 - Anna Karenina (Modern Library) 21 - The Complete Poems of Keats and Shelley (Modern Library) 22 - The Philosophy of Nietzsche (Modern Library)

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of cut out or crossed off (a photo altered to remove someone or something) . An arm, hand, and wristwatch are all that remains of the fellow who was sitting on the couch with this young woman in 1966.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the monthly topic of family gatherings for Thanksgiving or other occasions . A family pauses for a photo before they dig in to their Thanksgiving dinner. Despite the turkey, pies, and other dishes on the table , my eye was drawn to the kerosene lamp hanging from the ceiling, the elaborate design of the wallpaper in the background, and the cylinder phonograph hidden in the shadows on the sideboard. See a cropped version of the photo for a better view of these items. For another photo with a similar phonograph, see Young Man Posing with an Edison Cylinder Phonograph . This is a real photo postcard with a divided back (introduced in 1907) but no stamp box, address, or message.