Food and Drink

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of food . The remnants of a meal were still on the table when the photographer snapped this picture. The calendar on the wall displays the month of July 1914, and it must have been a hot summer day judging by the sweat glistening on some of the faces. The dealer's notation on the back of this real photo postcard identifies the locale as Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of out in the yard or garden . Handwritten note on the other side of this snapshot: "The Lemonade Stand, .88 profit - Maine '49." Out in the yard with a couple of kids operating a profitable lemonade stand.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of lines/stripes . Five boys are sitting at a patio table in the back yard as they drink Food Fair root beer and orange soda and snack on Wheat Thins, twin pops, and Fruit Flavored Slices. Three of the boys are wearing striped shirts, and the two oldest boys look similar enough to be brothers or maybe even twins. The Kodak Paper stamp box on the other side of this real photo postcard was first used around 1950. The design of the Wheat Thins box on the table suggests a date sometime in the sixties based on the Nabisco Wheat Thins - 1960s image posted on Flickr by Brandon (Waffle Whiffler). Update: After another Alan commented on Flickr that he was getting a sixties vibe from this photo, I did some additional checking and found a clearer example of the side of the box (see Nabisco Wheat Thins - 1960s ). I revised the title and description to reflect that these kids were probably snacking in the sixties rather than the seventies.

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.

An elaborate business card printed by David Bachman Landis of Pluck Art Printery (later known as Landis Art Print). The wavy, wiry vertical lines that Landis used to separate the "Special Attention" section on the left from the main "E. Oettel" portion of the card come from a set of "Capital Ornaments" dated 1891 that was available from the Barnhart Brothers & Spindler (BB&S) type foundry. Landis also used these separators in a number of other printed pieces. See, for instance, the following examples: -- Charles S. Frantz, Graduate Ophthalmic Optician, Watchmaker, and Jeweler, Lancaster, Pa. -- A. H. Herr, Mill Creek Dairy, Lancaster, Pa. -- J. M. Trout, Fire Sand Quarries, Landisville, Pennsylvania, ca. 1890s BB&S also sold a set of "Brownies" characters that included the tiny owl in the upper left-hand corner. Typefaces: Duerer ("Fancy Bakery and Confectionery"), Pynson ("All kinds of Cakes, Pies, Creams, Water Ices, and"), Hansard ("Home Made Bread"), Dante ("No. 506 Manor Street, Lancaster, Pa."). The unidentified typeface used here for "E. Oettel" appears to be the same as the one selected for "J. M. Trout" on the J. M. Trout, Fire Sand Quarries card. E. Oettel, Philadelphia Reliable Fancy Bakery and Confectionery. All kinds of Cakes, Pies, Creams, Water Ices, and Home Made Bread. No. 506 Manor Street, Lancaster, Pa. Special attention given to wedding and party orders. Stands at Eastern, Central, and Southern Markets.

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.

Note the cylinder phonograph on the sideboard, the kerosene lamp on the right, and the wallpaper in the background, See also the full version of this photograph and a photo of a similar cylinder phonograph .

A close-up view of the turkey, pies, and other dishes set out for a family's early twentieth-century Thanksgiving dinner (or at least it looks like a Thanksgiving meal). See also the full version of this photograph.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of weddings . This is an undated color photo of a bride and groom cutting into their three-tiered wedding cake. The bride is smiling as she poses for the camera, but the groom seems stoic and isn't paying any attention to the photographer. A framed print of grapes and other fruit hangs on the cinder-block wall in the background, and curtains with a colorful pattern are visible directly behind the bride. Crepe-paper streamers provide overhead decoration.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of lollypop, lollypop -- featuring a lollypop, candy cane, or other confection . This is a 1959 snapshot of a dandy young fellow who is dressed in a suit and holding an Easter bunny toy. The table next to him is covered with Easter baskets and a variety of candy confections. There's even more candy on top of the console radio that's on the other side of the table. See also a close-up of the candy .

A table and console radio covered in all sorts of Easter candy. See also the original photo .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of birthday cakes – or any other kind of cake . A young girl pauses for a photo before blowing out the candles on the large birthday cake on the TV tray table in front of her. There are a dozen or more lit candles on the cake, but surely she's not twelve years old! See a copped version of this photo for a closer look at the girl and her cake.

Twelve or more candles on her birthday cake! Could she be that old? See also the full version of this photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of very happy people . This is an undated real photo postcard of a group of Americans and Germans happily enjoying themselves at a beer hall table during the May Fair in Kaiserslautern , Germany. Handwritten note on the other side: "This was taken in a Beer Hall at the May Fair in Kaiserslautern. The people across the table are unknown Germans. Col. Faw is between me & some unknown German woman. I'm wearing my green Bavarian hat ." Added in another hand: "3rd from right, Arthur Brown."

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of Labor Day (laborers and/or the day) . This man is a bill poster or bill sticker , a worker who posts (or sticks up) advertising bills and posters on walls and other public places. The long-handled tool he's holding (see a close-up ) is a bill poster's hammer. A tool collector's site explained the hammer's function: "These specialized hammers were used to 'post' handbills and advertising cards well above the normal reach of the user, or potential remover or defacer, making them both easier to see and less subject to vandalism or being posted over. . . . These hammers are cleverly designed with two clips. The upper clip holds the initial tack while the lower clip holds the bill, card, or poster to be tacked on to a pole, wall, or tree." This man is also holding an advertising sign that says, " Magic Yeast Makes Perfect Bread." At his feet is a satchel containing more copies of the sign (see a close-up ). This is a real photo postcard with a divided back, and the type of Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) printed on the other side suggests a date between 1907 and 1918. The name "William Mere" is handwritten on the other side.

A bill poster's hammer and an advertising sign for Magic Yeast. For more information, see the full photo .

A bill poster's satchel with additional copies of the "Magic Yeast Makes Perfect Bread" sign. For more information, see the full photo .