New Year

"Sweepe withe ye olde yeere all that's bad awaie, / And a newe lyfe begynne on Newe Yeere's Day. W.B.B., 1876." Sign on the door: "This house to let, apply." Unused advertising trade card, probably published in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1875.

Boys shooting a lucky pig (in German, Glücksschwein ) and gold coins out of a cannon for luck and wealth in the new year.

"Broad View Farm, Stearns Bros., props. Pure milk from our accredited herd. Telephone: 68-M. Rochester, N.H. Make sure your milk is a grade higher. Order it from Broad View Farm. January 1927. A splendid New Year's resolution--'I will return my empty milk bottles daily.'"

A Victorian-era calling card with handwritten name and date: "Alice A. Collar. Dec. 31st, 1878. A.A.C."

"A Happy New Year. Haddocks. Come to your milk now." A Victorian-era New Year calling or greeting card with a hand-drawn sketch. "Come to your milk" seems to have had a specific meaning in the nineteenth century beyond pulling on a calf's tail to try to get it to drink out of a milk bucket. Besides a few hits on the phrase in Google Books, however, I haven't uncovered any source that reveals what that meaning might have been.

A postcard with an undivided back (only an address was allowed on the back of this type of early postcard--no message). There's no stamp or postmark, but it's addressed to: "Mr. & Mrs. M. A. Rice, Montclair, New Jersey." The stamp box on the back of the postcard ("Place postage stamp here. Domestic, one cent. Foreign, two cents.") is overwritten with the words, "Mervyn Pony Post," meaning, I assume, that Mervyn received it in person from Eva and Billy. Mervyn then presumably carried it home to show the New Year greeting on the front (a parody of a railroad passenger ticket decorated in red and green colors with Christmas holly leaves and berries) to his wife Nellie and the rest of the Rice family. General Railroad of Time, 1906-1907 Three Hundred & Sixty Five Trip Family Ticket This ticket officially stamped and dated will entitle Nellie & Mervyn and family to one continuous happy and prosperous passage through life from January 1st, 1906, to January 1st, 1907, and may be renewed for as long a period thereafter as they may desire, without further notice. 365. Signed and sealed by Eva & Billy. Father Time, General Passenger Agent. Copyright 1905 by William Joseph Burkhardt, 206 Ocean Avenue, Jersey City, N.J.

"Pennsylvania Rail Road, Lancaster Division, 1882. Pass ________. To Hess & Flinn's Station, the cheapest furniture and upholstery house in the city. No. 148-150 North Queen St., Lancaster, Pa. Hess & Flinn." This advertising trade card is a clever parody of a railroad pass (for examples of the real thing, see below for Pennsylvania Railroad Company Pass, 1908 and Pennsylvania Railroad Company Pass, 1909 ). Instead of authorizing travel over a railroad line, however, it invited potential customers to visit Hess & Flinn's furniture store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, during the year 1882. For another Hess & Flinn trade card, see Hess and Flinn, Dealers in All Kinds of Household Furniture, Lancaster, Pa. (below).

"Banks. Pasadena, 1921. Rose Festival. Photo Card Co., L.A." The "Rose Festival" float on this real photo postcard was part of the 1921 edition of the New Year celebration in Pasadena, California, that continues today as the Rose Parade . The Pasadena Clearinghouse Association sponsored the float to represent "Banks" (financial institutions) in the area. For the Banks float constructed for the parade ten years after this one, see Pasadena Clearinghouse Float in the Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena, 1931 .

A photo combining one or more previous themes (Happy New Year, poses by a Christmas thing [anything holiday], people playing musical instruments, interiors, and possibly others) for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Handwritten note on the back of this real photo postcard: "New Year, 1912. Chicago, Ill." The Christmas tree is still standing for this family's New Year celebration in 1912. A woman is playing a guitar, but no one is seated at the piano, surprisingly enough. Happy New Year to one and all!

A hand colored photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park . "Vœux Sincères. Dédé, Paris, 1200." This French hand-tinted real photo postcard combines images of a house, flowers, and a carload of babies to deliver a message of "Vœux Sincères" (sincere wishes) for the New Year.

"Wishing You a Happy New Year, J. P. Baker, Trav. Ag't, Harrisburg, Pa. Buckeye. 1895. 1896. Buckeye. J. H. Trezise, 1125-27 N. Third St., H'b'g." This is a unique photographic New Year greeting that depicts Father Time--carrying an old-fashioned scythe and designated as "1895"--worriedly running away from an overdressed gent who's uttering the word "Buckeye" as he tips his hat and rides atop a newfangled "1896" mechanical reaping machine pulled by a bevy of Cupid-like putti . The inset to the right of this imaginative scene is a photo of "J. P. Baker," who's identified as a traveling agent (salesman) from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Dressed in a hat, cravat, vest, and suit coat, Baker appears to be the model for the gussied-up guy riding the reaper. Although I haven't uncovered any specific information regarding J. P. Baker, I suspect that he may have worked for Aultman, Miller & Co., manufacturer of Buckeye Harvesting Machinery, which had an office at 625 Walnut Street in Harrisburg, according to Boyd's Directory of Harrisburg and Steelton for 1895. The company sold a variety of agricultural equipment for mowing, reaping, threshing, and other tasks (to see a fascinating early silent film clip of a Buckeye machine in operation in Australia, take a look at Wheat Harvesting with Reaper and Binder -1899 ). J. P. Baker evidently used this photograph to wish a happy New Year to his friends and business associates and to promote himself and his Buckeye machines to customers.

"Happy New Year. Christmas cards and holiday goods. John F. Clarke, 104 Fulton St., N.Y." An interesting item of Victoriana despite its discoloration, this trade card served as an advertisement for John F. Clarke's business and provided a New Year greeting for his customers. In the curious illustration on the card, Father Time has dropped his scythe and hourglass. He's wearing sandals on his feet as he trudges away through the snow, and he's taking refuge behind a huge open book. Was he planning to "close the books" on the old year with the oversized ledger? Father Time is using the enormous tome to deflect the snowballs that an impetuous young schoolboy (apparently an older-than-usual representation of Baby New Year ) is hurling at him. The boy's snowball barrage is so relentless that Father Time has given up—he's departing the scene and yielding the New Year to the new kid on the block.

A photo marking the passage of time (any interpretation of "time" in a photo) for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Although the couple in this real photo postcard paradoxically seem to be looking up at a cuckoo clock that's hanging on a wall behind them, the "Gelukkig Nieuwjaar" caption (Dutch for "Happy New Year") lets us know that they are counting down the seconds until the clock strikes midnight and the cuckoo makes its first appearance in the new year. Gelukkig Nieuwjaar and Happy New Year to all the members of the Vintage Photos Theme Park, and hearty thanks to Lisa and Angelica for their time and effort in keeping the group going this year! I'm looking forward to seeing some more fun and interesting vintage photos in 2016!

A New Year calling card. This may have belonged to Judge John G. Van Etten (1863-1927) of Ulster County, New York.

"Godt Nytt År" (Norwegian for "Happy New Year) is the message on this postcard, which was postmarked in Stockholm, December 31, 1912.

From a Kodachrome slide, date and location unknown.

It looks like this photo was taken at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. The couple on the right are smooching, and the others are taking a drink or otherwise making merry in this undated and slightly out-of-focus Kodachrome slide.

"A Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year, 1910-1911." A novelty postcard with an attached photo. The card was made from heavy card stock, and the design—including the flower—was cut or slashed into the paper. A single handwritten word—"Post-Card"—appears on the back of the card. I've found a couple of references to similar "razor-cut art" pieces, but haven't been able to learn much about them. I do have some other postcard examples with "A. Trenner, artist, New York, Atlantic City" printed on the back, and razor-cut art work on the front. A couple of other cut-work postcards are part of the "Kesto Graphic Series." Unfortunately, I haven't been able to track down much information on A. Trenner or the Kesto Graphic Series. Here's another postcard (below) that's missing a photo but is otherwise similar to the one above. A couple of other razor-cut pieces (see below) seem to be novelty calling cards bearing the names William Polk and Margaret Harper .