Umbrellas and Parasols

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of: come on in, the water's fine (people enjoying themselves--or not--in water) . "56. Floating in Dead Sea." A real photo postcard of a man posing with a book and umbrella in the Dead Sea , where the density of the salt water makes it easy to float.

A real photo postcard of two women, presumably participating in a parade of some sort, on a horse-drawn carriage profusely decorated with flowers. The woman on the left is holding the reins in one hand and a whip in the other, while the woman on the right is holding a parasol. The hat of a third woman, who may be riding on the far side of the carriage, appears to the left of the woman holding the reins. The figure of a man, apparently riding on top of another vehicle, is partially visible behind the carriage, and in the distance are telephone poles and what looks like the side of a mountain. There's a sign affixed to the building at left, but the letters are too small to make out what it says.

Caption on front: "Labor Day, Cumberland, Md." Printed on back: "C. E. Gerkins, Cumberland, Md." A real photo postcard of men marching in a Labor Day parade along Baltimore Street in Cumberland, Maryland, circa 1900s or 1910s. The sign for "J. Gross, " a clothing store with an address of 169 Baltimore Street, is visible on the building at left, and a close examination of an enlargement of the photo reveals that "The Kenneweg Co., Wholesale Grocers" occupied the building on the right. The steeple that's visible at the far end of the street belongs to the historic Emmanuel Episcopal Church , which--as Wikipedia points out--was "built on the foundations of Fort Cumberland, where George Washington began his military career."

Ducking under "umbrellas or parasols" over at the Vintage Photos Theme Park . Margaret Thomas of Peoria, Illinois, sent this real photo postcard to Jane "Jennie" Klinger of State College, Pa., in 1907. The "picnic at Bradley" notation along the right-hand edge of the postcard may indicate that the photo was taken at the Bradley Polytechnic Institute (now Bradley University) in Peoria. Peoria, Ill. 9/8/1907 Dear Jane, The umbrella is hardly big enough for two, like you and I, but as trees grow to be very old in that country we might someplace find a kindly shade that would suffice for such a pair. Wish I could be with you all today. Yours, Margaret Thomas Picnic at Bradley 9/2-1907 Addressed on the other side to: Miss Jennie Klinger State College Pa. Centre Co. Care Bathgates RR

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

Real photo postcard. "Zanesville, Ohio. 8/29/15."

A crowds photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "Real photograph printed from negative by Harper B. Smith , 1637 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, N.J." Addressed to: "Mrs. Roy H. Passmore, Christiana, Lanc. Co., Penna." Handwritten message: Dear Dot - Does thee see the girls that are marked—they are our bunch & also "The Man of the Hour"? (Woodrow)? People are naming their kiddies after him thee know. Tell Agnes Schultz [that the] girls got homesick and went home and I am working here at one of the best places if not the best. Spent one week boarding & "doing it" as that crazy song says. Met a very nice girl from Wilmington whom I like very much. Hetty Marked Girls Hetty points out the "girls that are marked" on the photo (mouse over the image above for an enlargement showing the marks ). I'm not sure whether these are the same girls who left after getting homesick. Woodrow Wilson That's Woodrow Wilson , governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913 and president of the United States from 1913 to 1921, who's addressing the audience in this photo (mouse over the image for a close-up of Wilson ). Although I haven't been able to confirm it, the unfinished brick wall on the lower right-hand side suggests to me that this may be a view of Wilson's speech during the laying of the cornerstone for the new YMCA building (now the John Brooks Recovery Center ) on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on July 10, 1912. Wilson appeared in front of a crowd of about 5,000 on that day in one of his first appearances after receiving the Democratic nomination for president on July 2 (see " Wilson at Cornerstone Laying ," Reading Eagle [Reading, Pa.], July 10, 1912, p. 9). As Hetty alluded to in her message, Wilson used "The Man of the Hour" as his slogan when he ran for president in 1912, and he was apparently popular enough that some parents did name their children after him. One famous namesake, for instance, was Woodrow Wison "Woody" Guthrie , who was born on July 14, 1912, and grew up to become a famous folksinger and composer of songs like " This Land Is Your Land ." Doing It Hetty mentions that she "Spent one week boarding & 'doing it' as that crazy song says." The song was " Everybody's Doin' It Now" (1911), by Irving Berlin. What was it that everybody was doing? Why ragtime dancing, of course: "See that ragtime couple over there / Watch them throw their shoulders in the air / Snap their fingers / Honey I declare it's a bear / It's a bear, it's a bear / There! / Everybody's doin' it / Doin' it, doin' it / Everybody's doin' it / Doin' it, doin' it." Thee Why does Hetty use "thee" instead of "you" in her message? As it turns out, she was writing to Dorothy "Dotty" Passmore, a woman who was a member of the Quakers (or Friends), a religious group that used "thee" as a pronoun at the time. It's likely that Hetty was a Quaker as well. The Friends Journal: Quaker Thought and Life Today , Nov. 1, 1964, noted the death of Dorothy's husband on June 21 of that year. He was a member of the Sadsbury Friends Meeting , a Quaker church that still exists today. His wife, who presumably was also a member of the church, had passed away a month earlier on May 19, 1964, as reported in an obituary that appeared in the New York Times .

See also the full version and a detail from this photo:

See also the full photo and a cropped version of this photo:

Heading to the circus at the Vintage Photos Theme Park . Elephants walk trunk to tail down the street as part of a parade to announce that the circus is in town. As Circus World points out as part of its History of the Great Circus Parade , "Circuses would travel from town to town, quickly erect tents, do several performances, then move on to the next venue. As the circus entered a new city, people would gather to watch the wagons, exotic animals, and equestriennes roll by." For another view of the same parade, see Circus Horses on Parade .

A zoo photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Handwritten note on the back of this undated photo: "Uano Zoo - Tokyo." A fashionably dressed mother and her canteen-toting son pose impatiently in front of a fenced-in pond inhabited by ducks and other birds. Other zoo visitors (some holding umbrellas to protect against the sun) are visible in the background of the photo. The Ueno Zoo (its name is actually "Ueno" with an "e" rather than "Uano" with an "a") opened in Tokyo in 1882 and is Japan's oldest zoo.

A people playing musical instruments photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A cornet band marching in a Fourth of July parade or for some other patriotic occasion. A horse-drawn float is following the band. Note the church, partially obscured by trees, in the background and the flag-bedecked house on the left. Baby carriages are parked in front of the house, and a woman holding a closed parasol and wearing a white dress and hat is standing on the porch. The only clues to the origin of this real photo postcard are the "M.P. Church" (" Methodist Protestant Church "?) sign visible on the horse-drawn float, part of the band's name ("---ld Cornet") that's barely visible under magnification on the bass drum, and the letters "C.R.P." on a shirt worn by one of the marchers.

A cyanotype real photo postcard postmarked Toledo, Ohio, Jan. 8, 1907, and addressed to Miss Gertrude Hostler, 314 Giddings St., Chicago, Ill. Alkali Ike, Shooting Sam, Susie Shoestrings, and Willie Wildflower are the playful names that the sender of this card has given to some of the "rowdies" riding with her in this Columbus farm wagon (mouse over the image above for a better view of the miscreants ). Here's my transcription of the writing on the front of the card: A Bunch of Rowdies 1.Alkali Ike. 2.The girl who composed that lullaby. 3.Shooting Sam. 4.Susie Shoestrings. 5.Yours truly. [Me.] 6.The last but best. A Dr. [Willie Wildflower (mine).] Taken this summer.

See also the full version of this real photo postcard:

Google translates "En Stockholmsutflykt" as "A Stockholm Excursion," and Strömparterren is a park in Stockholm, but I'm not sure why this postcard shows Mary Poppins ' brother coming in for a landing.

Cousins of Alfred E. Neuman perhaps?

"The Human Flag, Loyal War Governors Parade, Altoona, Pa., Sept. 1912." A postcard of the "Human Flag"—women holding umbrellas to form the stars and stripes of the United States flag—during the parade in Altoona , Pennsylvania, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Loyal War Governors' Conference .