Cameras, Photographers, and Photography

See the Kodak maiden, See the silly chap; He has lots of money So she has "a snap!" Published by A. S. Meeker, New York, in 1908, this comic postcard was part of an "'Embossed Comics' Series." Postmarked Lincoln, Nebraska, May 7, 1909, on the back.

"Easter Greetings." An early twentieth-century postcard published by Raphael Tuck & Sons . For more photography-themed Easter postcards, see Easter Bunny Photographer and Photogenic Easter Bunny (below).

"Easter Greetings." Postmarked Herman, Pa., March 22, 1913, on back.

"Easter Greetings." An Easter postcard, trimmed at the top and postmarked 1909 on the back.

A lines/stripes photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Handwritten note on the back of this real photo postcard: "Gerald. Taking two at a time." I wish we could compare this photo with the one that Gerald was taking, but at least we have this single one of the two photos that were evidently being snapped at the same exact time. I like how the lines formed by the rails of the tracks converge to a vanishing point in the distance, and then the three legs of the tripod, of course, similarly converge upon the camera.

A 1970s photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. In the original scan of this photo, the Pennsylvania license plate on the back of the truck looks like it has a "74" or "75" sticker in one corner, so I'm reasonably sure that it dates to the 1970s.

"I shall be candid with you, Valentine. You're so snappy. Hope you develop a liking for me." A mechanical valentine. Moving the boy's head alternately displays "Valentine," "You're so snappy," and a girl's face in the lens of the camera, and the final position also reveals a heart with the message, "Hope you develop a liking for me." I suspect that this card dates to the 1960s, when the television show Candid Camera was at the height of its popularity.

"Save the day with snap shots. Thanksgiving, the day of the year which brings most families together, is a splendid opportunity to take snap-shots of the entire family, both singly and as a group. Next year may be too late. Have your camera and a few extra film ready. Master Photo Finishers of America." After I posted this previously on that other site , it was mentioned on PetaPixel and featured by Xeni Jardin on Boing Boing : "Get a load of this print ad from the Master Photo Finishers of America, 1926. . . . Scanned . . . by Alan Mays, whose photo stream is full of wonderful vintage weirdness."

A television photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. For another interesting television photo, see Don't Give Your Televison the Boot . A Kodachrome slide dated August 1962. If you look closely, you can see the reflections of the photographer and his camera on the TV screen (mouse over the photo above for an enlarged view of the reflected image ). The photographer appears to be kneeling or sitting in front of the television in order to take a photo of what may have been his brand new TV set. The bright flash from the camera stands out at the top of the reflected image, the photographer's illuminated fingers are visible at both sides of the camera, and his disembodied pant legs (from the knees down) eerily appear by themselves at the bottom of the TV screen.

Detail from Reflections on a RCA Victor Super Color Television, 1962 , showing the TV screen with its reflected image of the photographer and his camera. The photographer appears to be kneeling or sitting in front of the television in order to take a photo of what may have been his brand new TV set. The bright flash from the camera stands out at the top of the reflected image, the photographer's illuminated fingers are visible at both sides of the camera, and his disembodied pant legs (from the knees down) eerily appear by themselves at the bottom of the TV screen.

In this real photo postcard, the hostess for the local WGAL-TV version of the Romper Room children's show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is standing in front of the station's "Color Television" camera (the show was broadcast in color beginning in 1957). The unnamed hostess is holding a drawing of the show's logo, which featured a jack-in-the-box . Behind the hostess is a board with illustrations of "Don't Bee" and "Do Bee." The message on the right-hand side of the board is "Don't be toy selfish," and although we can't see the left side, the sentiment there was probably "Do be toy sharing." Wikipedia's Romper Room article mentions the Bees in its description of a typical episode : "A recurring character was Mr. Do-Bee, an oversized bumblebee who came to teach the children proper deportment; he was noted for always starting his sentence with 'Do Bee', as in the imperative 'Do be'; for example, 'Do Bee good boys and girls for your parents!' There was also a 'Mr. Don't Bee' to show children exactly what they should not do." Perhaps the most interesting and perplexing Romper Room prop--not visible in this photo postcard, unfortunately--was the magic mirror, whose appearance on the screen was always accompanied by a psychedelic mass of swirling colors (see the 1980 Romper Room Magic Mirror Clip on YouTube for an example). As Wikipedia explains, "At the end of each broadcast, the hostess would look through a 'magic mirror'--actually an open hoop with a handle, the size and shape of a hand mirror--recite the rhyme, 'Romper, bomper, stomper boo. Tell me, tell me, tell me, do. Magic Mirror, tell me today, have all my friends had fun at play?' She would then name the children she saw in 'televisionland,' saying, for example, 'I can see Kathleen and Owen and Julie and Jimmy and Kelly and Tommy and Bobby and Jennifer and Martin' and so on. Kids were encouraged to mail in their names, which would be read on the air--first names only." I'm not sure how long Romper Room continued on WGAL-TV, but the show apparently lasted into the 1990s in some areas. For another Romper Room-ination on Ipernity, take a look at arts enthusiast's Romper Room Exercise Book .

"From the Cornell University Art Gallery of E. D. Evans, 74 and 76 East State St., Ithaca, N.Y."

"J. A. Pfeifer & Co., photographic artists, 262, 264, & 266 S. High Street, Columbus, Ohio. Pfeifer, Smith, Mulligan Bros."

For this cabinet card back, see the full backmark illustration and a detail showing the street scene in front of the photographer's gallery (above). -------- Although the photographer's name and address appears as "Schlickeisen, 343 Central Avenue, Jersey City, N.J.," on the front of this cabinet card, the name on the sign in the illustration on the back is spelled as "Schlickeysen" (ending in -keysen instead of -keisen). In addition, the arrangement of the street number--"343"--in the palette shapes on either side of the Art Gallery sign is curious, ending with a smaller superscript "3" that seemingly was added after the fact. Interestingly, Langdon's List of 19th & Early 20th Century Photographers provides some relevant information regarding Gustav Schlickeysen/Schlickeisen. According to Langdon, "Schlickeysen" was the spelling listed in city directories for 1888 and 1889, but during those years the photographer's address was 34 Hancock Avenue, Hoboken, New Jersey, rather than 343 Central Avenue, Jersey City, N.J. Directories for 1891, 1892, and 1893, however, indicate that "Schlickeisen" had already moved to the Central Avenue address in Hoboken. It's not clear why the spelling of Schlickeysen changed to Schlickeisen when the photographer moved from Hoboken to Jersey City. Although the new spelling appeared on the front of this cabinet card, the sign in the artwork on the back retained the old spelling. The street number, however, was updated by squeezing an extra "3" into the palette shapes to indicate the change from "34" (Hancock Avenue, Hoboken) to "343" (Central Avenue, Jersey City). If the illustration depicts the original gallery in Hoboken, however, I wonder if customers at Schlickeisen's new gallery in Jersey City were still confused by the drawing despite the updated street number. Finally, it's worth noting that a "Portrait" display case to attract potential customers is situated on the sidewalk in front of the gallery. And notice the horse-drawn tram passing by on the tracks in front of the gallery--an indication of how easy it would be to travel to the gallery.

For this cabinet card back, see the full backmark illustration (above) and a detail showing the street scene in front of the photographer's gallery . -------- Although the photographer's name and address appears as "Schlickeisen, 343 Central Avenue, Jersey City, N.J.," on the front of this cabinet card, the name on the sign in the illustration on the back is spelled as "Schlickeysen" (ending in -keysen instead of -keisen). In addition, the arrangement of the street number--"343"--in the palette shapes on either side of the Art Gallery sign is curious, ending with a smaller superscript "3" that seemingly was added after the fact. Interestingly, Langdon's List of 19th & Early 20th Century Photographers provides some relevant information regarding Gustav Schlickeysen/Schlickeisen. According to Langdon, "Schlickeysen" was the spelling listed in city directories for 1888 and 1889, but during those years the photographer's address was 34 Hancock Avenue, Hoboken, New Jersey, rather than 343 Central Avenue, Jersey City, N.J. Directories for 1891, 1892, and 1893, however, indicate that "Schlickeisen" had already moved to the Central Avenue address in Hoboken. It's not clear why the spelling of Schlickeysen changed to Schlickeisen when the photographer moved from Hoboken to Jersey City. Although the new spelling appeared on the front of this cabinet card, the sign in the artwork on the back retained the old spelling. The street number, however, was updated by squeezing an extra "3" into the palette shapes to indicate the change from "34" (Hancock Avenue, Hoboken) to "343" (Central Avenue, Jersey City). If the illustration depicts the original gallery in Hoboken, however, I wonder if customers at Schlickeisen's new gallery in Jersey City were still confused by the drawing despite the updated street number. Finally, it's worth noting that a "Portrait" display case to attract potential customers is situated on the sidewalk in front of the gallery. And notice the horse-drawn tram passing by on the tracks in front of the gallery--an indication of how easy it would be to travel to the gallery.

See also the front of this CDV . "J. G. Vallade, portrait painter and photographer, one door above post office, Altoona, Pa. Negatives will be preserved. Photograph albums, gilt and rosewood frames, and landscape oil paintings for sale."

"Rehn & Sons' new & commodious ground floor galleries, 510 Arch Street, Philadelphia. Portraits, card, ivorytypes, ambrotypes, photographs, in crayon, pastel, water, and oil." The U.S. Internal Revenue stamp on this CDV backmark dates it to between August 1, 1864, and August 1, 1866. Another Rehn and Sons backmark , which is part of Richard D. Sheaff's amazing collection , has an added border and a handwritten date of March 1866.

R. H. Buttorff (1849-1934), a photographer in York, Pennsylvania, used an advertising trade card showing Christopher Columbus (below, front of card) to promote his "special highly finished 'Columbian' photographs" in 1893. The "Certificate of Reward" (above, back of card) that he offered to teachers for distribution to students was similar to the rewards of merit they were already familiar with. In addition to the usual student recognition for "deportment and standing in studies," however, this reward certificate doubled as a coupon redeemable for a half-price deal on cabinet photographs. Unfortunately for us, however, the expiration date was March 1, 1894.