Mothers

A smiling mother poses with her young child in this real photo postcard.

A mother looks intently at one of her two children in this real photo postcard. In the background, a ball lies abandoned on one of the steps, and a swing hangs above the porch.

A mother hangs on to one kid and a second kid hangs on to mom in this real photo postcard.

A mother(s) and daughter(s) photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Handwritten on the back of this real photo postcard: "Mellie and Corrine Smith. March 21st, 1929."

Judging by her blurred appearance, the youngest child was squirming in her seat when the photo was taken, and her brother and sister don't look like they're having a good time either.

A cropped version of a souvenir real photo postcard. See below for the full version :

See also a cropped version of this real photo postcard:

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 Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of cooking: outside or in . I'm not sure what mama's cooking, but she may be preparing food for a picnic. There appear to be white cloth-covered baskets lying in the grass, with one or two baskets barely visible behind mama and another in the right midground. "Mama cookin' 'em. Catherine Mueller." Sent to Mr. W. S. Osgood, 410 Morris Bldg., New Orleans, La., and postmarked Kansas City, Kans., Aug. 20, 1907. There's no other message on the back.

"Oklahoma City, Apr. 19, 1906. Dear Cousin, Here we are with our best wishes and some Oklahoma apple blossoms. Yours lovingly, Armada Ruth Tinkham and her mamma, Etta Brown Tinkham." Etta Brown Tinkham also sent a second real photo postcard to her cousin on the same date (she must have sent them both in an envelope since there's no address, stamp, or postmark on either of them). See Greetings from the Future Popcorn King, Oklahoma City, Okla., 1906 :

A mothers photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Nelson P. Smith displayed a playful sense of humor with a mischievous message on this real photo postcard dated April 10, 1910. I'm guessing that the photo is a portrait of his wife and son. Mrs. Matilda Maria Thomas Exhibit No. 16390 Ladies and Gent: You have here before you two relics of the Antediluvian period just discovered in a small town, situated in a swamp in Florida, supposed to be the descendants of mound builders or some extinct race. Look like mother and son. Ages supposed to be son, 4 mos., April 10/10. Nelson P. Smith

"Apr. 16 '11. Here is a Easter chicken. Easter greetings to Bertha from Clifford."

A good luck postcard with an inset oval photo of a mother and son.

Although this photo was in poor shape when I bought it and required significant touch-up to make the image somewhat more visible for posting, I thought that the appeal for assistance printed on the back of the card made it worthwhile. I did some searching for further information about the triplets, but didn't uncover a definitive account of their story. The Find A Grave Web site contains some information regarding the girls' parents, Jarred Washington Tracey (1857-1906) and Emma Barton Tracey (1858-1949) (I'm not sure why the parents' middle names don't match their middle intials on the card). Emma Tracey's entry includes a different photo of the mother with her three daughters. Find A Grave also contains entries for the children, Mabel V. Tracey McKelvey (1886-1967) , Edith Grace Tracey Thompson (1886-1967) , and Bessie Barton Tracey Willard (1886-1966) . -------- Printed on the back of the card: The Triplet Children of J. M. and Emma C. Tracey, Fountaindale, Pa. Mable Viola, Born April 4, 1886, noon, weighed 6 lbs. Edith Grace, Born April 5, 1886, noon, weighed 6 lbs. Bessie Barton, Born April 6, 1886, 4 p.m., weighed 7 lbs. Mrs. Tracey, the mother of these babes, was born with but one arm. Photographs taken Aug. 26, 1886. Cabinet photographs of these children will be mailed to any address for 25 cents. Address J. M. Tracey, Fountain Dale, Adams co., Pa. The profit from the sale of photographs will be devoted to rearing and educating the triplets. -------- Printed on the front of the card below the photo (too faint to be visible here): "Tipton Photo, Gettysburg, Pa."

"John D. Lemer, 1218 North 3rd St., Harrisburg, Pa." For the Vintage Photos Theme Park, a hand in the photo with the person cut off .* For more of the same, track down a copy of Linda Fregni Nagler and Gioni Massimiliano's book, The Hidden Mother (London: MACK, 2013), which is a compilation of over 1,000 vintage photos of mothers attempting to remain hidden as they comfort children who are being photographed. *I try to sort through my collection in order to post a brand new photo for each week's theme, but I came up short this week and had to use one that I had previously posted elsewhere on Ipernity.

Mounted on cardboard with a printed decorative border.

A Kodachrome slide dated January 1961.