Photos in Photos

A wallpaper photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A real photo postcard postmarked Chicago, Dec. 24, 1908, and addressed to Miss Anna Wallace, New Florence, Pennsylvania. Message written on the back: "A merry Xmas. How do you like your job by this time? Received your postal. Best regards to all, Sam." Judging by the pennant hanging on the wall (which probably spells out "Law") and what appear to be law book bindings in the bookcase and on the small table, Sam may have been a law school student.

A breakfast photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. (In selecting images for the VPTP, I normally attempt to find a new photo that I haven't previously posted on Ipernity. But the frig was bare when I went to look for breakfast, so I'm reheating this pic for this week's theme.) An early photo mounted on cardboard captures a group of young women in a student dormitory room (note the bed with folded blanket at lower right). These fourteen ladies have apparently crowded into a single room to share breakfast. Many of them are holding doughnuts, and one--standing in the corner at right--is eating a banana. Some of the students are pretending to feed each other, and a number of them have their eyes closed, possibly due to whatever the photographer used for a flash. Various photos and artworks adorn the walls, including a print hanging in the upper right-hand corner that's derived from Heinrich Hofmann 's painting of Christ in Gethsemane (1890). The blinds on the window at the back of the room are pulled down, and what seems to be an American flag is partially hidden in the folds of the curtains. There wasn't any caption or description on the photo, unfortunately, and we may never know what special occasion or celebration it was that prompted this dorm-room get-together.

A trick or treat photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A real photo postcard with no writing or information on the verso. Presumably these guys were dressed for success at Halloween or some other occasion that called for fine feminine fashions.

A Christmas photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park . Toys in the foreground that I was able to identify include a 1962 Ponytail Barbie Case, a 1962 Margie the Majorette Doll Craft Kit, and a Mickey Mouse Club Counting Jump Rope. Wikipedia reports that silver aluminum Christmas trees like the one in the photo were popular in the U.S. from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, when a silver tree "was used as a symbol of the over-commercialization of Christmas in the 1965 Peanuts holiday special, A Charlie Brown Christmas ."

A flowers photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A slide dated April 1959 shows an elaborate planter stand with flowering plants (violets?) situated in front of a window. Trendy curtains with geometric shapes flank the stand on both sides, and other household furnishings--a lamp, stereo, framed photo, artwork on the wall--are also visible. For another slide taken in the same house (with the same distinctive style of curtains), see Here's the Lady You Ordered! Where Do You Want Us to Put Her?

An example of color photos or slides for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A Boy Scout gives a three-finger salute while wearing his uniform as he poses for a photo in a living room with distinctive furniture and decor dating to the 1960s. The same sofa and wall decorations appear in a pre-prom photo , and the same boy appears with his sister in a Christmas photo .

An at the piano photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Handwritten note on the back of this real photo postcard: "3/24-12. Taken March 10, 1912, about 1:40 p.m. Parlor and sitting room. First sitting. M. B. Wittle, Elizabethtown, Penna." A man sits at—or at least near—a piano in this wonderfully detailed glimpse into a parlor and sitting room in Elizabethtown , Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1912. Judging from the note, Milton B Wittle (1877-1963) was the subject and/or the photographer. Mouse over the image above for closer looks at the lamp and fern , the top of the piano (with a stuffed squirrel and cornet!), the Hasbrouck Cabinet Grand Piano and stool , the mustachioed man and the fish bowl , and the man in his chair .

For more information, see the original photo :

For more information, see the original photo :

For more information, see the original photo :

For more information, see the original photo :

For more information, see the original photo :

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of photos in photos (photos that intentionally or inadvertently capture one or more photos displayed in frames, on walls, or elsewhere) . After searching all week for a photo in a photo that I hadn't already posted, I was pleased when I finally found this one in my collection. It's a cabinet card photograph of a little girl who's holding a photo in her hand as she stands on a chair to pose for a photographer named "Fordtran" who had studio locations in "Kensington, Blue Island, and Riverdale" in the Chicago area (the name and locations are embossed on the border along the bottom of the card). I cropped the photo for a close-up of the girl , and I edited and rotated a portion of the image so you can see the photo that the girl's holding . I uploaded all three files and then added them to various albums. As I was adding them to Cabinet Cards and CDVs , I decided to look through that album. That's when I discovered that I had already posted an earlier scan of this photo almost five years ago under the title, Girl Holding Photograph , along with a rotated version of the photo in her hand . So even though you may have already seen the five-year-old photo, this is a nice fresh version created specifically for the Vintage Photos Theme Park! 8) (For some reason, this silly situation reminds me of my adventures with the Cowson Farm photo.)

A close-up of the girl. See also the full photo .

A detail showing the photo that the girl is holding. For more information, see the full cabinet card photo of the girl .

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park monthly topic of birthdays (submit a photo on this topic each week in addition to—or instead of—a photo for the weekly topic) . A tinted photo of a stylish birthday celebration.

Sheltering in place with a fancy stove in a sunlit room during the early twentieth century. This is an unmailed real photo postcard with an Azo stamp box (four corner triangles pointing up) on the other side, which suggests a date as early as 1904 to 1918.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of lamps, chandeliers, candlesticks, and other types of lighting . This is a color slide, circa 1959, that shows two flower paintings hanging on a wall. Below them is a Motorola "Stereophonic High Fidelity" console. Based on the online documentation for a similar model, the top of the stereo lifts up on the right for access to a record player inside. The six knobs on the left are labeled Function, Compensator, Loudness, Treble, Bass, and Balance. On top of the left side of the stereo are a decorative porcelain table lamp and a framed photo. This is another slide from the collection of the Pipe-Smoking Man's family . I only recently realized that two other photos from the collection show different parts of this same room. A photo taken to the left of this one also captures part of the stereo console (see Flowering Plants and Groovy Curtains ). The door, wall thermostat, and chair in this photo are visible in a photo taken to the right of this one (see Still Life with Television ). The flower paintings may be the work of "Ethel", a relative of the Pipe-Smoking Man (see Ethel's Oil Painting, 1967 ).