Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: suspenders

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of at work . A real photo postcard showing three fellows standing around the type cases in the composing room of a print shop. The upper cases typically contained capital letters, and the lower cases contained small letters, leading to the terminology we still use today to refer to letter case .

"The Way We Catch Them. Souvenir Post Card Co., N.Y." Postmarked Ocean City, N.J., Sept. 6, 1919.

A grumpy photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. None of the Grumpuses are happy, not even the dog!

"John Pecinovsky, the famous Half & Half Man, owner and operator of the Bonair Tavern, 4 miles west and 3 miles north of Cresco, Iowa. We serve Fitger's Beer, Walt Rush, distributor. Ice cream, soft drinks, and candy. Half & Half, Bonair, Iowa. Souvenir post card." As one brief obituary explained, "For years Pecinovsky wore suits in which half of the coat was white and the other black, one trouser leg white and the other black. One side of his face was always kept shaved smooth while the other was permitted to support a luxuriant crop of whiskers" ( Waterloo Daily Courier , April 7, 1942).

A tattered & torn (or otherwise damaged) photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Handwritten caption: "Remember that day." Handwritten note on the back: "Isn't this sweet. Give me one in the place of this." An undated and well-worn photo taken at Jefferson Rock , which overlooks the town of Harpers Ferry , West Virginia. According to Wikipedia, "The name of this landmark derives from Thomas Jefferson, who stood there on October 25, 1783. He found the view from the rock impressive and wrote in Notes on the State of Virginia that 'this scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic.'" Note that the silhouette of someone's head and shoulders is visible in the background between two of the pillars that hold the top slab of the rock in place. Here's a 2009 view of the rock taken from a similar vantage point:

Text on box lid: "Keep your pants on with the Atwood Suspender, manufactured only by the Atwood Suspender Co., Swanton, Vt." "Copyright, 1901, by Atwood Suspender Co. American Lithographic Co., N.Y."

A machinery photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Although this real photo postcard shows what looks like a complicated Rube Goldberg contraption , it actually appears to be some sort of elaborate one-man music machine. The postcard dealer who sold this to me described the scene simply as a "pipe organ player at keyboard," but upon closer inspection I was able to identify a number of other musical instruments--a guitar, string bass, and bell, for instance--among the pulleys, belts, tubes, and pipes (mouse over the image to see my tentative identifications of some of the instruments). Although this unique machine seems to be related to the fairground organ , orchestrion , or some other type of mechanical musical instrument , I haven't been able to uncover any specific information about it or the man playing it. Has anyone else ever seen anything like it? Update: See The Mighty Nelsonian (One-Man Music Machine Mystery Solved) .

Posted for "Smoking" theme week in the Vintage Photos Theme Park group. The man in the middle of the photo is smoking, and I just hope he doesn't burst into flames! 8-) Actually, I suspect that this photo shows a group of teachers or chemists (notice the bottles of what may be chemicals on the shelves at the back of the room, and is that a periodic table chart hanging on the wall at right?) hamming it up for the camera in a school or workplace.

A Thanksgiving or family gatherings at the dinner table photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park . I'm not sure whether this found photo shows a Thanksgiving meal, but I like how the fellow on the right is unfurling his napkin as he sizes up the turkey.

Somewhere along the road in New York state. The girl doesn't seem too pleased at having her picture taken. Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "Short's Studios, Kingston and Rondout, N.Y." The license plate on the car is "46818 NY."

Or at least that's what I thought it looked like!

Cyanotypes seem to be getting mower and mower interesting!