Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: vignettes

A late nineteenth-century label by Huntoon & Gorham, a cigar manufacturer. Note the Gaslight Style characteristics, with elaborate typefaces, curved text, drop shadows, and the rays of the sun shining out from behind the clouds. Huntoon & Gorham 45 Providence, R.I. Huntoon & Gorham

A calling card for "H. E. Grothe" with attached photo. I purchased this from a dealer in Seattle, Washington, who obtained it along with other calling cards (without photographs) from an estate sale in Idaho. For other photo calling cards, see: -- Warren Perkins -- Miss Ellen Sophia Auchey -- Irwin G. Waggener

Nineteenth-century scrip issued by the company store at the Indiana Iron Works (also know as Baker Furnace ), which was located near Cramer in East Wheatfield Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. For more information, see G. Robert Ganis, "Iron-Mining Store Scrip in Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Geology vol. 19, no. 3 (June 1988) : 2-5. The Store at Indiana Iron Works Will pay to bearer ten cents on demand in dry goods & groceries. Ind. Iron Works. Jan. 1st, 1856. Ten cents. 10. 10.

Handwritten caption: "Labor Day, 1905, Elitch's Gardens." This real photo postcard wasn't postally used, and there's no address, message, or postmark on the other side that might help identify these three individuals. According to Wikipedia, " Elitch Gardens was a family-owned seasonal amusement park, theater, and botanic garden in the West Highland neighborhood in northwest Denver, Colorado, United States, at 38th and Tennyson streets."

"Holcomb & Caskey. Wholesale lumber, white pine, North Carolina pine, hemlock & cypress lumber, white pine, cedar and cypress shingles. Office, 18 Broadway, New York. Brooks Bank Note Co., Boston." Despite Holcomb & Caskey's impressive business card, the company filed for bankruptcy in 1911 after a little more than five years in business. A notice published in Hardwood Record , a lumber industry magazine, on May 25, 1911, p. 79, announced the demise of the company: "The Holcomb & Caskey Lumber Company, 940 Broadway, has filed a petition in bankruptcy. The nominal assets are $12,559 and liabilities $40,712. The company was incorporated in December, 1905, with a capital of $50,000. Richard E. Holcomb is president and Clayton R. Caskey vice-president. Mr. Caskey has organized the Clayton R. Caskey Lumber Company, taking over the headquarters of the old concern and will in the future conduct a general wholesale business on his own account."

"Rice & Robinson Soap Co., Petroleum Soaps. Presented by O. S. Rice. E. S. Rice, president. R. L. Rice, v, pres't & gen'l mgr. J. C. Robinson, sec'y. E. H. Beardsley, treas. Trademark. Drake. First oil well, 1859. Titusville, Pa. G. H. Dunston, Buffalo, N.Y. Over." The Drake Well Museum near Titusville, Pennsylvania, includes a replica of the historic Drake Oil Well , which is featured in the illustration on this card.

For more information, see the full version of this check:

"The Columbia National Bank. No. 4159. Columbia, Penna., May 21, 1876. Pay to the order of C. J. Nourse, Jr. One and 80/100 dollars. $1.80. To Importers & Traders National Bank of New York. S. W. Shoch, Cashier. United States Internal Revenue, Two Cents. 2. National Bank Note Company, New York." Mouse over the image above to see an enlargement of the vignette of steamboats and sailing ships in the upper left-hand corner.

The Sunday school of the Third Moravian Church of Philadelphia used share certificates like this to raise funds for the purchase of a church bell. The sale of all 2,500 shares at 10 cents each would have raised $250, and perhaps that would have covered the cost of a bell in the 1870s, which is when these certificates were issued. For another nineteenth-century fundraising strategy that involved buying bricks rather than shares, see The Owner of This Card Has Purchased One Brick in the People's Church, Boston, Mass., ca. 1880 (below). Third Moravian Church Sunday School, Harrowgate, Philadelphia. 2,500 shares. 10 cents each. This is to certify that John Diehne is entitled to one shares in the bell of the Third Moravian Church at Harrogate, Philadelphia. Chas. Thieley, president. J. Lietz, secretary, Senseman & Son, Printers, 416 Callowhill Street, Philadelphia.

"Best Wishes, Jeff Parson."

"Hawk & Wetherbee, The Windsor, Fifth Avenue, New York." Samuel Hawk and Gardner Wetherbee--in business together as "Hawk & Weaterbee"--managed the Windsor Hotel, which tragically burned to the ground on St. Patrick's Day in 1899. For more information, see The Lost Windsor Hotel -- 5th Avenue and 46th Street .

For the original photo, see American Beauties .

For the original photo, see American Beauties .

Although it's difficult to make out, the soldier at front middle is holding up a piece of cloth that looks like a pillowcase. Printed or embroidered on the cloth is an American flag along with the words "American Beauties." Notice, too, the soldier--perhaps a sergeant or other officer--at top middle who's standing head and shoulders above the rest. Rather than facing the camera like the others, he seems to be peering off in the distance at something out of the frame of the photo. Mouse over the image to see close-up views of sarge looking sideways and the pillowcase hold-up.

For another colorful label from this New Zealand company, see Real German Sausages, Irvine & Stevenson, St. George Preserving Works, Dunedin, New Zealand . Ye Olde English Plum Pudding Prepared by Irvine & Stevenson's St. George Coy. Ltd., New Zealand. Back and syde go bare, go bare, Both foot and hand go cold But belly have jolly good duff enough Whether it be hot or cold. This tin is the safest in the world, all soldering being on the outside instead of inside. To open the tin cut along this line.

A defaced or altered photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. I was surprised when I spotted this painted-over cabinet card photo at an antique mall last year. I had never seen anything quite like it, and I thought that it ruined the photo. On the other hand, I was intrigued by the way some unknown artist had re-imagined what was probably an otherwise unremarkable portrait, painting a modern lucha libre skull mask (and a small bat) onto a nineteenth-century photo and thereby transforming it into a work of Halloween art. I didn't necessarily want to encourage anyone to deface old photos, and I debated whether to even purchase it. The cabinet card was the only painted photo in the antique dealer's booth, however, and the eyes looked so haunting and pleading that I ended up buying it. Since then, I've come across Now and Then: The Cabinet Card Paintings of Alex Gross (Berkeley, Calif.: Gingko Press, 2012), a book described by its publisher as "the complete compendium of acclaimed artist Alex Gross's mixed media paintings layered on top of antique 19th century cabinet card photographs from portrait studios all around the country" (for before-and-after examples of the cabinet photos and finished paintings in the book, see the February 8, 2013, posting on Larry Fire's Fire Wire Pop Culture Blog ). This cabinet card painting isn't as elaborate as those by Alex Gross, and I still have mixed feelings about these kinds of mixed media, but it's still fascinating to see how the somewhat contradictory juxtaposition of modern artwork and vintage media can create something new and surprising. Note to administrators of photo groups: If you feel that the altered aspect of this photo isn't suitable for your group, I won't be offended at all if you remove it. Otherwise, I hope it sparks some discussion regarding the appropriateness of using old photographs in this manner.

A prime example of Victorian Gaslight Style , this sausage label uses bold colors, unique typefaces, flowing banners, shadowing, and superimposition to produce an intricate multi-layered, three-dimensional effect. "Real German Sausages. Prepared by Irvine & Stevenson, St. George Preserving Works, Dunedin. Guaranteed perfectly pure of the finest materials and free from all sinews and indigestible matter. Sixty awards. Prepared by an approved German expert. A perfect food. A real delicacy. May be eaten hot or cold. Prepared only by Irvine & Stevenson, St. George Preserving Works, Dunedin, N.Z. Mills, Dick & Co."

A friends photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "I look as though I didn't have a friend in the world in this picture, don't I?" An unused real photo postcard with no postmark or address. I'm not sure that the poor fellow looks as friendless as he thought he did. I like photos like this that include comments from the subject or photographer about the photo.