Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: sheet music

The rope of a lasso surrounds a tiny toy horse. For more information, see another detail from the same photo along with the original version .

A woman poses for a photo and pretends to sing as she holds the sheet music for A Signal from Mars: March and Two Step . For more information, see another detail from the same photo along with the original version .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of over the shoulder (something or somebody) . Everyone in this puzzling photo is holding something. The man on the left is holding a cane over his shoulder, and the second man has a rope wrapped around his left hand. Both men are watching the woman in the middle, who's holding sheet music and singing. The woman on the right, who's seated in a chair, is holding a lute and is playing it to accompany the woman who's singing. The woman standing beside the singer and both of the men are all holding rolled-up papers of some sort. A closer look at the photo reveals some curious details. First, the sheet music that the woman is holding is entitled A Signal from Mars: March and Two Step , which was published in 1901 (hear a piano version on YouTube). Since the piece is an instrumental "march and two step" without any lyrics, why is the woman pretending to use it as she's singing? Secondly, the rope that the second man is holding extends down to the floor where it's coiled around a small horse pull toy . Why did the man lasso a tiny toy horse? I don't have any answers for the questions that this photo poses. Although the painted backdrop and patterned floor covering suggest that this picture was taken in a photo studio, I wonder if this might be a scene from a theatrical production. There was a popular comedic play with a similar title— A Message from Mars —that toured the United States between 1903 and 1905. As far as I can determine, however, A Message from Mars was not a musical, and there was no connection to the sheet music for A Signal from Mars .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of indoor shots—with a focus on the style of the room. Two women and a boy pretend to read from a book as they pose for a photo next to the piano in the corner of a well-appointed parlor. The sheet music on the left-hand side of the piano is " My Love Is Greater Than the World ," which was published in 1910. Notice all the interesting decorative details in the room—the photos, small bust, vase, and lacy cover on top of the piano; the patterned wallpaper, artwork, and lamp on the walls; the gauzy curtains at the window; and the stylish furniture (what do you call that round chair on the left?). This is an unmailed real photo postcard with an Azo stamp box (four corner triangles pointing up) on the other side, which suggests a time frame—1904 to 1918—that matches the publication date of the sheet music. For similar parlor piano pictures, see Parlor and Sitting Room, Elizabethtown, Pa., March 10, 1912 ; New Year Gathering, Chicago, Illinois, 1912 ; and They Laughed When We Sat Down at the Piano .

An amusing postcard that draws upon the "Oh You Kid!" craze of 1909 for its humor. This card was a bit risqué for its time, suggesting that a husband might fool around with other women while his wife is away. The caption on the card comes from the song, " My Wife’s Gone to the Country! Hurrah! Hurrah! ,” which was one of the "Oh You Kid!" songs published as sheet music in 1909: My wife’s gone to the country, hurray! hurray! She thought it best "I need the rest" That’s why she went away She took the children with her, hurray! hurray! I love my wife, but oh, you kid! My wife’s gone away In this age of social media, it's difficult to appreciate just how popular this--nudge, nudge, wink, wink--idea of "I love my wife, but oh, you kid!" became as it circulated in print through sheet music, postcards, and newspapers. Jody Rosen, however, documents its wide-ranging influence in a fascinating article that appeared in Slate magazine. See " How a Sexed-up Viral Hit from the Summer of '09–1909–Changed American Pop Music Forever ." For some additional postcard and sheet music examples, see my Oh You Kid! and Its Variants album.

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park demonstrating the quality of being vice versa .* A real photo postcard of a couple amusingly posed on a piano bench with the woman wearing men's clothes and vice versa. I was able to identify the sheet music on the left side of the piano as " Flower Song (Blumenlied) ," Beaux Arts Edition, by Gusatv Lange, ca. 1907. An issue of The Etude , a music magazine, is barely visible on the piano between the woman and man (I couldn't determine the date, but it may be one of the issues from 1907 or 1908 judging by the typeface used for the title and its position at the top of the cover). The framed print hanging on the wall at upper right appears to be a copy of a lithograph entitled "2 Spirited Horses," one version of which was published by Jos. Hoover & Sons, Philadelphia, in 1908 (it's also similar to a Currier & Ives lithograph "Horses in a Thunderstorm," but the the horses in that print are facing to the right instead of the left). *The full description of the theme: "Vice versa"--"A lady and a gentleman dressing in clothes of the opposite sex are vice versa." This definition comes from a letter in a 1923 newspaper regarding a fancy dress/costume competition, and as the judge ruled in 1923, “the dress of each is complete without the aid of the other." Your photo can be of an individual or a couple.

"My Wife's Up in an Airship. Words by Arthur Longbrake. Music by Ed. Edwards. Published by Longbrake & Edwards, 50 N. 8th St., Phila., Pa. Miss Camp." Handwritten: "Jane H. Banks. J.H.N., 7-22, 1911." An amusing sheet music cover featuring an early airplane (" airship " referred to any type of flying machine in 1911 when this was published, but today the term is used only for dirigibles). It's disappointing, however, to discover that the lyrics of the song (see below) express the "henpecked" husband's spiteful wish that the airplane will take his wife away permanently because "It's my one chance you see / To live here happily." For York University's copy of the sheet music, which includes a PDF version of the inside pages, see My Wife's Up in an Airship (the Web address is an alias that takes you to YorkSpace, York University's digital repository). My Wife's Up in an Airship Words by Arthur Longbrake. Music by Ed. Edwards. Jonesy was a henpecked man For him life was a joke, His wife made him give up his dough She always kept him broke; One day she said I'm going up In an airship for a ride, Then Jones pretended to be scared But he smiled on the side. And when she sailed away Some friends heard Jonesy say, Chorus: My wife's up in an airship Hooray! hip, hip, hooray! I hope she likes the trial trip So much she'll want to stay; For should she stay up in the air Ye ho! my lads, ye ho! With her up there most anywhere I'd have some peace below. Jonesy said I wished her luck When she left mother earth, But if that airship would get stuck I'd give all I am worth; I hope the lad who drives the ship Will attempt a spiral glide, Or land her in the middle of A river three miles wide. It's my one chance you see To live here happily. Chorus

The sheet music for "Wake Up, America!" appeared in 1916, the year before the United States entered World War I. The cover shows Uncle Sam kneeling next to the Brooklyn Bridge with the Statue of Liberty in the background. He's preparing for war by placing a battleship in New York Harbor. The song urged Americans to "get ready to answer duty's call" in case "we are called to war." A 1916 recording of "Wake Up, America!" is available on the Library of Congress's National Jukebox site. -------- "Wake Up, America!" This is the song that inspired all America. Lyric by George Graff, Jr. Music by Jack Glogau. Leo Feist, Inc., New York. Chorus: Wake up, America, if we are called to war, Are we prepared to give our lives For our sweethearts and our wives? Are our mothers and our homes worth fighting for? Let us pray, God, for peace, but peace with honor, But let's get ready to answer duty's call, So when Old Glory stands unfurled, Let it mean to all the world, America is ready, that's all!

"Compliments of Lancaster Music Co., O. F. Brinkman, manager, pianos and organs, sheet music and musical merchandise, 21 East Orange Street, Lancaster, Pa."

In recognition of National Doughnut Day , June 7, 2013. From Wikipedia: "National Doughnut Day is on the first Friday of June each year, succeeding the Doughnut Day event created by The Salvation Army in 1938 to honor the women who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War I. The holiday celebrates the doughnut (a.k.a. 'donut') – an edible, torus-shaped piece of dough which is deep-fried and sweetened. Many American doughnut stores offer free doughnuts on National Doughnut Day." Don't Forget the Salvation Army (My Doughnut Girl) "Words by Elmore Leffingwell and James Luca. Music by Robert Brown and William Frisch. This song officially endorsed and adopted by the Salvation Army (official seal). Broadway Music Corporation, Will von Tilzer, president, 145 West 45th St., New York. E. E. Walton." Chorus: Don't forget the Salvation Army, Always remember my doughnut girl. She brought them doughnuts and coffee Just like an Angel, she was their best pal As brave as a lion but meek as a lamb, She carried on beside the sons of Uncle Sam. So don't forget the Salvation Army, Remember my doughnut girl.

W. H. Shoemaker, sheet music, pianos, organs, music books, No. 11 South Third Street, Harrisburg, Pa.