Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: vests

Note the cylinder phonograph on the sideboard, the kerosene lamp on the right, and the wallpaper in the background, See also the full version of this photograph and a photo of a similar cylinder phonograph .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the monthly topic of family gatherings for Thanksgiving or other occasions . A family pauses for a photo before they dig in to their Thanksgiving dinner. Despite the turkey, pies, and other dishes on the table , my eye was drawn to the kerosene lamp hanging from the ceiling, the elaborate design of the wallpaper in the background, and the cylinder phonograph hidden in the shadows on the sideboard. See a cropped version of the photo for a better view of these items. For another photo with a similar phonograph, see Young Man Posing with an Edison Cylinder Phonograph . This is a real photo postcard with a divided back (introduced in 1907) but no stamp box, address, or message.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of grandma and grandpa (grandparent(s) featured in a family photo) . A grandmother and grandfather hold a two-tiered cake as they pose for a photo with their grandson. All three of them are wearing flowers in their coat and jacket lapels. The presence of the cake and flowers makes me wonder if the grandparents are celebrating a special wedding anniversary. Given how the cake is tilted, I just hope that it didn't slide off onto the grandson's head!

Sinister Sam lurks in the background as two women pose in front of a car with a 1940 California license plate. "61B626, California, 1940."

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

An amusing "advance card" that a traveling salesman could send to let customers know when to expect his visit. For other early twentieth-century advance cards, see I'll Be There Soon to Tell You How to Jinger Up Your Trade , Zing! Coming Round Your Way , and I Am Pushing on the Lines .

A blankets and quilts photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. For another interesting quilt photo, see Baby on a Crazy Quilt . An undated real photo postcard of a man dressed in a suit, vest, and tie. The photographer has posed him next to a chair, with a quilt hanging behind him as a backdrop and a blanket (I think that's what it is) covering the ground underneath his feet.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the topic of bring on the clowns or any other circus performer . "Greetings from the Biggest Couple with the Greatest Show on Earth. Fischer. A-132. Campbell's Photo Art, Dayton. Ohio." Mr. and Mrs. Fischer were billed as the "world's tallest married couple" when they appeared with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus ("The Greatest Show on Earth"). Head over to The Tallest Man Web site to see postcards and other memorabilia on separate pages for Gottlieb Fischer and Elfriede Fischer .

"'100 and 23 for yours,' said the saucy little bird on Nellie's hat. Love's Young Dream ." The illustration on this postcard is based on a song, "The Bird on Nellie's Hat," that was popular when the card appeared in 1908, and the title of the book that Nellie is reading– Love's Young Dream –is a phrase that comes from the lyrics to the song. The bird's snide utterance–"100 and 23 for yours"–to the guy who's lurking behind Nellie is a reference to the "23 skidoo" fad that started around 1906 or 1907. Telling someone "23 skidoo" or "23 for you" was a shorthand way of saying "scram," "beat it," or "get lost" (I'm not sure whether the addition of "100 and" to the more typical "23 for yours" phrase had any extra meaning). For more "23 skidoo" postcards, see my Skidoos and Lemons album. Check out the sheet music for The Bird on Nellie's Hat (1906), which is part of the Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music at Johns Hopkins University, or go to YouTube to see the lyrics and hear an Edison wax cylinder recording of Ada Jones singing "The Bird On Nellie's Hat" (1913).

"St. Patrick's Day, March 17th. Erin Go Bragh." Printed on the back of this postcard: "St. Patrick Series No. 4." For some more Saint Patrick's Day postcards, see below:

A curious photographer props (huge urns or plants, strange objects, taxidermy animals, etc.) photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "E. M. Criswell, Grand Meadow, Minn. Extra finish." A tall bearded fellow--his appearance reminds me of Rasputin , the Russian mystic and confidant to Tsar Nicholas II--stands in front of a painted backdrop and next to an oddly shaped prop as he poses for this cabinet card photo. Is that enigmatic object supposed to look like natural or carved stone? If not, I'm not certain what it's intended to represent.

A real photo postcard of a man standing beside a mounted moose head. Date and location unknown.

This could be a scene from a movie —a photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. I know it's only a novelty photo, but the guys in this real photo postcard are so elaborately outfitted—cowboy hats, revolvers, chaps, gun belts, wrist cuffs, vests, and bandanas—that I could imagine them stepping away from the cartoonish saloon backdrop and heading right onto a Western movie set. These kinds of cowboy getups must have been popular. Take a look at these fellows in Shootout at Dead Man's Gulch Saloon (below), which I previously submitted to the Theme Park as a Wild Wild West photo.

A photo of hands on hips for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. (For an entire group devoted to this theme, see Just Put Your Hands On Your Hips .) This novelty photo features such detailed cowboy costumes--including hats, vests, bandanas, chaps, wrist cuffs, gun belts, and revolvers--that it must have taken these fellows a good while to suit up. The signs in the background of this real photo postcard are difficult to read. Two of them are: "Leave your horse outside, also the bull." "Safety first?"

Postmarked: Columbus, Ohio, March 16, 1915. Sent to: Miss Minnie Small, 403 North Newberry St., York, Pa. Message: From Aunt Cora.

A sample cigar label printed by the Moehle Lithographic Company.

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 Wild Wild West photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "Western Photo Gallery, 215 Smithfield St., Pittsburgh, Pa." Note the signs painted on the backdrop: "No trust, no bust," "Dead Man's Gulch Saloon," "Reward, dead or alive, Bad Dick, $5000.00, Sheriff," and "Poker." Ironically, the Western Photo Gallery, which provided the dramatic photo of these gun-toting dudes in their cowboy outfits, was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania--almost as far east in the U.S. as you can get!