Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: parrots

"A. B. Tack, practical paper hanger and decorator, 1210 N. 3d St., Harrisburg, Pa. Full assortment of wall paper and window shades always on hand."

"'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).

Parrot Safety-Match. Made in Sweden. Jönköpings & Vulcans Tändsticksfabriks T.F.A.B., Sweden.

"J. Shisler, agt., dealer in selected family groceries, pure coffees, spices, and good teas, Third St. (opposite Opera House), Harrisburg." This is one of a six-part "Comic Visiting" card series printed by E. Currier & Co., Boston (probably related to the Currier of Currier & Ives but I'm not sure how). Other cards show a woman trying to attract a cat with a saucer of milk , a man peering through his eyeglasses at an owl, and a baby dangling a cup or something else to get a dog's attention.