Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: arms

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 .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of crossed arms . A real photo postcard postmarked in Groton, South Dakota, on August 23, 1909, and addressed to "Mrs. Lottie Larson, [Westley?], [Wis.?]." Handwritten message: "This Is what we did last Sunday. What do you think of it? Frank." For another photo with crossed arms, see Girls and Women on a Rustic Bridge .

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 triple-exposure photo for the theme of photographic tricks and amusements during the free-for-all week of Wild Card Month in the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Printed on the other side: "If it's a photo we make it. Empire Photo. Co. 815 Westchester Ave., Bronx." A triple-exposure trick photo of "Fred W. Hopping" (or possibly "Happing"), whose name is written on the back of a second photo that I purchased along with this one. While this photo shows three Freds--as he checks his wallet, faces the camera, and crosses his arms--the other is a mirror photo (or multigraph) showing five Freds seated around a table . Both of the images are real photo postcards with identical AZO stamp boxes that suggest a date as early as 1904-1918. For more fivesomes, see my album of Mirror Photos . For another triple exposure, see Man Playing Checkers with Himselves .

"Advice to the Lovelorn. If he is bashful, I would advise you to give him plenty of encouragement. Put your arms around me–so! Oo-oo, I don't like ter! August Hutaf. P.C.K. 1908." One in a series of humorous "Advice to the Lovelorn" postcards by illustrator August Hutaf (1874-1942). For more of his work, see Advice to Vacationists–Take the Children with You (below) and my other Hutaf postcards .

An Art Deco mechanical valentine (moving the cape causes the arms to move up and down) from the 1930s. Sort of scary--hope she was able to escape! You built a wall So fast and strong, But with my magic ray It won't last long!

An Art Deco mechanical valentine (moving the arm causes the eyes to move back and forth) from the 1930s. This reminds me of Slim Pickens riding the bomb down to the ground at the end of Dr. Strangelove . "Queen of the Universe" We seem so far apart-- Please aim your trusty rocket Directly for my heart! See also Magic Ray Valentine :

A temper tantrum photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A 1906 Bamforth postcard with a photo by Robert McCrum shows a not-so-dulcet duet of unhappy infants.

Wikipedia's text messaging article provides a detailed history of texting. Although there were antecedents-- telex in 1933, ALOHAnet in 1971, and even wireless telegraphy in the nineteenth century--it wasn't until 1995 that Sprint Spectrum introduced the first modern text messaging service (SMS, or Short Messaging Service) in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland. I think that this chronology will have to be revised, however, since I'm pretty sure that this old photo shows a kid texting away on his phone while his brother and mother wait for him to finish. Unfortunately, the picture isn't dated, but since the boys are wearing knickerbockers . I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it was taken as early as the 1910s or 1920s. I wonder if any other texting photos from the early twentieth century have survived.

A Victorian-era hidden-name calling card.

"Imported Hand. C. C. Liechty." A sample Victorian-era calling card used to advertise this "Imported Hand" design.

"The Procrastinator's Hereafter. Take a friend's advice: Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today--Answer that letter." Sign: "Bottomless Pit Drop In." Pity the poor procrastinator who doesn't answer his letters! This pathetic fellow obviously failed to keep up with his correspondence while he was alive, and now in the "hereafter" the devil is looking over his shoulder to make sure he responds on time--and for all time! In order to avoid falling into the fiery "Bottomless Pit" below, the procrastinator is precariously perched on an endless roll of paper as he scribbles out his message. The last few lines he's written on the paper suggest that he's trying to explain away his current predicament: "...in my new home. Although everything is up to sample, I'm not stuck on the place but circumstances over which I have no control impel me to stick...." -------- Reverse of postcard: Postmarked: "Hartford, Conn., Aug. 25, 1912." Addressed to: "Mr. W. J. Ross, 131 River St., N. Adams, Mass." Handwritten message: "Dear Will: What do you think of this for a card? I don't hear from Flora very often. I'm working and not having much fun either--just existing. Not as tired as when I came here. Hastily, Cora."

"A Happy New Year, 1876. Mary A. Bacon. New Year's cards. 2 styles. Same price as emblematic. No. 2. Plaisted-Farwell."

"John D. Lemer, 1218 North 3rd St., Harrisburg, Pa." For the Vintage Photos Theme Park, a hand in the photo with the person cut off .* For more of the same, track down a copy of Linda Fregni Nagler and Gioni Massimiliano's book, The Hidden Mother (London: MACK, 2013), which is a compilation of over 1,000 vintage photos of mothers attempting to remain hidden as they comfort children who are being photographed. *I try to sort through my collection in order to post a brand new photo for each week's theme, but I came up short this week and had to use one that I had previously posted elsewhere on Ipernity.

Ouch! Anyone ever hear of Knoto? Knoto's signature is on the back, so it's likely that he used this as a pitch card, but I haven't been able to uncover any further information about him.