Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: pants

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of grabbing some z’s (sleeping somewhere other than a bed or cot) . A 1970s sleeper on a sofa. The same woman appears in another photo wearing a dress with bell sleeves instead of the patchwork pants (is that what they're called?) we see here. The same wallpaper pattern is visible in both photos.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of rocking horse . On the other side of this real photo postcard is an Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) that indicates that the photo may date to sometime between 1904 and 1918. The back of the card also gives its origin: "Strunk's Studio, 750 Penn St., Reading, Pa." At first glance the boy in the photo appears to be posing with a rocking horse, but a closer examination reveals that the horse's legs are attached to a wooden platform. It may be the same toy horse mounted on wheels that appears in other Strunk photos. See, for instance, a cabinet card with Roy Peiffer on Strunk's Studio Horse, Reading, Pennsylvania .

This vinegar valentine is a postcard that was addressed to H. W. Booser, 13th Street, Harrisburg, Pa. The card was postmarked first in Lewisberry, Pa., and then a second time in Harrisburg, Pa., on Feb. 14, 1908. Although the postcard was sent anonymously with no message or signature, it's possible that the recipient recognized the sender by the postmark or through the handwriting of the address. As it turns out, Harry W. Booser lived at 121 N. 13th Street in Harrisburg, and he worked as a salesman, so the vinegary humor of the card was apparently directed at him. The Salesman His motto is still do or die And he nags you until you must buy. His line is complete And his nerve hard to beat But sometimes he goes on the fly. Signs, etc., in illustration: Office. This is our busy day. Samples. This way out. 85% discount to jobbers. Expense account.

Part of a real photo postcard that was cut out at this angle by the original owner.

"Wishing You a Happy Thanksgiving. Ellen H. Clapsaddle. Painting only copyrighted by S. Garre, 1909."

"Best Wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving. Ellen H. Clapsaddle. Painting only copyrighted by S. Garre, 1909."

"Roberts & Co., leading clothiers, 'glass front,' 797 Broad St., Newark, N.J. Copyright 1883 by J. H. Bufford's Sons." A winged Cupid, who's wearing a shirt but no pants, waits patiently as two women use needles and thread to mend a gigantic pair of pants. Although pants seem to be an appropriate item to feature in an advertising trade card for a clothing store like Roberts & Co. (whose glass store front was apparently a selling point), I'm not sure why they're so huge or how Cupid is going to wear them. Perhaps this is just a silly scene intended to amuse the children who would paste cards like this in their scrapbooks in the late nineteenth century.

Intended as a rocking horses photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Handwritten on the back of this cabinet card photo: "Roy Peiffer, cousin. Born about 1905." (If the name and date are correct, then this may be Roy Peiffer , 1905-1990.) Photographer: "Strunk, cabinet portraits, 730 Penn St., Reading, Pa." I've been planning all week to use this photo as my rocking horse. On Flickr, I found a similar photo that's titled "The Rocking Horse Winner" - circa 1890 Cabinet Card . It's from the same studio and shows a little boy standing beside the same horse. I was surprised and disappointed, however, when I did some more searching yesterday and discovered another cabinet photo with the horse that's for sale on a military antiques Web site. Unlike my photo and the one on Flickr, the third photo on the antiques site clearly reveals that the horse is standing on a wooden base with four wheels--there are no rockers. Since I won't have a chance to get another photo ready to post before the end of the week, I'll have to throw myself on the mercy of the court and ask the indulgence of my fellow Theme Parkers. If anyone objects to my submission of a wheeled--rather than a rocking--horse for this week's theme, I'll gladly withdraw it.

"A Joyous Thanksgiving." Postcard addressed to Miss Gertrude Blank, R.F.D. No. 1, Baden, Pa., and postmarked Allegheny, Pa., Nov. 19, 1909. Message: "Wishing you a happy Thanksgiving Day, Edna." This sure looks like a Halloween card rather than one for Thanksgiving, but I couldn't locate any versions with Halloween greetings. For another suspiciously Halloween-like Thanksgiving postcard, see Thanksgiving Greetings :

The humor of this postcard may not be evident to us today, but when it was published in the early twentieth century the poem that it refers to— Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight —was well known. It tells the story of a brave woman who prevents a bell from ringing in order to stop the planned execution of her lover (Wikipedia provides a synopsis and reprints the entire poem in case you're interested in the details). So—as the original recipient of a postcard like this would have realized—it's ludicrous to compare a woman's heroic efforts to spare her lover's life with a boy's attempt to stop the ax from turning his pet turkey into Thanksgiving dinner. To top things off, the kid's wide-eyed expression and wild gesticulations (as if he's reciting a dramatic poem!) makes the situation seem even more absurd.

Handwritten note on the back of this photo: "Andy's Pants. 7/20/35."

The front of this advertising trade card for the Desbecker-Block Tailoring Company (above left) depicts a traveling salesman (note the "Samples" case in front of him) who's the "man on the spot" (or at least the man on an oversized playing card). The punning pants piece on the back of the card (above right) was widely circulated in newspapers and magazines as early as 1892. It often appeared under the title, "A Boy's Essay on Pants," with an explanation about an unidentified "boy in Wichita schools" who was "suspended for reading the following essay on 'pants.'" The same pants rant and illustration was also published as a postcard. Desbecker-Block Tailoring Co., Buffalo, N.Y. Tailors to all America. Samples. We've a man on the spot. He takes your measure--we do the rest. You'll find him at the store of J. T. Loucks, local agent, Hvoca, N.Y. (over). Pants are made for men not for women. Women are made for men not for pants. When a man pants for a woman and woman pants for a man they are a pair of pants. Such pants don't last. Pants are like molasses--they are thinner in hot weather and thicker in cold. Men are often mistaken in pants; such mistakes are breeches of promise. There has been much discussion whether pants is singular or plural. Seems to us when men wear pants it is plural and when they don't it is singular. Men go on a tear in their pants and it is all right. When the pants go on a tear it is all wrong. If you want to make pants last make the coat first. (over).

Handwritten note on the back of this cabinet photo: "Sister Annie's. Martin - Samuel Heffner (twins)." Photo studio: "J. D. Strunk, 730 Penn St., Reading, Pa."

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.

Photo studio: John S. Fritz, 852 Penn Street, Reading, Pa. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to uncover any information regarding a "Hercules" baseball team in or around Reading, Pennsylvania, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Text on box lid: "Keep your pants on with the Atwood Suspender, manufactured only by the Atwood Suspender Co., Swanton, Vt." "Copyright, 1901, by Atwood Suspender Co. American Lithographic Co., N.Y."

Detail from Reflections on a RCA Victor Super Color Television, 1962 , showing the TV screen with its reflected image of the photographer and his camera. The photographer appears to be kneeling or sitting in front of the television in order to take a photo of what may have been his brand new TV set. The bright flash from the camera stands out at the top of the reflected image, the photographer's illuminated fingers are visible at both sides of the camera, and his disembodied pant legs (from the knees down) eerily appear by themselves at the bottom of the TV screen.

A television photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. For another interesting television photo, see Don't Give Your Televison the Boot . A Kodachrome slide dated August 1962. If you look closely, you can see the reflections of the photographer and his camera on the TV screen (mouse over the photo above for an enlarged view of the reflected image ). The photographer appears to be kneeling or sitting in front of the television in order to take a photo of what may have been his brand new TV set. The bright flash from the camera stands out at the top of the reflected image, the photographer's illuminated fingers are visible at both sides of the camera, and his disembodied pant legs (from the knees down) eerily appear by themselves at the bottom of the TV screen.