Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: burning

"Merry Christmas. Love and best wishes, Catharine." An odd anthropomorphic scene of a burning candle kissing an apple as they hang together as ornaments on a Christmas tree. This postcard dates to the first decade of the twentieth century.

A smoking photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. I hope that match didn't burn his fingers as he waited for the photographer to take his picture!

"Hallowe'en. Uncertainly. Hope. Despair. Happy ever after. Ellen H. Clapsaddle. Int. Art Pub. Co. 1909." In a Halloween posting about Pumpkins and Postcards and Portents–Oh My! , Mikaela Taylor of Middlebury College explains that the illustration on this postcard reflects a Halloween custom that involved throwing chestnuts in a fire: "Anthropomorphized nuts, paired off with the titles 'Uncertainty,' 'Hope,' 'Despair,' and 'Happy Ever After,' represent the practice of interpreting the behavior of chestnuts in a fire. Those participating would assign two chestnuts to a couple and observe whether the chestnuts burned together, jumped apart in the flame, crackled loudly, or came together. A couple was said to live a long happy life together if their corresponding chestnuts burned brightly and quietly next to each other, or their relationship would end in disaster if they crackled contentiously and popped in different directions."

"Buckeye Force Pumps. Mast, Foos & Co., Springfield, O.-U.S.A. Manufacturers of Buckeye Lawn Mowers, Iron Turbine & Buckeye Wind Engines." A dramatic illustration of why Victorian-era families needed Buckeye Force Pumps--so the kids could help extinguish house fires!

Printed on the back of this postcard: "Th. E., L. Theochrom-Serie No. 1210|6. Printed in Germany." Postmarked Baltimore, Md., Apr. 7, 1910, and addressed to Miss Ella Killinger, Mongul, Franklin Co., Pa. Handwritten message: "How is your five o'clock beau. Just the same I guess. With love to all and from the girls. Our address is 2334 E. Monument St., Balto., Md. From Ellen Truer." Anyone know what a "five o'clock beau" might refer to? A boyfriend that you only see after work perhaps?

Postcard addressed on the back to Earl Elliot, Douglassville, Pa., and postmarked at Douglassville, Pa., Oct. 31, 1906. The handwritten message on the front is "Greetings for the day," and the initials "L.U."--presumably those of the sender--appear in a number of places on the front, including on the wall next to the fireplace. The clock strikes midnight on Halloween as a woman gazes into a fire and children bob for apples in a wash tub and on a string. Jack-o'-lanterns form a border around the scene, and ghostly figures hover in the message box at the bottom. The woman in front of the fireplace may actually be playing a fortune-telling game involving three nuts, which she has named after three of her suitors. After placing the three nuts in the fire (I think the nuts are visible here on the top of the grate at the front of the fireplace), she watches to see how they burn. The following poem, which appeared in 1900 in The Jolly Hallowe'en Book , by Dorothy M. Shipman, p. 68, describes the practice. The Test of the Nuts I've named three nuts and placed them Side by side on the grate, The one which cracks is unfaithful, The lover I know I should hate. The one which blazes with brilliant fire, Tells of high regard, 'tis said, But the one which burns with a steady flame Names the man whom I shall wed.

To My Matchless Valentine Cupid's Matches. Warranted to kindle love's flame. Strike here. Tho' you may have set these all alight, My heart is safe you know; For that has been aflame for you Sweetheart, long long ago. -------- Miss Violet Glossenger, Cortez, Pa. Hello Violet, Your postal received and I thought I would answer it being so near to "Valentines Day." Have you had any sleighing over there? We have had a little bit. Well goodbye from that rascal of a Milton C.

"July third. I beg you not to shoot too hard and cause a conflagration, but give 'three cheers' for the stripes and stars on this birthday of our nation. AAR."

Pipe-Smoking Man (aka Yellow Socks Guy) relaxes in front of a warm and cozy fireplace. Tasteful art-- The Half Way House, Thatcham (1848), a copy of a painting by William Shayer Sr. (1787-1879)--hangs above the mantle, an issue of Seventeen is peeking out of the magazine rack, and the same floral-print curtains that were visible in The Silence in the Room Was Deafening show up here, too. See also Pipe-Smoking Television Man . (Thanks to goenetix for identifying the painting!) For related slides, select the thumbnail images below.

A one-of-a-kind handpainted Christmas postcard made from some sort of art board. Postmarked in Chantilly, Virginia, Dec. 16, 1955. Sent to Lancaster, Pa., with a return address in York, Pa. I believe that the artist who painted this postcard (it's not a print) was H. Robert Hildebrand, who was known for his paintings of dogs and other animals. See the following blog postings: York County Native H. Robert Hildebrand Was a Prolific Pet Portraitist and More Cute Dogs with Famous Owners Painted by York Native H. R. Hildebrand . For another postcard painting by the same artist, see Noel, Bob Hildrebrand, 1956 .

I picked up this battered copy of The New England Primer after noticing how it claimed to be An Easy and Pleasant Guide to the Art of Reading just above the woodcut illustration showing a man being burned at the stake as a crowd of children and adults uneasily watch the gruesome and unpleasant scene. " The New England Primer Improved, or An Easy and Pleasant Guide to the Art of Reading; To Which Is Added the Assembly's Shorter Catechism . Pittsburgh: United Presbyterian Board of Publication."