Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: Bamforth

"You may be straight but you don't 'look it.'" A postcard addressed on the other side to Mr. Oscar Donaven, Mt. Joy, Lancaster Co., Pa., and postmarked in Philadelphia in 1907. This postcard features a punning illustration of an apoplectic fellow who doesn't "look straight" because he's cross-eyed, of course. Mark Newgarden , a cartoonist who was one of the creators of the Garbage Pail Kids , used this card--with an added imitation fly pin on the guy's nose--for the cover of his book, Cheap Laffs: The Art of the Novelty Item (Harry N. Abrams, 2004). If you have the slightest interest in the origin and history of fake vomit, whoopee cushions, and joy buzzers, then you've got to track down a copy of this amazingly amusing book. [Paging Corduroy Cat: Do I recall correctly that you posted a copy of this postcard, too?]

In this 1907 Bamforth real photo postcard by Robert McCrum, a poor beleaguered husband sits on the floor and performs his household chores while his wife relaxes with a magazine and cigarette in a comfortable chair. One of his kids appears to be crying loudly, and the other one has climbed up on the table in the background to try out dad's tobacco pipe. It's interesting to see that the same wallpaper appears in another Bamforth postcard entitled Try This on Your Piano :

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.

A Bamforth real photo postcard with a punning caption. Another Bamforth card, Ain't Marriage a Cinch! , makes use of the same wallpaper: