Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: bizarre

John Grossman included this puzzling postcard in his book Christmas Curiosities: Odd, Dark, and Forgotten Christmas (Stewart, Tabori and Chang, 2008), p. 110. He suggests that the actions of this mean Santa Claus derive from earlier European traditions like the Krampus , a devilish figure who punished misbehaving children and sometimes carried them away in a bag or basket (see Grossman's book for illustrations). By the early twentieth century when this German postcard was published, however, most American Santas were depicted as benevolent fellows who rewarded--not punished--children. My copy of the card is unused with no address, message, or postmark on the back.

A 1908 Tuck postcard with an apparently cannibalistic Thanksgiving scene of two turkeys pulling on a wishbone .

See also a cropped version of this real photo postcard.

An additional Halloween photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park ( post as many photos as you want--no limit!--that relate directly or indirectly to Halloween ). I'm not certain whether this photo was actually taken at Halloween, but I wouldn't want to run into this scary group in a dark alley on trick-or-treat night. See also the full version of this real photo postcard.

Do you know I love you . . . since we're both orange people in a world of purple?

Or Joyeux Noël? Although "Happy New Year" is the French greeting on this hand-colored real photo postcard, the greenery, snowman, and red and green coloring seem to suggest a Christmas scene.

A strange and inexplicable New Year greeting! An old woman is tossing a young boy, identified as "1889" across his back, into a steaming kettle of soup that she's cooking over a hot fire. The legs of her previous victim are barely visible at the edge of the kettle. Am I missing something here? Is there a literary allusion or proverb or something else that might explain this? Otherwise, it seems a rather cruel and violent way to greet the New Year. In any case, after initially believing this to be a calling card, I finally discovered that it's number 5 ("Old woman holding boy 1889 over soup tureen") in a series of 50 "New Years 1890" cigarette cards issued by Kinney Tobacco Co. See Kinney New Years 1890 Cards - N227 for additonal information about the card series. By the way, some of the other cards in this series also show strange and unsettling scenes: No. 19 - Boy pushing huge snowball over figure of 1889. No. 20 - Duelist 1890 standing over fallen 1889. No. 36 - Boy 1890 skates round 1889 falling through ice. No. 38 - Whale swallowing 1889, 1890 steps on to floating globe. No. 49 - Sun as spider devouring insect 1889, insect 1890 flies away. A checklist for the card series and illustrations of each card are available at Kinney New Years 1890 Cards - N227 .

Stamped on back: "Hill Studio, 1415 Derry Street, Harrisburg, Pa." Handwritten on back: "Dec. 23, 1947." A puzzling photo of a masked Santa Claus (evidently a woman wearing a skirt) sitting next to a pile of wrapped presents and a Christmas tree. Newspapers are strewn about on the floor, and the walls in the background seem to be either water-stained or wet (could it be the inside of an unheated shed or trailer with condensation running down the walls?). The tips of what appear to be ironing boards surround Santa on both sides. Could this show early preparations for a gift distribution of some sort? Or has a downtrodden Santa taken up residence in a storage unit?

But still holding up the old holiday traditions.

...except for the poor turkeys forced to carry their cooked kin upon their backs. A bizarre Thanksgiving greeting posted for the Weird Vintage Postcards group.

Thanksgiving greetings from a wacky turkey with an Uncle Sam head! Posted for the Weird Vintage Postcards group.

The Ghost of Thanksgiving Past floats out of the kettle to haunt the table, only to find that everyone has fled in terror. A frightful holiday scene for the Weird Vintage Postcards group.

Now even Santa knows what it feels like to be held hostage by all the holiday advertising!

Although I have not been able to uncover any information regarding an "Ellen Probst," this postcard may have been used as a pitch card for a child performer in a sideshow or similar attraction. If so, the girl seems disconcertingly young to be working as a snake handler or charmer.

Mouse over the image for a closer view of the bug toy . Either that's a giant mutant insect getting ready to attack that poor kid or it's a toy of some sort, perhaps something like the mechanical crawling beetle pictured in the Victoria and Albert Museum's image collection.

See also the full photo of the bug toy (below). Either that's a giant mutant insect getting ready to attack that poor kid or it's a toy of some sort, perhaps something like the mechanical crawling beetle pictured in the Victoria and Albert Museum's image collection.

"Pamper your man . . . and the whole family, too! Dremel Electric Shoe Polishers." This is the front panel of a folded product tag that was originally attached to a shoe polisher purchased in 1965 ("7-65" is penciled in on the back). Inside are brief descriptions of the different models--The Aristocrat, The Diplomat, and The Executive--and a service guarantee. The inside text begins with the statement, "This Dremel Electric Shoe Polisher is a man-pleasing gift the whole family can use--and enjoy." A "man-pleasing gift"? Yikes!