Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: arrows

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of Valentine's Day - hearts, cupids, arrows, love, or what have you? This real photo postcard features a snow sculpture of Cupid standing next to a heart with an arrow through it. A building is in the background, and two cars are parked along the street in front of the building. Two women are walking near one of the trees on the left. The card is addressed on the other side to Edith Towey, 1744 Summerfield St., Brooklyn 27, N.Y., and it was postmarked in Poultney, Vermont, on February 13, 1948. The location of the snow sculpture is listed on the verso as "Green Mountain Junior College, Poultney, VT," and a handwritten "Valentine's Greetings" appears above the name of a studio, "H. B. Rood Photo, Poultney, VT." According to a brief biography by the Poultney Historical Society, Harry B. Rood (1871-1960) lived in Poultney his entire life. He began working in his father's photography studio in the 1890s and continued as a photographer after his father's death. At the time Rood took this photo, Green Mountain Junior College was a two-year college for women and then became a four-year college for both men and women in 1974, when its name changed to Green Mountain College. Ames Hall , the campus building that appears in the photo, is still standing, but the college itself closed in 2019 after experiencing financial difficulties.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of odd, unusual, or quirky . Trick photos with double exposures usually involve typical scenes with props like wheelbarrows (see A Man Simultaneously Pushing and Riding a Wheelbarrow ) or playing cards ( Aunt Maggie's Trick Shot ). The setting for this one, however, is rather unusual. A huge pile of firewood dominates the scene. On the left, two boys stand at the bottom of the woodpile. Partially visible behind them is a farm wagon and beyond the wagon are some trees. Both boys are looking toward the photographer. One of them is pointing toward the top of the pile and wielding a piece of wood as if he intends to use it as a weapon. The other boy is about to start climbing up the pile. On the right, standing at the top of the woodpile are the same two boys. They're both drawing bows as if they're about to shoot arrows, but neither of them has an arrow. So, it appears that the storyline is that the boys are about to climb the woodpile to stop themselves from shooting arrows as they stand on top of the pile. Or at least that's all I can make of it.

Here's a wireless telegram That I will send to you I'm in love with you—I am I love you 'deed I do Be my valentine. R. F. Outcault Cartoonist Richard F. Outcault (1863-1928) featured Buster Brown and his dog Tige—both of them winking and smiling—in this valentine from 1904.

"Aim Straight. A. Lanborn." Cupid is aiming straight for the heart in the illustration on this nineteenth-century sentiment card .

Although this postcard--with a postmark dated February 13, 1911--is intended to convey a patriotic sentiment, the idea of Cupid kneeling down and holding up what appears to be a still-steaming heart makes it feel too much like a sacrificial offering to me. To My Valentine To the banner above I surrender with glee, My heart and my love; Dearest Sweetheart for thee.

"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.

Postmark on the back of this postcard: Worcester, Mass., Oct. 30, 1909. Addressed to: Miss Ora Bickford, New Gloucester, Maine, R.F.D. no. 1. Message: "With best wishes for a happy Hallowe'en. Love, Elva." "A formerly widespread tradition held that young women gazing into a mirror in a darkened room (often on Halloween) could catch a glimpse of their future husband's face in the mirror--or a skull personifying Death if their fate was to die before they married." This explanation of what the women in this postcard is doing appears in Wikipedia's article on scrying , which is defined as "the practice of looking into a translucent ball or other material with the belief that things can be seen, such as spiritual visions, and less often for purposes of divination or fortune-telling." Cupid's presence in this postcard is somewhat puzzling, but the publisher, L. R. Conwell, also included Cupid in at least one other Halloween postcard. See The Joys of Halloween Be Yours . See below for additional examples of early twentieth-century postcards that depict mirror-gazing and other Halloween fortune-telling activities.

An owl and a bat flap their wings through the nighttime sky as Cupid stands on a cloud and contemplates whether to shoot an arrow at the full moon, where a witch has replaced the Man in the Moon. I can't help but wonder whether L. R. Conwell, the publisher of this 1909 postcard, recycled a Valentine's Day card to compose this perplexing scene, but a search for other Cupid cards didn't uncover any similar postcards. Conwell also featured Cupid in at least one other Halloween postcard. See Wishing You a Lucky Halloween :

Printed on the back of this postcard: "Sam's Ice Cream. Store-room and manufacturing plant. 2008 Paxton Street, Harrisburg, Penna. (at the city line on Hershey Hgwy. Rt. 422. Store-room featuring large snack-bar, counter service, plus self-service dept. Also truck retail distributing service to your door within 100 miles radius of Harrisburg. (Open daily 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. including Sundays.)"

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.

"Love's Cable. Handed in at Cupid's Court. No code book is needed for these cables, true love deciphers them. St. Valentine. Bow and Arrow Avenue, Feb. 14. To my valentine, I cable to say, I am yours today, my heart is true, my love to you. If the accuracy of this message be doubted, it will gladly be confirmed on payment of twenty kisses." This folded Valentine's Day greeting was a parody of a "cablegram" (often shortened to "cable"), which was a message transmitted over the submarine communications cables that were laid across the Atlantic Ocean and elsewhere as early as the 1850s. So why would you need to use a code book to send a cablegram? Author Frank C. McClelland described how these worked in the following excerpt from his book, Office Training and Standards (Chicago: A. W. Shaw, 1919), p. 49: How to use a code book. Firms with foreign connections or correspondents also find use for a cable-code book which helps greatly to cut down the expense of cable messages by shortening the number of words required to convey the message. A code book is simply a directory of code words arranged alphabetically, each word being the code for a certain phrase. For example, the word "Dardejante" may stand for "Draft has been presented for payment." and the word "Daricus" may stand for "Draft is correct; please pay." Nearly every kind of message is given in a code book. Suppose we desired to send a cablegram to London reading "Merritt Brothers draft has been presented for payment for two hundred dollars Shall we pay for your account?" If we did not use a code book the cablegram would contain 18 words in addition to the name, address, and signature, which might bring the number of words up to 27. At 31 cents a word, the cablegram would cost $8.37. By using code words we would get this result: "(name) (address) Merritt Brothers Dardejante Morderesti Genageld (signature)," making only eight words, which would cost only $2.48, a saving of $5.89.

Don't forget to make time for stunts during your Halloween party! This handy dandy Whirl-O spinner makes it easy. Who wouldn't want to "Whistle ' Yankee Doodle ' with a saucepan on your noodle" or "Throw ten feet, never fail, three potatoes in a pail"? You'll find out who can "Squirm and wiggle, then laugh and giggle" or who's more likely to "Keep a straight face for a while, let nobody make you smile." Of course, you'll have to prepare ahead of time. In addition to a saucepan, potatoes, and a pail, you'll need some string, a broom, a blindfold, an apple, some balloons, needle and thread, and a bunch of other stuff. Check out the full list of stunts below. You may want to practice each one before the party so that you can demonstrate for your guests. -------- Whirl-O Halloween Fortune and Stunt Game Take a string and where you stand, tie a knot with just one hand. Ride a broom around the floor, come back where you were before. Leap like a frog and give a croak. Walk a strait line to the end, never slip or descend. Turn blindfolded ten times round point to your love. On your tip-toes nice and fine, cross the room in one strait line. Push an apple, nothing more, with your nose across the floor. Stand up and bow, and moo like a cow. Squirm and wiggle, then laugh and giggle. Try your wind and see how soon you can burst a toy balloon. Take a needle, shove thread in it, all in less than half a minute. Throw ten feet, never fail, three potatoes in a pail. Swing an apple on a string, bite it on the second swing. See if you can show this knack, tie a bow behind your back. Whistle Yankee Doodle with a saucepan on your noodle, Bite and chew as fast as able five marshmallows from the table. Keep a straight face for a while, let nobody make you smile. Stand on your toes and wiggle your nose. Spin like a top until you have to stop. Make a spoon linger on your little finger.

Advertisement on the back: "All leather Triangle Brand Shoes. Sturdy good looking shoes for husky boys. Dainty styles for growing girls. They last longer. Pleasant View Store, general merchandise, Nuangola Sta., Pa." This wheel chart or volvelle was an advertising giveaway intended for children, who could turn the interlocking paper wheels to display information about each American state. The arrow at the top of the wheel points to Pennsylvania ("Penn."), for instance, and corresponding text visible in the small windows on the map reveal that Pennsylvania's capital is Harrisburg, its principal city is Philadelphia, it gained statehood in 1787, and other tidbits of information. See below for a variety of other wheel charts on various topics.

The humor in this postcard is dependent, of course, upon the fact that "beau"--a boyfriend or sweetheart--is pronounced the same as "bow." To My Affinity From One Who Has No Bow If of me you sometimes think, send to me a bow of pink. If for me your love is right, send to me a bow of white. If for me your love is true, send to me a bow of blue. If for me your love is dead, send to me a bow of red. If for me your love is keen, send to me a bow of green. If you have another miss, send to me a bow like this.

"Friendship's tie. Love sincere."