Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: pull toys

The rope of a lasso surrounds a tiny toy horse. For more information, see another detail from the same photo along with the original version .

A woman poses for a photo and pretends to sing as she holds the sheet music for A Signal from Mars: March and Two Step . For more information, see another detail from the same photo along with the original version .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of over the shoulder (something or somebody) . Everyone in this puzzling photo is holding something. The man on the left is holding a cane over his shoulder, and the second man has a rope wrapped around his left hand. Both men are watching the woman in the middle, who's holding sheet music and singing. The woman on the right, who's seated in a chair, is holding a lute and is playing it to accompany the woman who's singing. The woman standing beside the singer and both of the men are all holding rolled-up papers of some sort. A closer look at the photo reveals some curious details. First, the sheet music that the woman is holding is entitled A Signal from Mars: March and Two Step , which was published in 1901 (hear a piano version on YouTube). Since the piece is an instrumental "march and two step" without any lyrics, why is the woman pretending to use it as she's singing? Secondly, the rope that the second man is holding extends down to the floor where it's coiled around a small horse pull toy . Why did the man lasso a tiny toy horse? I don't have any answers for the questions that this photo poses. Although the painted backdrop and patterned floor covering suggest that this picture was taken in a photo studio, I wonder if this might be a scene from a theatrical production. There was a popular comedic play with a similar title— A Message from Mars —that toured the United States between 1903 and 1905. As far as I can determine, however, A Message from Mars was not a musical, and there was no connection to the sheet music for A Signal from Mars .

Edward Ridley & Sons, a New York City department store, printed this trade card for customers during the holiday season in 1880, and the store also took out newspaper ads to offer its "annual greeting." The other side of the trade card is a wintertime illustration of a little girl holding some toys as she stands in the snow. This side (above) features the store's Christmas greeting: 32nd Annual Greeting A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Toys, Dolls, and Holiday Presents. Edw. Ridley & Sons 309, 311, 311½ Grand St. 59 Orchard St. 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70 Allen St. New York The following excerpt from the store's advertisement in the New York Herald on December 5, 1880, provides additional details about its holiday sales: Thirty-second Annual Greeting Santa Claus' New Building. Opening Monday, December 6. First Floor—Endless variety toys, dolls, hobby horses. Also china, glass ware, &c. Second Floor--Work boxes, writing desks, Japanese varieties, &c., &c. Tuesday, December 7. Third Floor—Dolls, dolls, dolls. And everything belonging to a doll. Fourth Floor—Wednesday, December 8. Will contain toys of the very finest description…. Our new building gives 23,000 square feet. All devoted to toys. Come and see the toys and our methods. Worsted embroideries, slipper patterns, brackets, &c. Photo and auto[graph] albums, in plush, Russia[n] leather and French calf bindings. Handsome jewel and combination cases, pocketbooks, cigar cases, &c. Prices below every other house—we warrant.

This is the front of a Victorian-era trade card advertising a New York store (for the other side, see Christmas Greeting, Edward Ridley & Sons Department Store, New York City, 1880 ). I'm not sure why this wide-eyed little girl is taking all those toys with her out into the snow. She's dressed for the winter weather, however, and is even holding her hands—and her doll—in a muff to keep them warm.

Oh, how awkward! Looks like Elmer's making a spectacle of himself again! He's perched on top of a bear pull toy, leaning over a container of flowers, and holding a stuffed bunny rabbit and a bear. Lord knows what he has draped over his head. Please, Elmer, leave the kids' toys alone and just grow up! (Awkwardly posted to the Vintage Photos Theme Park for the week of August 19-25, 2013.)