Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: 23

This rotated version makes it easier to read the handwritten message: "We tended the Iowa Picnic here last Saturday. Saw lots of folks from Iowa that I knew. 10,000 people there. I can't tell when we will leave here. Too many places to go & too much to see to get away very soon. We expect to visit an old friend of mine that lives at Santa Ana, 30 miles south. We may move out here some time. Love to all. Goodbye, Leni & Mame" For more information about this real photo postcard, see a full version and a cropped version of the card:

Here's the message that's written on this real photo postcard (to read the original handwriting more easily, see the rotated version of the card): "We tended the Iowa Picnic here last Saturday. Saw lots of folks from Iowa that I knew. 10,000 people there. I can't tell when we will leave here. Too many places to go & too much to see to get away very soon. We expect to visit an old friend of mine that lives at Santa Ana, 30 miles south. We may move out here some time. Love to all. Goodbye, Leni & Mame" At first glance, it seems like Leni, Mame, and about 10,000 others attended what must have been a huge "Iowa Picnic," which presumably took place somewhere in Iowa. But what about their plans to visit a friend located thirty miles away in Santa Ana? Isn't Santa Ana a city in California? Fortunately, the results of a Google search for Iowa Picnic and California provided the answer. I found a posting about Iowa Picnics - Long Beach and Elsewhere that gives a brief history of the get-togethers that were held beginning in 1900. So many Iowans moved to California that the picnics attracted thousands of transplanted Midwesterners--as many as 100,000 attended during some years in the 1940s! So it sounds like Leni and Mame were enjoying their stay in California as they visited friends and met fellow Iowans at the picnic. Although there's no date on the card, I suspect they were traveling sometime in the late 1900s or early 1910s. For additional views of the handwritten message and photo, see a rotated version and a cropped version of the card:

What means this shoe so very new? Why, "23" skidoo, skidoo! But if you'll be my Valentine, This shoe, my love, will not fit you. The "23 skidoo" fad--a joking way to tell someone to "scram" or "get lost"--was popular in the 1900s and 1910s. For an amazing compilation of information regarding the fad, see the 23 Skidoo Postcards Web site. Postmarked: Newark, N.J., Feb. 13, 1909. Sent to: Mr. Miles Tarbell, Groton, Tompkins County, New York. Message: Yours sincerely, Belle D.

"Skiddo! A noise like a snake signifying motion in opposite direction without delay. Intimates that your absence is preferable to your company. It conveys the admonition that in case you are slow in making your exit, you will be assisted on your journey. Fills a long felt want. Like the sign $ indicates dollars so skiddo is always known by the numerals 23."

"Skidoo. This is not a one way ticket to heaven. Return same to Bedford Roll-Arena, one mile north of Bedford, Pa." Lou Brooks, in his terrific book, Skate Crazy: Amazing Graphics from the Golden Age of Roller Skating , pp. 42-43, shows illustrations of similar cards and explains, "The dreaded 'Scram' and 'Skidoo' card! Just like at any party, the hosts liked to keep things at the rink moving with interesting games, often turning the rink into somewhat of a social laboratory. Floor ushers, acting out their version of traffic cop, would slip these cards to unsuspecting couples, urging them to skate the second half of the dance with someone they had never met." I'm not sure, however, if this card was used in the same manner, and I'm not certain what to make of the "This is not a one way ticket to heaven" warning.

A postcard parody of a membership card for the "Down and Out Club" and an advertisement for the Powers Photo Engraving Company, "fastest engravers on earth." Down and Out Club of the United States of America No.: Back number. Date: Not yet but soon. This is to certify that after a thorough examination Mr. R. G. Brubaker has been elected a member of the Down and Out Club of America. His usefulness being gone is subject to the Skidoo Treatment. A. Hasbeen, president. To the woods. Not yet but soon. Walla-walla. 23 skidoo. Copyright 1906 by the Powers Photo Eng. Co., Fastest Engravers on Earth, 154 Nassau St., N.Y.

A postcard parody of a membership card for the "Down and Out Club" and an advertisement for the Powers Photo Engraving Company, "fastest engravers on earth." Down and Out Club of the United States of America No.: Back number. Date: Not yet but soon. This is to certify that after a thorough examination Mr. R. G. Brubaker has been elected a member of the Down and Out Club of America. His usefulness being gone is subject to the Skidoo Treatment. A. Hasbeen, president. To the woods. Not yet but soon. Walla-walla. 23 skidoo. Copyright 1906 by the Powers Photo Eng. Co., Fastest Engravers on Earth, 154 Nassau St., N.Y.