Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: 1883

Too Small for His Britches?

06 Feb 2017 5 5 1348
"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.

Grand Independence Ball, Oaksville, New York, July…

09 Jun 2016 2 1293
"Grand Independence Ball at Reynolds Hall, Oaksville, Tuesday eve., July 3, 1883. Yourself and ladies are invited. Music by Wager's Band. Bill $2. A. C. Reynolds, prop'r." An advertising trade card announcing a Fourth of July dance in Oaksville, New York.