Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: knickerbockers

"A Joyous Thanksgiving." Postcard addressed to Miss Gertrude Blank, R.F.D. No. 1, Baden, Pa., and postmarked Allegheny, Pa., Nov. 19, 1909. Message: "Wishing you a happy Thanksgiving Day, Edna." This sure looks like a Halloween card rather than one for Thanksgiving, but I couldn't locate any versions with Halloween greetings. For another suspiciously Halloween-like Thanksgiving postcard, see Thanksgiving Greetings :

The humor of this postcard may not be evident to us today, but when it was published in the early twentieth century the poem that it refers to— Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight —was well known. It tells the story of a brave woman who prevents a bell from ringing in order to stop the planned execution of her lover (Wikipedia provides a synopsis and reprints the entire poem in case you're interested in the details). So—as the original recipient of a postcard like this would have realized—it's ludicrous to compare a woman's heroic efforts to spare her lover's life with a boy's attempt to stop the ax from turning his pet turkey into Thanksgiving dinner. To top things off, the kid's wide-eyed expression and wild gesticulations (as if he's reciting a dramatic poem!) makes the situation seem even more absurd.

Handwritten note on the back of this cabinet photo: "Sister Annie's. Martin - Samuel Heffner (twins)." Photo studio: "J. D. Strunk, 730 Penn St., Reading, Pa."

Wikipedia's text messaging article provides a detailed history of texting. Although there were antecedents-- telex in 1933, ALOHAnet in 1971, and even wireless telegraphy in the nineteenth century--it wasn't until 1995 that Sprint Spectrum introduced the first modern text messaging service (SMS, or Short Messaging Service) in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland. I think that this chronology will have to be revised, however, since I'm pretty sure that this old photo shows a kid texting away on his phone while his brother and mother wait for him to finish. Unfortunately, the picture isn't dated, but since the boys are wearing knickerbockers . I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it was taken as early as the 1910s or 1920s. I wonder if any other texting photos from the early twentieth century have survived.