Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: kettles

Three funny fellows pose facing the camera in this photograph. See also another photo with the same fellows with their backs to the camera. For more information, see the original real photo postcard , which incudes both pictures.

Three funny fellows pose with their backs to the camera in this photograph. See also another photo with the same fellows facing the camera. For more information, see the original real photo postcard , which incudes both pictures.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of Rückenfigur or "back to camera" - any photo in which one or more of the subjects have their backs fully or partially facing the camera . On this real photo postcard, which combines two separate photographs, three funny fellows pose twice, first with their backs to the camera and then a second time as they face the camera. The three are sitting on a board or plank that extends between two chairs. In the first photo , all of them have bowler hats on their heads, and the guy in the middle has what looks like a picture frame hanging over his shoulder and down over his back. A stool and a wooden box with a handle are visible on the floor in front of them. The wall behind the men is partially covered by a painted backdrop, so presumably they're having their picture taken in a photo studio, though no studio name appears on the front or back of the card. In the second photo , the guys seem even goofier as they face forward with funny expressions. The man on the left has a mischievous look on his face, and he's holding a small kettle with the handle of a spoon or some other utensil sticking out of the top. The guy in the middle has opened his mouth as if he's laughing or yelling. The bowler on his head is jauntily tilted to the side, and his right hand is blurred -- was he pumping his fist or gesturing toward the basket that he's holding in his lap? And what's in the basket? The third man is grinning, probably because instead of a hat he's wearing something on his head that looks like a lampshade with ruffles. He has his arms wrapped around himself as if he's cold, and he's holding a pitcher under one arm. The undivided back (for an address only) on the other side of this real photo postcard indicates that it dates before 1907 (when both an address and a message were allowed on the verso), and the Cyko stamp box design (in use as early as 1904) printed on the back also fits this time frame.

A Halloween postcard addressed on the other side to "Miss Bertha Duncan, Cresson, Penna.," and postmarked in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on October 24, 1912. Handwritten message: "This card is a little soon for Halloween but I will send it anyhow. Aquilla." Printed on the back: "Printed in Saxony 0624." In a candlelit room at midnight on Halloween, a young woman gazes into a mirror through the steam from a cauldron so she can catch a glimpse of her future husband. For other Halloween postcards with a mirror-gazing theme, see: -- Halloween Greeting—I Gaze in the Mirror My Future There to See -- Halloween Greetings—Look Out for Ghosts -- Wishing You a Lucky Halloween

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of cooking: outside or in . I'm not sure what mama's cooking, but she may be preparing food for a picnic. There appear to be white cloth-covered baskets lying in the grass, with one or two baskets barely visible behind mama and another in the right midground. "Mama cookin' 'em. Catherine Mueller." Sent to Mr. W. S. Osgood, 410 Morris Bldg., New Orleans, La., and postmarked Kansas City, Kans., Aug. 20, 1907. There's no other message on the back.

Postmarked Roseburg, Oregon, Oct. 25, 1916.

"Halloween Greetings. Boil and bubble, toil and trouble."

The cover of a booklet advertising Witchal, a witch-hazel extract manufactured by the E. E. Dickinson Co. and used medicinally as an astringent.

See also Easter Greetings: A Good Fire .

See also Easter Greeting: Delicious .

A strange and inexplicable New Year greeting! An old woman is tossing a young boy, identified as "1889" across his back, into a steaming kettle of soup that she's cooking over a hot fire. The legs of her previous victim are barely visible at the edge of the kettle. Am I missing something here? Is there a literary allusion or proverb or something else that might explain this? Otherwise, it seems a rather cruel and violent way to greet the New Year. In any case, after initially believing this to be a calling card, I finally discovered that it's number 5 ("Old woman holding boy 1889 over soup tureen") in a series of 50 "New Years 1890" cigarette cards issued by Kinney Tobacco Co. See Kinney New Years 1890 Cards - N227 for additonal information about the card series. By the way, some of the other cards in this series also show strange and unsettling scenes: No. 19 - Boy pushing huge snowball over figure of 1889. No. 20 - Duelist 1890 standing over fallen 1889. No. 36 - Boy 1890 skates round 1889 falling through ice. No. 38 - Whale swallowing 1889, 1890 steps on to floating globe. No. 49 - Sun as spider devouring insect 1889, insect 1890 flies away. A checklist for the card series and illustrations of each card are available at Kinney New Years 1890 Cards - N227 .

A vintage Halloween party invitation. "Come to a Hallowe'en party at the home of Alma Groff on Tues. eve., Oct. 31, from 8:30 to xxxx o'clock."

The Ghost of Thanksgiving Past floats out of the kettle to haunt the table, only to find that everyone has fled in terror. A frightful holiday scene for the Weird Vintage Postcards group.