Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: VT

What is it that's "Better Than Haying," as the caption says? For an explanation, see the cropped version of this real photo postcard.

A fishing photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park topic of knitting, fishing, and kissing (photos of people who are knitting, fishing, or kissing; post examples of all three if you have them.) . "Better Than Haying" is the caption of this real photo postcard by Vermont photographer Edwin T. Houston, who published it in 1906 (take a look at the full version to see Houston's inscription at the bottom of the photo). Just about any activity would be better than "haying," or making hay by hand, which is a laborious chore that usually has to be done on a hot summer day. The farmer in the photo, with his dog by his side, is taking a break from haying by casting his fishing line into the water. The farmer has literally turned his back on his haymaking tools, which are visible on the left-hand side of the photo. We can see the teeth of a rake , the blade of a scythe , and the handle of a third tool, which must be a hay fork with its tines stuck in the ground. So the humorous moral of the story told by this carefully constructed scene is, of course: Fishing is better than haying!

Was "Parkhurst" an inmate at Vermont State Prison? Miss Estella M. Clark of East Jaffney, New Hampshire, was the recipient of this postcard in 1905.

Text on box lid: "Keep your pants on with the Atwood Suspender, manufactured only by the Atwood Suspender Co., Swanton, Vt." "Copyright, 1901, by Atwood Suspender Co. American Lithographic Co., N.Y."

A hold it photo (people holding something) for the Vintage Photos Theme Park . Caption: "By durn, Samenthy, this beats the old pump all holler. Push jest a leetle harder and she'll be here." Sign on wall: "Hotel Astorf-Waldoria. Ring once for bell boy, twice [for] ice water, three [times for] hot water." Name on trunk: "Silas Green, Wayback, O." Printed along the sides: "The 'Perfec' Stereograph. (Trade mark.) Patented April 14, 1903. Other patents pending. H. C. White Co., Publishers. General offices and works, North Bennington, Vt., U.S.A. Copyright 1903 by H. C. White Co. 5587 (2)." This comic stereoscopic card (see the full card below) shows two country bumpkins who are visting the city and staying at the highfalutin Hotel Astorf-Waldoria (a thinly veiled reference, of course, to the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City). Unfamiliar with big-city ways and new-fangled technology, Samantha (or "Samenthy," as her husband Silas pronounces it) is pushing the call button (normally used to summon hotel staff) while Silas holds a water pitcher below the mouthpiece of the wall-mounted telephone. In their naivety, Samantha and Silas have misunderstood the sign ("Ring twice for ice water") and have mistaken the phone for a pump that will provide water once the button is pushed. In 1903, at a time when indoor plumbing and telephones were less common in rural areas, viewers of this stereographic photo could laugh at the silly antics of this foolish backwoods couple from Wayback, Ohio. Looking at the image a hundred years later, we can catch a glimpse of the different styles of clothing, wallpaper, carpet, and furniture that were popular back then, and we can also consider how the modern technology that we take for granted today--faucets with running water and mobile phones--has made the humor here obsolete.

A comic stereoscopic card. For additional information, see Silas and Samantha at the Astorf-Waldoria, 1903 .