Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: calves

For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard.

Mama cow and baby calf seem to be giving the photographer a sideways glance as the farmer and his family hold them in place to pose for the camera. See a cropped version for a close-up of the disgruntled bovines. The decorative mask--with its stylized flowers and curled-up edges--gives the appearance of a fancy photo frame. For a similar real photo postcard, see Man's Portrait in Elaborate Border .

I thought poor Carol was a bit creepy when I photographed her during a visit to the Indian Steps Museum in Airville, York County, Pa., but I thought she'd fit in well with whatever other creatures happen to show up in the Vintage Indoor Oddities group. Carol is the oddest thing at the Indian Steps Museum, which otherwise contains interesting displays of Native American artifacts and local history items. The sign below the calf says, "Please do not touch Carol the calf. She is very old and fragile."

"A Happy New Year. Haddocks. Come to your milk now." A Victorian-era New Year calling or greeting card with a hand-drawn sketch. "Come to your milk" seems to have had a specific meaning in the nineteenth century beyond pulling on a calf's tail to try to get it to drink out of a milk bucket. Besides a few hits on the phrase in Google Books, however, I haven't uncovered any source that reveals what that meaning might have been.

"Pauline - The President's Cow. Mrs. T. W. Cochran." According to Wikipedia, " Pauline Wayne was a Holstein cow which belonged to William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States....From 1910 to 1913, Miss Wayne freely grazed the White House lawn. She was the last presidential cow to live at the White House and was considered as much a Taft family pet as she was livestock." I haven't been able to locate any information regarding Mrs. T. W. Cochran, who presumably was the photographer or postcard publisher.

A nineteenth-century sale bill announcing an auction of livestock, vehicles, and agricultural equipment. A Positive Sale! Third monthly sale at the Bazaar! Cross Keys Hotel, Marietta, Pa., on Thursday, December 29, 1887. The following will be sold, to wit: One horse, a fine Jersey bull calf that drew first premium at the Lancaster County Fair. Also a full Alderney cow and calf, two fat hogs, weighing about 200 pounds each. One new shifting top buggy, one new Cortland road cart, one market wagon (second-hand), a few sleighs (Albany cutters). One Root corn planter with fertilizer attachment, good as new. One Perry spring tooth harrow (new), two Princess plows, two double harpoon hay forks, sleigh bells, and other valuable articles. Sale to commence at 2 o'clock p.m. Terms 60 days. Simon L. Brandt, secretary. N.B. No articles will be withdrawn. Marietta Times Print.