Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: gifts

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of holiday happenings -- any kind of end-of-year holiday gathering, celebration, or decoration . Gold is the color of the day in this holiday scene that includes a gold Christmas tree, a gold sculpture on the wall, and gold wrapping paper and bows on the some of the presents. Even the carpet has a yellowish-almost-golden hue. There's no date on the photo. What do you think -- 1960s?

A mother and son-—along with a tree and wrapped presents-—seem to be materializing out of the ether in this Christmas double exposure. For other haunted holiday happenings, see The Ghosts of Christmas Past and The Ghosts of Easter Past (below).

Simplex Typewriters, Santa's Favorite, 1908 Sample of work of Simplex No. 1, $1.00: This machine will delight any boy or girl and older folks find it useful. Sample of work of Simplex No. 2½, $2.50: A neat little note size typewriter that will please Glays or Joe, or Mama for social correspondence. Sample of work of Simplex No. 5, $5.00: It will write a letter like this on wide business paper like Father's. Simplex Lithograph Co., New York. See also the front of this die-cut Santa advertisement:

"Simplex Typewriters, $1.00, $2.50, $5.00. The most instructive and useful gift possible to give any child, boy or girl. Come at once to see them demonstrated at E. Schneider & Sons Co., 80 Bergenline Ave., Hudson Hill, N.J." If you have any interest in the history of typewriters—or vintage ads, photos, and ephemera related to typewriters—then you may want to track down a copy of the recently published book, The Typewriter: A Graphic History of the Beloved Machine (Calgary, Alberta: Uppercase Publishing, 2015), by Janie Vangool (full disclosure: my name appears in a list of supporters at the back of the book just because I preordered a copy). I don't believe that this Simplex Santa makes an appearance in The Typewriter , but there are photos of a couple of Simplex (Toy) Typewriters (one dated 1910), along with Christmas magazine advertisements, Valentine cards, letterheads, postcards (including a copy of this one , p. 123), manuals, instruction books, certificates, touch typing charts (a colorful example similar to this one appears on pp. 86-87), die cuts, ribbon tins, and other delights. Here's the other side of this die-cut Santa advertisement:

A gift giving photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "Thank you, Peggy & Richy." A photographic card to convey thanks for a wedding gift. I hope that my suggestion of "gift giving" as this week's theme hasn't stymied contributions to the Vintage Photos Theme Park ! My take on the topic is that any aspect of gift giving, receiving, opening, or displaying is fair game, so I hope that my cohorts in Theme Park crime will consider posting other photos of wedding gifts, Christmas gifts , birthday gifts , or any other kinds of gifts .

"Coast Motel. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year."

"Merry Christmas, 1949. The Hassingers."

Doesn't every little kid yearn for a pipe-smoking pup for Christmas?

A birthday cakes photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. For another fun birthday cake photo, see Happy Birthday to--Hey, Are You Taking My Picture? After enlarging this snapshot, I was able to determine the birthday boy's name--Kadin--from the decoration on the cake, and one of the cards revealed that he was celebrating his second birthday as he posed with his gifts. Kadin's 1950s-era toys include the kaleidoscope he's holding, a metal spintop next to his left foot, some sort of metal cylindrical push toy to the right of the top, an inflatable Goofy Ball, and a drum (mouse over the image to see my notes). The room's decor features boldy decorated cushions leaning against the wall behind Kadin and a square-base table lamp positioned on the end table on the right-hand side.

Who wouldn't want a sweeper for Christmas! The women depicted in this Victorian-era advertising trade card certainly seem pleased with their new Goshen sweeper and other gifts! "A Christmas gift, made by Goshen Sweeper Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. A Merry Xmas. Gies & Co., Buffalo, N.Y." Printed on the back of this advertising trade card: Our carpet sweeper is strongly made, does not easily get out of order, and lasts for years even with constant use. Sweeps easily and cleanly, backward and forward, with less wear and tear to the carpet than any other sweeper (brooms are death to carpets); goes farther into the corners, too. Doesn't spill dirt, and when you are ready it empties itself--almost, it is so simple. "The Rapid" is one name for it--all the same, it's a Goshen Sweeper; made for us. And just that is why it is better than any other. The Mowrey Latshaw Hdw. Co, Spring City, Pa. "It takes the dirt." Note: The Mowrey Latshaw Hardware Company, also known as Latshaw's Hardware, opened in 1875 and is still in business in Spring City, Pa., today, according to its Facebook page .

"With best wishes for a happy New Year, Diamond Saw and Stamping Works, Buffalo, N.Y."

"Eleanor Kautz."

Stamped on back: "Hill Studio, 1415 Derry Street, Harrisburg, Pa." Handwritten on back: "Dec. 23, 1947." A puzzling photo of a masked Santa Claus (evidently a woman wearing a skirt) sitting next to a pile of wrapped presents and a Christmas tree. Newspapers are strewn about on the floor, and the walls in the background seem to be either water-stained or wet (could it be the inside of an unheated shed or trailer with condensation running down the walls?). The tips of what appear to be ironing boards surround Santa on both sides. Could this show early preparations for a gift distribution of some sort? Or has a downtrodden Santa taken up residence in a storage unit?

Evidently these partygoers have just exchanged gifts. The woman directly in the middle of the photo is holding a copy of How to Make Love , a circa 1930s booklet whose suggestive title promised more than its contents could actually deliver (it was innocuous enough that Archie McPhee sold a reprinted version).

A Christmas photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park . Toys in the foreground that I was able to identify include a 1962 Ponytail Barbie Case, a 1962 Margie the Majorette Doll Craft Kit, and a Mickey Mouse Club Counting Jump Rope. Wikipedia reports that silver aluminum Christmas trees like the one in the photo were popular in the U.S. from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, when a silver tree "was used as a symbol of the over-commercialization of Christmas in the 1965 Peanuts holiday special, A Charlie Brown Christmas ."