Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: straw hats

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of Halloween (costumes, masks, jack-o'-lanterns, decorations, ghosts, gravestones, or anything else spooky or scary; no limit—post as many Halloween photos as you'd like) . A photo of a man (or possibly a woman) wearing a grotesque mask, overalls, suit jacket, gloves, neckerchief, and straw hat. He's carrying a cane in one hand and a package wrapped in newspapers in the other. Could this be a Halloween costume? If so, is he dressed as a farmer? Or do the cane and package suggest a stick-type bindle characteristic of a hobo? This is an unused real photo postcard with an AGFA-ANSCO stamp box on the other side, which indicates that it may date to the 1930s or 1940s. A couple of other details point to a specific locale. First, under magnification, the heading on part of the bundled up newspapers says, "New Era," so it's possible that it was the Lancaster New Era , a paper published in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Secondly, a pouch of "Good Bite" chewing tobacco with a fish logo is sticking out of the breast pocket on the man's suit jacket. The Good Bite brand of chewing tobacco originated in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. For some other disconcerting masks, see Costume Creepiness .

A real photo postcard of a man holding a deer head. For a similar photo, see A Man and His Moosehead Bier .

Handwritten note on the back of the photo: "Summer 1938. My first straw hat, [which] Barley bought for me to go to ball games."

A photo of fields, crops, pastures for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Handwritten note on the back of the photo: "Here is a picture, and it does not look as if Nebraska was a tee-total failure in 1926. But 50% was a failure on the corn crop for 1926. Mr. H. G. Bolz." Rubberstamped on back: "Van Doran Photo Shop, 1406 O St., Lincoln, Neb." Prohibition was in effect and alcoholic beverages were banned in the U.S. when this photo was taken in 1926, so perhaps teetotalism was on the writer's mind when he said that the corn crop wasn't a "tee-total" failure.

Straw Hat Day, when it was customary for men to put away their winter felt hats and don their summer straw hats, used to be a widespread tradition in the United States during the month of May. The exact date for this seasonal switch from "felts" to "straws" differed from place to place, with May 13, May 15, May 25, or the second Saturday in May variously cited as the appropriate day to begin wearing straw hats. On some campuses, Straw Hat Day was a student celebration , and in other areas, it was an opportunity for clothiers and hatters to promote their wares . Someone created this card with an unlucky black cat as part of a Straw Hat Day observance, but I'm not sure how it was used. See below for excerpts from newspaper ads and articles that confirm that Straw Hat Day was "unlucky for felts." For more straw hat amusement, see It's Mallory Straw Hat Time! -------- "Unlucky? Are you superstitious? May 13th, unlucky for felts . Straw Hat Day. Get yours at the Co-op. $2.50--$3.00--$3.50--$4.00. Technology Branch, Harvard Co-operative Society...." Advertisement, The Tech (Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology), May 12, 1924, p. 4. "Official Straw Hat Day. Wednesday, May 13th. Unlucky for felts! Select your straw hat now and be ready for the big day. New straws are now on display. See the windows tonight, then visit your favorite clothier tomorrow for a fitting. Don't be under a felt when Wednesday the Thirteenth dawns." Advertisement for clothiers, Lawrence Daily Journal-World , May 8, 1925, p. 10. "Tomorrow, Thursday the 13th, will be ' unlucky for felts .' Tomorrow has been designated 'Straw Hat Day' and 'hay hats' will be all the rage and felts taboo. Even the black cat shown above [in an accompanying illustration] is reaching for a straw 'skimmer' and promises bad luck to all wearers of felt hats." "13th to Be 'Unlucky for Felts,'" San Jose News , May 12, 1937, p. 7.

From what I've been able to figure out, "Fireman, save my child" seems to be a hackneyed theatrical line originally featured in nineteenth-century melodramas and then reused later as a humorous catchphrase in various media, including as the title of separate films--all comedies--released in 1918 , 1927 , 1932 , and 1954 . "Fireman, save my child" appears here as a hand-held sign, along with a variety of hats, a firefighters's helmet (worn by the man standing behind the barrel of Scotch ale), and other amusing props For similar real photo souvenir postcards, see Sloppy Joe's Bar, Havana, Cuba, 1937 and Shenanigans at Sloppy Joe's Bar, Havana, Cuba .

Printed on the back of this advertising postcard: "Feel the difference in a Mallory straw. We have a wide selection now on hand. Why not drop in soon and select your favorite?" The month of May used to be the time when men traditionally traded their winter felt hats for summer straw hats. The Mallory Hat Company created this postcard so that dealers could inform customers that it was time for them to purchase a new cool-as-an-iceberg Mallory straw Panama hat for summertime wear. . For an earlier example of an exaggeratedly large Panama hat used in an advertisement, see the San Francisco 1915 postcard that's featured as part of the Michigan State University Museum's Tall Tale Postcards: Storytelling Through the Mail exhibit.

Handwritten on the back of this photo: "Atlantic City, N.J."