Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: trousers

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of rocking horse . On the other side of this real photo postcard is an Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) that indicates that the photo may date to sometime between 1904 and 1918. The back of the card also gives its origin: "Strunk's Studio, 750 Penn St., Reading, Pa." At first glance the boy in the photo appears to be posing with a rocking horse, but a closer examination reveals that the horse's legs are attached to a wooden platform. It may be the same toy horse mounted on wheels that appears in other Strunk photos. See, for instance, a cabinet card with Roy Peiffer on Strunk's Studio Horse, Reading, Pennsylvania .

Intended as a rocking horses photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Handwritten on the back of this cabinet card photo: "Roy Peiffer, cousin. Born about 1905." (If the name and date are correct, then this may be Roy Peiffer , 1905-1990.) Photographer: "Strunk, cabinet portraits, 730 Penn St., Reading, Pa." I've been planning all week to use this photo as my rocking horse. On Flickr, I found a similar photo that's titled "The Rocking Horse Winner" - circa 1890 Cabinet Card . It's from the same studio and shows a little boy standing beside the same horse. I was surprised and disappointed, however, when I did some more searching yesterday and discovered another cabinet photo with the horse that's for sale on a military antiques Web site. Unlike my photo and the one on Flickr, the third photo on the antiques site clearly reveals that the horse is standing on a wooden base with four wheels--there are no rockers. Since I won't have a chance to get another photo ready to post before the end of the week, I'll have to throw myself on the mercy of the court and ask the indulgence of my fellow Theme Parkers. If anyone objects to my submission of a wheeled--rather than a rocking--horse for this week's theme, I'll gladly withdraw it.

"A Joyous Thanksgiving." Postcard addressed to Miss Gertrude Blank, R.F.D. No. 1, Baden, Pa., and postmarked Allegheny, Pa., Nov. 19, 1909. Message: "Wishing you a happy Thanksgiving Day, Edna." This sure looks like a Halloween card rather than one for Thanksgiving, but I couldn't locate any versions with Halloween greetings. For another suspiciously Halloween-like Thanksgiving postcard, see Thanksgiving Greetings :

The humor of this postcard may not be evident to us today, but when it was published in the early twentieth century the poem that it refers to— Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight —was well known. It tells the story of a brave woman who prevents a bell from ringing in order to stop the planned execution of her lover (Wikipedia provides a synopsis and reprints the entire poem in case you're interested in the details). So—as the original recipient of a postcard like this would have realized—it's ludicrous to compare a woman's heroic efforts to spare her lover's life with a boy's attempt to stop the ax from turning his pet turkey into Thanksgiving dinner. To top things off, the kid's wide-eyed expression and wild gesticulations (as if he's reciting a dramatic poem!) makes the situation seem even more absurd.

Handwritten note on the back of this cabinet photo: "Sister Annie's. Martin - Samuel Heffner (twins)." Photo studio: "J. D. Strunk, 730 Penn St., Reading, Pa."

Wikipedia's text messaging article provides a detailed history of texting. Although there were antecedents-- telex in 1933, ALOHAnet in 1971, and even wireless telegraphy in the nineteenth century--it wasn't until 1995 that Sprint Spectrum introduced the first modern text messaging service (SMS, or Short Messaging Service) in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland. I think that this chronology will have to be revised, however, since I'm pretty sure that this old photo shows a kid texting away on his phone while his brother and mother wait for him to finish. Unfortunately, the picture isn't dated, but since the boys are wearing knickerbockers . I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it was taken as early as the 1910s or 1920s. I wonder if any other texting photos from the early twentieth century have survived.