Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: plumbing

This "Mule Barometer" joke (sometimes also called a "Burrometer") has a long history and has appeared in many different printed versions (often with a more dramatic condition like "If tail is gone--Tornado" as the punchline). Although it's frequently published as a postcard, this example is actually an advertising card printed for the Central Brass Manufacturing Company, which has been in existence since 1895 and still continues to manufacture brass faucets and fixtures. Today, the Mule Barometer gag regularly reappears as a " weather rock ," which is--as Wikipedia interprets it--"a humor display that pokes fun at the intricate technology used in modern weather forecasts, as well as the fact that their accuracy is less than perfect. A rock is typically hung from a tripod and accompanied by a sign indicating how to read it." -------- Mule Barometer Directions: Hang outside. If tail is dry--Fair. If tail is wet--Rain If tail is swinging--Windy. If tail is wet and swinging--Stormy. If tail is frozen--Cold. Further information upon request. There is no kick coming to those who use the highest grade brass goods for plumbing and water works made by the Central Brass Mfg. Co.

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 .