Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: wedding rings

"First Pick. O. L. Schwencke, lith., N.Y." A cigar box label printed by O. L. Schwencke. Notice how a box featuring this label appears within the design of the label itself. This recursive picture-within-a-picture is called the Droste effect , which is named after the Droste cacao tin that featured an illustration of a nun holding the tin.

This early postcard evidently depicts the custom associated with barmbrack , which is a cake "traditionally served in Ireland on Halloween, in which symbolic objects (a ring, for example) have been baked." Wikipedia provides additional details: " Barmbrack is the centre of an Irish Halloween custom. The Halloween Brack traditionally contained various objects baked into the bread and was used as a sort of fortune-telling game. In the barnbrack were: a pea, a stick, a piece of cloth, a small coin (originally a silver sixpence) and a ring. Each item, when received in the slice, was supposed to carry a meaning to the person concerned: the pea, the person would not marry that year; the stick, would have an unhappy marriage or continually be in disputes; the cloth or rag, would have bad luck or be poor; the coin, would enjoy good fortune or be rich; and the ring, would be wed within the year."