Strange and Unusual

A rather faded trick photo that uses a double exposure to show a man simultaneously pushing and riding a wheelbarrow. Not to be confused with A Woman Pulling Herself on a Wagon . 8-) For another similar trick photo, see A Man Simultaneously Pushing and Riding a Wheelbarrow .

A real photo postcard consisting of a trick photo that uses a double exposure to show a woman simultaneously pulling and riding a wagon. Notice the ghost shafts at the front of the wagon that fade and disappear (they're located behind the woman and below the shafts she's holding). The doppelgänger riding the wagon is pretending to hold the reins (with what looks like a stick with attached string in her right hand). Not to be confused with A Man Pushing Himself on a Wheelbarrow . 8-) For another similar trick photo, see A Man Simultaneously Pushing and Riding a Wheelbarrow .

A real photo postcard showing a picnic scene with a ghostly double exposure.

Strangely out-of-focus, bow-bedecked, unsmiling girls, awkwardly holding hands, surrounded by trees and fallen leaves, with a puzzling misty whiteness visible beyond the trees. Yikes!

Something "mysterious" for the the Vintage Photos Theme Park . This photo was identified as a " spirit photograph " when I bought it at an antique co-op in 1994. Handwritten on the back of the photo is the following: "Camp Silver Bell, Mountain Springs Hotel, Ephrata, Pa." Camp Silver Belle was a Spiritualist group founded by Ethel Post-Parrish , a medium whose Indian spirit guide was named Silver Belle. The group held lectures and meetings at the Mountain Springs Hotel in Ephrata, Pa., and published a schedule of programs as late as 1976 (see Silver Belle Presents Lecturers, Teachers, World-Famous Psychics, 1976 ). Eventually, however, the group became inactive, and the hotel fell into disrepair. Today, the facade of the old hotel remains , but the rest of the hotel site was demolished in 2004 to make way for a Hampton Inn hotel and an Applebee's restaurant. So what is that strange haziness hovering above the audience? An ectoplasmic manifestation from another spiritual realm? Hokum conjured up by sleight of hand and camera? Or just an odd yet coincidental defect in the film or developing?

"Silver Belle, Ephrata, Penna. Nationally renowned. 1932-1976. Ephrata Mountain Springs, Lancaster Co., Pa. Historically famous, 1753-1976. Silver Belle Association presents an outstanding array of internationally known lecturers, teachers, world famous psychics." For information about Camp Silver Belle, a Spiritualist group, see Spirit Photo, Camp Silver Belle, Mountain Springs Hotel, Ephrata, Pa.

Getting ahead among the roots and rocks. The dealer from whom I purchased this photo speculated that it may have been taken at Devil's Den or some other rocky area on the Gettysburg Battlefield in Adams County, Pennsylvania, but I have not been able to confirm this.

A flaw in this real photo postcard makes it look like a lightning bolt--or some other strange light from above?!--has singled out this little girl, who for some inexplicable reason seems to be sitting by herself on a chair in the middle of a field.

A souvenir photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park . The souvenir photo category is a favorite of mine, and two of my previous theme park submissions happened to be souvenir photos (see Two Woman Posing for a Boardwalk Souvenir, Atlantic City, N.J. and High over Zurich, Sept. 22, 1910 ). This souvenir real photo postcard shows a man wearing a fez and riding an ostrich at the Cawston Ostrich Farm in South Pasadena, California, sometime in the early part of the twentieth century. The logo on the fez, consisting of a scimitar, crescent, and star, identifies the man as a member of the Shriners . The letters "RAJ" are barely visible above the logo and indicate that he belonged to the Rajah Temple , which was a local Shriners' chapter based in Reading, Pennsylvania, at the time this photo was taken. For another example of a souvenir photo from the Cawston Ostrich Farm, see ricksoloway's f_cawstonostrichfarm photo on Flickr.

A real photo postcard showing some funny fellows using a fake cannon in mock combat.

I'm not sure what to make of this scene. A man and woman are posing with three sculptural pieces in the shapes of a boy, a woman, and a man. The sign above the boy says, "Hey, mom, is that guy Rip Van Winkle?" The mom replies, according to the second sign, "Yeah, and look at his wrinkled wink." Unfortunately, the third sign is only partially visibile, and I can't determine what it says. The guy with the wrinkled wink who turned out to be Rip Van Winkle is reading a book entitled Love Stories , and the cover of the book also says, "For the love of Mike." Inscribed on part of the stump just below Rip is the name "Ben Funk." Does any of this ring a bell with anyone?

Oh, how awkward! Looks like Elmer's making a spectacle of himself again! He's perched on top of a bear pull toy, leaning over a container of flowers, and holding a stuffed bunny rabbit and a bear. Lord knows what he has draped over his head. Please, Elmer, leave the kids' toys alone and just grow up! (Awkwardly posted to the Vintage Photos Theme Park for the week of August 19-25, 2013.)

A real photo postcard showing two guys, two dolls, and a donkey.

Posted for "Smoking" theme week in the Vintage Photos Theme Park group. The man in the middle of the photo is smoking, and I just hope he doesn't burst into flames! 8-) Actually, I suspect that this photo shows a group of teachers or chemists (notice the bottles of what may be chemicals on the shelves at the back of the room, and is that a periodic table chart hanging on the wall at right?) hamming it up for the camera in a school or workplace.

"Dreamland at Legat Garden. Boudnek Photo. 58." This "Dreamland" castle was constructed in the 1920s by a man named John Legat as part of a garden in Fox River Grove, Illinois, that also included a wishing well, windmill, and fountain. Legat, who was married to the town's doctor, gave tours of his garden and sold postcard views of it (including, possibly, this one). Legat's land was later turned into building lots, and the garden gave way to a neighborhood of houses. Some of Legat's structures--including the castle--still remain, although they're in a state of disrepair. Check out Google Maps for a current view of the castle, which is located in a front yard at the corner of Grove and Lincoln avenues in Fox River Grove. For additional information, see the article, " Fox River Grove’s Other Castle ," which was originally published in the Northwest Herald , June 7, 2011. (The title of the article refers to another castle that's a full-size residence known as Castle Vianden or Bettendorf Castle; see the Wikipedia entry for Fox River Grove, Illinois , which provides a brief history and photo of this second castle.)

For an enlarged view of the structure , mouse over the image above. I didn't quite know what to make of this snapshot when I purchased it. The photo is dated July 1956 and shows a haphazardly constructed structure of some sort, with discarded tires, odd lengths of wood, and unidentifiable pieces of metal. A strangely shaped homemade bench stands on one side of what looks like an entrance, and a couple of steer skulls stand guard on the other side. I thought that it might be the entrance to a junkyard. A number of handmade signs appear on the structure. One sign warns, "Posted, Keep Out," and right below it is another that says, "Welcome." I spotted yet another sign with a religious message--"Do You Believe in Jesus, Thank You"--and then I noticed a pair of signs that simply say, "Sykes Ranch." Could that be the name of the junkyard? After numerous Google searches, I found a March 3, 2011, blog posting by Vance Lauderdale that described " Stephen Sykes and His 'In-Curiosity' House ." It turns our that the owner of Sykes Ranch was "a remarkable fellow named Stephen Sykes, who constructed an absolutely amazing folk-art house / junk pile / art creation outside Aberdeen, Mississippi, in the 1950s that he called 'In-Curiosity.'" Despite the Sykes Ranch signs in the photo, the structure was referred to as "In-Curiosity" by Sykes or sometimes just "Curiosity" by others, as Lauderdale recounts in his blog posting and in a Very Curious column that he wrote for Memphis Magazine , February 2011. Lauderdale also located an earlier article, " Do It Yourself 'Skyscraper' ," in Ebony magazine, March 1963, pp. 75-78, that described Stephen Sykes as "a 69-year-old bachelor with a driving amibition to rise above his fellow man." Sykes, an African-American veteran of World War I, began building In-Curiosity, which he used as a residence, in the early 1950s on family-owned land located along U.S. Route 45 near Aberdeen, Mississippi. Lauderdale heard that Stephen Sykes passed away sometime in the 1960s, and he assumed that all traces of In-Curiosity vanished when Route 45 was later widened. "But Sykes and his amazing creation," Lauderdale fittingly said, "live on in the memories of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of travelers in this area, and in grainy home movies and snapshots tucked away in boxes and scrapbooks." -------- For additional views of In-Curiosity, photos of Stephen Sykes, and further information regarding the maker and his house, check out Vance Laureldale's writings and the Ebony article: Vance Lauderdale. Very Curious column. Memphis Magazine , February 2011. Vance Lauderdale. " Stephen Sykes and His 'In-Curiosity' House ." Ask Vance , March 3, 2011. " Do It Yourself 'Skyscraper' ." Ebony , March 1963, pp. 75-78.