On the Road

A photo of tents, including wigwams, yurts, etc. for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A photo from the early days of automobile camping.

Handwritten on the back of the photo: "1345 14th Street No., St. Petersburg, Florida, Wed. morning, Aug. 19th, 1936. All ready to pull out for home." I'm not sure why the photographer decided to hide in the weeds across the street in order to take the picture.

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 .

One of the dealers at a local antique mall sells a variety of old photos, and I usually find a few interesting images each time I visit. I noticed that the dealer occasionally adds pithy comments--ranging from clever and witty to sarcastic and dark--to the back of some of the photos, and I began watching for these "precaptioned" pics when I looked through the piles of hundreds of unsorted snapshots at his stand. I can't resist the captions that turn out to be interesting or amusing (and sometimes quirky or strange), and I often end up buying the photos, even if they're bent, torn, or taped. I don't know anything about the dealer who conjures up these captions, but perhaps he, too, appreciates a good Far Side or Charles Addams cartoon.

A bicycles photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. For other bike photos and ephemera, see my Bicycles and Tricycles album.

See also Braves Restroom at Wigwam Village Motel No. 2 . I bought these two small and somewhat blurry photos a couple of years ago. They were taken at one of the Wigwam Village Motels designed by Frank Redford, probably motel #2 in Cave City, Kentucky. In this photo (above), a Trading Post sign appears on the small building that's visible between the two teepees. The license plate on the car is 3EP16 but I was unable to determine which state issued the plate. I'm guessing that it was the photographer who left the car door open. The other photo (below) shows the Braves teepee, which was the men's restroom. (Thanks go to john4kc on Flickr for pointing out that the telegraph pole visible near the teepee in the background of this second photo suggests that these photos were probably taken at Wigwam Village Motel #2.)

See also Teepees and Trading Post at Wigwam Village Motel No. 2 . I bought these two small and somewhat blurry photos a couple of years ago. They were taken at one of the Wigwam Village Motels designed by Frank Redford, probably motel #2 in Cave City, Kentucky. (Thanks go to john4kc on Flickr for pointing out that the telegraph pole visible near the teepee in the background of this photo--see above--suggests that this was probably motel #2.) This photo shows the Braves teepee, which was the men's restroom. In the other photo , a Trading Post sign appears on the small building that's visible between the two teepees. The license plate on the car is 3EP16 but I was unable to determine which state issued the plate. I'm guessing that it was the photographer who left the car door open.

Handwritten on the back of the photo: "Bob has his mouth 'opened' as usual. 3/27/38" Stamped on back: "Ritz-y Printz, Mar 28, 1938, 1112 G St., Washington, 16 W. Lexington St., Baltimore, 707 Boardwalk, Atlantic City."

Mouse over the image above to see a close-up of Mr. and Mrs. Geo. W. Davidson . This real photo postcard doesn't bear a stamp or postmark but was addressed to: "Jessie Warner, Croton, Ohio." Handwritten message: "April 10, 1914. Dear Jessie, We wish you many more happy birthdays. Mr. and Mrs. Geo. W. Davidson, Croton." If you have any interest in vintage photos like this that show people posing in front of their homes, please consider joining my new group Vintage House-Proud People . Here are some more examples of this kind of photo:

For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard:

Handwritten on back: "Super Highway near Bedford, Pa."

A 1950s photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. This 1956 photo shows a diner on "Brookline Avenue," as indicated by the pole-mounted street sign that's visible in the center of the photo (mouse over the image above for a close-up view of the diner and the sign). The letters on top of the diner's roof spell out the words "GOOD FOOD," and the name "Federal Diner" is barely legible on a circular sign situated above the entrance at the middle of the building. Four or five men are standing around the cars near the front door of the diner, and they appear to be looking in the direction of the photographer, perhaps waiting for him while he takes the photo. Or maybe they're watching the woman wearing a dress and high heels who's walking past on the sidewalk. This eatery was the "Good Food Federal Diner," formerly located at 410 Brookline Avenue in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. For another 1950s view of this diner, see Good Food Back in the Day on Boston's Universal Hub site.

For more information, see the full version of this photo:

An Ektachrome slide dated June 1971.

Snapshot of an oversized covered wagon (or prairie schooner) and concrete oxen located along the Lincoln Highway in Kearney, Nebraska. For more recent images, see the Giant Vehicles page (scroll down to the "Covered Wagon, Kearney, NE" section) on RoadsideArchitecture.com and a Google Maps Street View of the location.

Slide (probably dating to the 1950s) showing cars parked in front of Watson's Motor Hotel, which was located at 3333 Euclid Avenue (U.S. Route 20), Cleveland, Ohio. Visible in the background is the sign for the Colonial House Motel, 3301 Euclid Avenue. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any trace of either motel on the current Google Maps street view of the area . Main sign: "Watson's Motor Hotel. Restaurant. Elevator. Penthouse suites. Meeting rooms. Air conditioned. AAA approved."