Animals in Vintage Photos

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of number(s) in a photo . Printed on the other side of this real photo postcard: "The Automatic Vaudeville Co. , 9 Tremont Row, 634 Washington St., Boston, Mass." The "23" on the one fellow's hat is a reference to the "23 skidoo" fad that became popular in the United States beginning in 1906 or 1907. Back then, telling someone "23 skidoo" meant "scram" or "beat it," and using "23" in an unexpected place like this was a way to let others in on the joke. For another example of "23" used in a photo for humorous effect, see Too Many Places to Go and Too Much to See .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of down on the corner, out on the street (people on the sidewalk or in the street) . Caption: "Middletown Fire, Apr. 9, 1910." This is a real photo postcard of a man walking down the street past the burned-out shells of buildings in Middletown , Pennsylvania. A fire on Saturday, April 9, 1910, decimated the town, destroying 75 commercial buildings and residences in a four-block area of the business district. Notice the dog that's following along behind the man. On the right-hand side of the photo, a second dog is walking past a barrel at the side of the street. Visible in the distance beyond the man, a crowd of people -- probably sightseers -- has gathered in the street.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of something fishy (fishing or fish) . This is an unused real photo postcard showing two men posing with a big fish. The name "Harry Kehn" is written on the front, and "Florida" is penciled in on the back. The Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) on the other side suggests a date that may be as early as 1904 to 1918. For a similar photo, see Sailfish Caught on Yacht Skip Jack, Floridian Hotel Dock, Miami Beach, Florida .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of barns, barnyards, and barnyard animals . This is a real photo postcard of a man and woman posing outside a barn with a cow and the cow's twin calves. The photographer's shadow fell across the woman and one of the calves. The postcard is unused with a divided back, but there's no stamp box or other details on the other side to help determine when or where the photo was taken. It's likely, however, that the image dates to the late 1900s or 1910s, and the location may be somewhere in Pennsylvania. For some comparable photos, see Fancy Cow and Calf and Triplet Calves, Rooks County, Kansas .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of birds (wild or domesticated) . Four women pose among the pigeons in the Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square) in Venice, Italy, probably sometime in the 1920s. There's no stamp, postmark, or address on the other side of this real photo postcard, but one of the women wrote this message: "Yes, Lucy actually said we ought have her picture taken in this plebeian manner. The pigeons annoyed and scared us but otherwise we are perfectly happy." Printed on the other side: "Cartolina Postale" (Italian for "postcard") with a "Satrap" stamp box.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of hat in hand . Five fellows pose for a photo on a sunny day. The right side of the image is a bit washed out due to the bright light, but it's evident that the man on the end is holding a straw hat in his hand. What may not be obvious at first glance, however, is that the man in the middle is balancing a mounted deer head against his leg as he holds on to it with both hands. There's no address, message, or postmark on the other side of this unused real photo postcard. The type of Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) printed on it suggests a date that may be as early as 1904 to 1918. Although animal head taxidermy mounts seem a little macabre to me, I do have two other similar photos. See A Man and His Deer Head and A Man and His Moosehead Bier . For another photo with multiple hats in hands, see Bachelor's Club Hats .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of horses, carriages, or wagons . The handwritten message on the other side of this real photo postcard says, "This is our horses Robert & Maud in front of Fulton Miller's house." There's no stamp or postmark, but the card is addressed to "Mr. Glen[n] Lyle , RFD, Brookville, [Pennsylvania], c/o Herbert Lyle." The Velox stamp box (with diamonds in the corners and "Place Stamp Here" in the middle) indicates that it may date to as early as 1907-1917.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of sitting on the sofa . I like the colors and patterns in this undated photo of a couple and their dog posing for a picture in their living room. Note especially the bright red sofa (with white antimacassars ), the busy design printed on the curtains, and the woman's striped blouse and distinctive eyeglasses. For another unique sitting-on-the-sofa photo, see Easter Bunnies and Baskets .

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 .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of dog behind the wheel (or a canine or feline anywhere in or near a car or other type of vehicle) . The driver in this snapshot is looking at the camera but the dog in the back seat is peering at something more interesting in the opposite direction. There's no date on the photograph, and I haven't been able to determine the make or model of the car.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of blurry motion (someone or something moved as the photo was taken) . A photographer captured this scene along Locust Street in Columbia, Pennsylvania, in 1913. Flags and columns decorated the street and the buildings for the Old Home Week celebration that took place from October 12 to 19 that year. The image captures the hustle and bustle of people and vehicles in the town. The ghostly blur in the middle is a woman walking in the street, and a foot is all that remains of a man moving along the left-hand side. Another blurry man tends to his team of horses next to the sidewalk on the left, and a banner advertising "Oysters in Every Style" is draped across a storefront just beyond the horses. In the distance, a wagon is traveling along the right-hand side of the street, and a streetcar is barely visible beyond the wagon. For better views of the activity in the street, see enlargements of the left-hand side and right-hand side of the photo. To see what the same area looks like today, see the Google Street View of Locust Street . Additional photos taken during Columbia's Old Home Week celebration in 1913 appear in Frederic H. Abendschein's book, Columbia, Marietta, and Wrightsville: Images of America (Arcadia Publishing, 2009), pp. 18-20.

That ghostly blur on the right is a woman walking in the middle of the street, and that foot on the left is all that remains of a man moving along the street. Another blurry man is tending to his team of horses next to the sidewalk, and a banner advertising "Oysters in Every Style" is draped across a storefront just beyond the horses. See also an enlargement of the right-hand side of the photo and the full version of the real photo postcard.

A boy perches precariously on the base of one of the decorative columns as two men stand together along the edge of the street. Just beyond the two men, a horse and carriage have pulled to the side. In the distance, a wagon is traveling along the right-hand side of the street, and a streetcar is barely visible beyond the wagon. See also an enlargement of the left-hand side of the photo and the full version of the real photo postcard.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of tourist attractions (the quirkier the better) . Sign in background: "Dinosaur Land Restaurant and Carry-Out. Gifts." An undated snapshot of a man and woman posing among the inhabitants of Dinosaur Land in White Post, Virginia.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of a barn, farmhouse, or any variety of agricultural building . This is a real photo postcard of a bank barn with a gambrel roof and roof-ridge ventilators . Next to the barn is a sturdy stone silo . There's no name, address, postmark, or stamp box on the other side to indicate where or when the photo was taken. There is, however, a handwritten note that says, "Skin of a diamond rattler from Florida." I had to take a closer look to spot it, but that's apparently the skin of a large eastern diamondback rattlesnake hanging on the gable-end side of the barn.

The skin of a large eastern diamondback rattlesnake hangs from the side of a barn in this detail from a real photo postcard .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of an accident waiting to happen . In this photo, four members of a family are posing in front of a fenced-in area for the chickens. It's a little disconcerting to see that the gun that the boy is holding over his shoulder is pointed directly at the man -- his father? -- standing behind him. The faded quality of the upper portion of the photo makes it difficult to see the faces of the man and two women, giving them an almost ghostly appearance. This is an image from a real photo postcard with no address, message, or stamp on the other side. The Azo stamp box (with two corner triangles pointing up and two pointing down) printed on the verso indicates that the photo may date to as early as 1910 to 1930.