Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: carts

For more information, see the original photo :

Mister Peabody , the cartoon dog in the Rocky and Bullwinkle TV show , wore eyeglasses, and Addison MacHenry, the fictional dog in Ransom Riggs's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children book series, had goggles and a pipe, but I'm not sure why the dogs in this real photo postcard are wearing glasses and a top hat, smoking pipes, and pulling a cart (mouse over the image above for a closer look ). And then there's the girl with the spinning wheel. What are these kids up to?

A postcard addressed to W. F. Esling, 26 The Grange, Beccles, and postmarked Colchester, July 16, 1908. Has this gentleman arrived your way yet? Handwritten message on the other side: "Dear Fred, Has this gentleman arrived your way yet? He was in Col. a day or two ago. I don't think he will manage it, do you? Thanks for nice P.C. I don't know where we are going at L-- yet but will let you have address, that is, if you like. I am looking forward to going. Yrs., Edith. Going to Ipo. on Thurs. to have photo taken." So who was this gentleman that Edith wrote about, and why was he traveling around England in 1908? Furthermore, why was he wearing a helmet and pushing a baby carriage with a "Walking Round the World" sign? After some searching, I found that the man's name was Harry Bensley , and he had to walk around the world to fulfill a bet that he lost. It required him to wear an iron mask (a helmet from a suit of armor) to conceal his identity, and he also had to push a perambulator (baby carriage) throughout his travels. He called himself "The Man with the Iron Mask" (inspired by the seventeenth-century Man in the Iron Mask ), and the only way he could support himself during his journey was by selling postcards and pamphlets (see my gallery showing some of his other postcards that appear on Flickr). I don't think he will manage it, do you? In her message on the postcard, Edith expressed doubt that the gentleman would manage to complete his walk, and her suspicions were well founded. Newspaper accounts provide documentation that Bensley did travel through part of England in 1908 (see Tim Kirby's Research for an impressive Google Map that traces his route). Some sources claim that he continued walking through other countries for the next six years, stopping only when World War I began in 1914 (see the Official Story ), but there doesn't seem to be corroborating evidence for this. In any case, it's clear that he did not "walk round the world" to meet the terms of his bet. All bets are off! In fact, it turns out that there wasn't even a bet! Bensley made the whole thing up! See, for example, Harry Bensley - Man in the Iron Mask: Hoax , a posting on the Big Retort blog. It reproduces an article, "The Great Masked Man Hoax: The True Story of an Astounding Fraud," which appeared in Answers magazine, December 19, 1908. The article is written in the first person but doesn't identify the Masked Man as Harry Bensley. If Bentley was the Masked Man in the article and if we can believe this story, then we learn that Bentley concocted his scheme in 1907 while he was in prison. He set off on his journey on January 1, 1908, and immediately received newspaper publicity about his walk and the alleged bet. His main motivation, as far as I can figure, was to earn money from the sale of his postcards and pamphlets. He kept up the ruse for ten months, claiming that he traveled 2,400 miles while pushing a heavy perambulator and wearing an uncomfortable helmet the entire time. For additional details about the whole strange affair, see Iron Mask: The Story of Harry Bensley's "Walking Round the World" Hoax (Bear Alley Books, 2018), a brief, unpaginated book by Steve Holland. Other walking wagers? While looking for information about Harry Bensley, I came across EastMarple1's Flickr photo of John Clark of Douglas, Isle of Man alias "Marcello The Walking King," 1905 , who "alleged that he was walking around the world in 1905 for a wager of £1,000." That makes me wonder whether there were other travelers besides Bensley and Clark who said they were walking for similar reasons, real or imagined.

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

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

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park showing how there's one in every crowd (a group of people posing with one silly/goofy person who throws the whole photo off, i.e.: sticking out tongue, bunny ears behind the head, etc.) . Oh, how nice! The carpenters and other workmen in this real photo postcard are posing with saws, hammers, and other tools to demonstrate how hard they've been working on the renovation of this house! But wait a second! One guy is lying down on the job!

Handwritten caption: "Kathryn Keen & mother." Kathryn's mother, who's standing in the background and appears to be shaking a piece of carpet, is peering over at her daughter as the photographer takes the picture.

"John E. Kaughran & Co. Importers, Jobbers, & Retailers, Dry Goods, 767 & 769 Broadway. Cor. Ninth St. New York. John E. Kaughran, Jacob Rice, Thos. F. Kaughran. Presented by ________." For the other side of this advertising trade card, see J. E. Kaughran, New York :

"J. E. Kaughran & Co., 767 & 769 Broadway, New York. M. Heminway & Sons, Sublime Quality, Warranted, 100 yds. Manufactory, Watertown, Conn. Established 1849." In this nineteenth-century advertising trade card, Uncle Sam is running rampant with his goat cart, which is constructed with oversized spools of thread, while a foot-juggler performs with a ball on the back of the cart. For the other side of this card, see John E. Kaughran, Dry Goods, New York :

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of odd backdrops or backgrounds . A souvenir real photo postcard from " Happy Hollow " (McLeod's Amusement Park), which was located in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Some of the signs and labels visible in the photo are: "Gambling room down stares. No drinks served." "Wild cat mine for sail chepe." "Don't ask for no darn fool dude drinks." "Old Crow, 2 bits a drink." "Wite mule, 2 bits per drink, good stuff." "Ky. booze XXX." "Pabst Blue Ribbon on drought." "Shiref's offis." "Tanglefoot strate, 2 bits." "Pabst Blue Ribbon, the beer of quality." "On a slow train through Arkansas."

"To my valentine."

"How we do things at Ephrata, Pa." Wisconsin photographer Alfred Stanley Johnson, Jr., reused these same onions in another tall-tale postcard that he entitled Onions (below).

"Easter, 1888. Compliments of Shaub & Burns, the shoe dealers, 14 North Queen St., Lancaster, Pa. The best makes of shoes a specialty. Common, medium, and finest. The largest assortment in the city. Your trade respectfully solicited." A Victorian-era advertising trade card dating to 1888.