Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: cupids

"Aim Straight. A. Lanborn." Cupid is aiming straight for the heart in the illustration on this nineteenth-century sentiment card .

"May love light your Hallow-e'en lantern! H.B.G." A Halloween postcard illustrated by H. B. Griggs (H.B.G.). For another Griggs card, see Have a Devilishly Happy Halloween .

"Reward of Merit presented to Oliver K. Ott, by William C. Weiss, teacher. An honorable testimony of approbation for industry, punctuality, & good conduct." Probably the same Oliver K. Ott (1860-1944) who's listed on Find A Grave.

Although this postcard--with a postmark dated February 13, 1911--is intended to convey a patriotic sentiment, the idea of Cupid kneeling down and holding up what appears to be a still-steaming heart makes it feel too much like a sacrificial offering to me. To My Valentine To the banner above I surrender with glee, My heart and my love; Dearest Sweetheart for thee.

"Roberts & Co., leading clothiers, 'glass front,' 797 Broad St., Newark, N.J. Copyright 1883 by J. H. Bufford's Sons." A winged Cupid, who's wearing a shirt but no pants, waits patiently as two women use needles and thread to mend a gigantic pair of pants. Although pants seem to be an appropriate item to feature in an advertising trade card for a clothing store like Roberts & Co. (whose glass store front was apparently a selling point), I'm not sure why they're so huge or how Cupid is going to wear them. Perhaps this is just a silly scene intended to amuse the children who would paste cards like this in their scrapbooks in the late nineteenth century.

A Valentine's Day postcard dated 1909 on the front and postmarked Burlington, Vt., Feb. 13, 1911, on the back. Cupids play football with hearts, as we see here (above), but they also use them in bowling (below). And, of course, cupids need to maintain their stock of hearts, which may require sweeping, netting, weighing, and mending, as we can see in this selection of early twentieth-century postcards (below).

Postmark on the back of this postcard: Worcester, Mass., Oct. 30, 1909. Addressed to: Miss Ora Bickford, New Gloucester, Maine, R.F.D. no. 1. Message: "With best wishes for a happy Hallowe'en. Love, Elva." "A formerly widespread tradition held that young women gazing into a mirror in a darkened room (often on Halloween) could catch a glimpse of their future husband's face in the mirror--or a skull personifying Death if their fate was to die before they married." This explanation of what the women in this postcard is doing appears in Wikipedia's article on scrying , which is defined as "the practice of looking into a translucent ball or other material with the belief that things can be seen, such as spiritual visions, and less often for purposes of divination or fortune-telling." Cupid's presence in this postcard is somewhat puzzling, but the publisher, L. R. Conwell, also included Cupid in at least one other Halloween postcard. See The Joys of Halloween Be Yours . See below for additional examples of early twentieth-century postcards that depict mirror-gazing and other Halloween fortune-telling activities.

An owl and a bat flap their wings through the nighttime sky as Cupid stands on a cloud and contemplates whether to shoot an arrow at the full moon, where a witch has replaced the Man in the Moon. I can't help but wonder whether L. R. Conwell, the publisher of this 1909 postcard, recycled a Valentine's Day card to compose this perplexing scene, but a search for other Cupid cards didn't uncover any similar postcards. Conwell also featured Cupid in at least one other Halloween postcard. See Wishing You a Lucky Halloween :

"Philadelphia Carnival, Easter Monday night, April 18th, 1881, at the Academy of Music. A. M. J. Mueller, del. J. H. Camp, litho." An elaborate trade card announcing the Philadelphia Carnival, which was held at the Academy of Music on the day after Easter in 1881.

To My Matchless Valentine Cupid's Matches. Warranted to kindle love's flame. Strike here. Tho' you may have set these all alight, My heart is safe you know; For that has been aflame for you Sweetheart, long long ago. -------- Miss Violet Glossenger, Cortez, Pa. Hello Violet, Your postal received and I thought I would answer it being so near to "Valentines Day." Have you had any sleighing over there? We have had a little bit. Well goodbye from that rascal of a Milton C.

"Reward of Merit for Punctuality, Industry, and Good Conduct presented to Mary Geller by Virginia Fair, teacher." With an illustration of a U.S. Civil War soldier in the middle panel.

"Wishing You a Happy New Year, J. P. Baker, Trav. Ag't, Harrisburg, Pa. Buckeye. 1895. 1896. Buckeye. J. H. Trezise, 1125-27 N. Third St., H'b'g." This is a unique photographic New Year greeting that depicts Father Time--carrying an old-fashioned scythe and designated as "1895"--worriedly running away from an overdressed gent who's uttering the word "Buckeye" as he tips his hat and rides atop a newfangled "1896" mechanical reaping machine pulled by a bevy of Cupid-like putti . The inset to the right of this imaginative scene is a photo of "J. P. Baker," who's identified as a traveling agent (salesman) from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Dressed in a hat, cravat, vest, and suit coat, Baker appears to be the model for the gussied-up guy riding the reaper. Although I haven't uncovered any specific information regarding J. P. Baker, I suspect that he may have worked for Aultman, Miller & Co., manufacturer of Buckeye Harvesting Machinery, which had an office at 625 Walnut Street in Harrisburg, according to Boyd's Directory of Harrisburg and Steelton for 1895. The company sold a variety of agricultural equipment for mowing, reaping, threshing, and other tasks (to see a fascinating early silent film clip of a Buckeye machine in operation in Australia, take a look at Wheat Harvesting with Reaper and Binder -1899 ). J. P. Baker evidently used this photograph to wish a happy New Year to his friends and business associates and to promote himself and his Buckeye machines to customers.

"A Happy New Year. Haddocks. Come to your milk now." A Victorian-era New Year calling or greeting card with a hand-drawn sketch. "Come to your milk" seems to have had a specific meaning in the nineteenth century beyond pulling on a calf's tail to try to get it to drink out of a milk bucket. Besides a few hits on the phrase in Google Books, however, I haven't uncovered any source that reveals what that meaning might have been.

"Grand Social Banquet at the Central House, City of Nashua, N.H., on Thursday, March 15, 1860. Cards of admission, two dollars. Tickets, $2.00. 18155."

"B. Fürth, Vienna. Made in Austria." Cupid uses a spyglass to peer down from his hot air balloon on this matchbox label.

"Independent Order of Cadets of Temperance. We educate to love truth & temperance. This is to certify that ________ is a member in regular standing in ________ sect., no. ____, I.O. of C.T. ________ G. ________, 18____. Elliott, printer, cor. 4th & New, below Vine." For a similar membership card, see Theodore K. Young, Independent Order of Cadets of Temperance, 1858 .

"Independent Order of Cadets of Temperance. We educate to love truth & temperance. This is to certify that Theodore K. Young is a member in regular standing in Crystal Fount Sect. No. 15, I.O. of C.T. Geo. King, G. Sep. 15th 1858." For a similar membership card, see Independent Order of Cadets of Temperance .