Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: drinking

"A heart and a hand, / All thy own to the last. Th. Moore." Postmarked in Ellicottville, N.Y., March 16, 1909. The couplet on this postcard is from a poem, "Come, Rest in This Bosom," by the Irish poet Thomas Moore .

"Going Some! The Hum-dinger of Seattle." Written on the back of this real photo postcard: "May 6, 1913 in Seattle, Wash. To Bro. John" A studio photo depicting what appears to be alcohol-fueled nautical maneuvering in the vicinity of Seattle, Washington. Judging by a similar Hum-dinger photograph that's part of the Seattle Photograph Collection at the University of Washington Libraries, this photo came from the Joy Parlor Studio, which billed itself as "the home of the cowboy post cards" and was located at 207 2nd South in Seattle. For an uncropped copy of the photo postcard, see Going Some with the Humdinger of Seattle! (Full Version) .

For more information, see the cropped version of this real photo postcard.

A Prohibition-era comic postcard that depicts a man dreaming about a change to the Volstead Act that would allow the sale of beer and create work—and prosperity—for brewers, farmers, and other laborers. As Wikipedia explains, the Volstead Act "was enacted to carry out the intent of the Eighteenth Amendment , which established prohibition in the United States " and banned the production and sale of alcoholic beverages beginning in 1920. Prohibition lasted until 1933, when the Twenty-first Amendment was ratified in order to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment. Franklin Delano Roosevelt used " Happy Days Are Here Again " as his presidential campaign song in 1932, and the repeal of Prohibition took place soon after Roosevelt took office. Signs and captions: "Free lunch today. Good old time lager beer. Free beer tomorrow. Happy days are here again." Dream of Prosperity Last night I dreamed that the Volstead law had been amended permitting the sale of beer (Oh! what a grand and glorious feeling!). Immediately 100,000 carpenters, bricklayers, and laborers went to work building and refitting breweries; 50,000 brewery truck drivers, helpers, vatmen, and coppersmiths were hired; and 100,000 printers were put to work printing beer labels. Bottle works and barrel makers engaged thousands more. Bookkeepers, stenographers, clerks, and salesmen found ready employment by the hundreds of thousands. Thousands of farmers left the city and returned to farms to raise hops and barley. 150,000 musicians went to work in the beer gardens. There was no unemployment. The country hummed with industry. The tax secured from the sale of beer was placed in a fund that was used for an old age pension. Then the scene changed–I saw 1,000,000 bootleggers holding a protest meeting. Disgusted, I then awoke.

"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.

One in a series of patriotic Thanksgiving postcards depicting various diners at flag-draped tables. For another example, see Thanksgiving for Our Army and Navy Forever (below).

Printed on the back of this postcard: "Th. E., L. Theochrom-Serie No. 1210|6. Printed in Germany." Postmarked Baltimore, Md., Apr. 7, 1910, and addressed to Miss Ella Killinger, Mongul, Franklin Co., Pa. Handwritten message: "How is your five o'clock beau. Just the same I guess. With love to all and from the girls. Our address is 2334 E. Monument St., Balto., Md. From Ellen Truer." Anyone know what a "five o'clock beau" might refer to? A boyfriend that you only see after work perhaps?

"The wee bit of shamrock we all love so well. Erin's Isle." Printed on the back of this postcard: "Raphael Tuck & Sons' Post Card Series No. 157 The Emerald Isle." Postmarked Portland, Maine, March 15, 1914, and addressed to Mr. Cou M. McCarthy, Tunnel, Broome County, N.Y. Handwritten message: "3-15-14. Dear Friend, I received your welcome letter and I will write to you in a few days. Alex Gibson."

I'm not sure what to make of this strange vintage postcard. Perhaps it's delivering a message about drinking and driving, or possibly there's a moral about hifalutin folks who party too much hidden in there somewhere. Or maybe it's just showing us something similar to a Batmobile, only with a skull. 8-)

Hey, buddy, quit shaking that bottle and get your hand off of that gal's waist! And wipe that grin off your face, too! Your shenanigans have startled that poor lady, and now her lovely visage is blurred. Nice going, pal! Sloppy Joe's is a classy bar. Try and take some pointers from these other folks on how to act when your picture's being taken!

Signed by (or noted as coming from) "Grandma" on the front and back, and addressed to "Miss Alma Seasholtz, Red Hill," although there isn't any stamp or postmark. "Serie 319" printed on the back of the card.

A playing cards and board games photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A scary scene during a card game! The four young men pictured in this real photo postcard have obviously been playing all evening. One of them is holding a bottle of Tokay wine, and we can see that a tobacco pipe, playing cards, and various coins and bills are strewn across the table (mouse over the image above for a close-up view of the table ). The guy on the left with the unruly hair is staring intently at the one on the right, who has drawn a gun and seems to be trying not to laugh. The two other fellows, however, haven't even noticed the gun. Perhaps the guy with the gun is angry because he suspects that one of his friends has been cheating, or maybe he's just upset that the print hanging on the wall behind him is starting to fall down. Judging by the humorous poem that's written on the other side of this photo postcard (see below), it's doubtful that any gunplay ever took place. Instead, considering that we can see a bed on the right-hand side of the photo and a dresser piled with books on the other side, it seems likely that these lads are simply students in a dorm room or apartment posing for an amusing photo of a card game gone wrong. -------- Handwritten poem on the other side of this real photo postcard (note: "out of chine" seems to mean "out of alignment" or "out of sync" in this context): Perhaps we had a big old time And maybe it was a spree But really I don't know What actually did happen to me. I only know my poor intellect Was most awful out of chine And I longed for just one drink of--- Well it wasn't wine. L. Messersmith, Fairmont, Minn.

A paper moon photo for the theme of photographic tricks and amusements during the free-for-all week of Wild Card Month in the Vintage Photos Theme Park. See also the full version of this real photo postcard.

See also the cropped version of this real photo postcard.

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."

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of smiling faces of yesteryear (photos of smiling people, based on the Flickr group of the same name) . "Memento of the world-famous Bavarian evenings at the Café Bauer, Garmisch." Stamped on the back of this real photo postcard: "Foto Franz, 81 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Kainzenbadstr. 26, Tel. 3202. Erinnerung an die weltbekannten Bayerischen Abende im Café Bauer, Garmisch."

A tipsy or drunk photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A souvenir real photo postcard presumably from Tijuana ( not "Tiajuana" with its extra "a"), Mexico, shows three intrepid travelers--all holding bottles--posing in front of a painted backdrop of a Pullman railroad car . Although this was obviously staged in a photo studio, something about the giddy expressions on their faces (especially those of the man on the right-hand side and the woman) suggests to me that they may actually have been imbibing before the photo was taken.

From what I've been able to figure out, "Fireman, save my child" seems to be a hackneyed theatrical line originally featured in nineteenth-century melodramas and then reused later as a humorous catchphrase in various media, including as the title of separate films--all comedies--released in 1918 , 1927 , 1932 , and 1954 . "Fireman, save my child" appears here as a hand-held sign, along with a variety of hats, a firefighters's helmet (worn by the man standing behind the barrel of Scotch ale), and other amusing props For similar real photo souvenir postcards, see Sloppy Joe's Bar, Havana, Cuba, 1937 and Shenanigans at Sloppy Joe's Bar, Havana, Cuba .