Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: bartenders

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.

Posted as an "interiors" photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park group. The bartender with a stogie in his right hand, the well-worn surface of the bar, and the spindly looking bar stools initially attracted my attention to this photo, which the dealer's label described as a Lenhartsville, Pennsylvania, bar interior. What made me decide to purchase it, however, was the wide array of items visible on the shelves and walls behind the bar. Old photos can be windows to the past, and it's fun to look through them to see what they reveal. In this bar scene, I first noticed the advertising calendars (there are at least four of them), particularly the one featuring U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which is situated just above the bartender's head. After enlarging the image, I discovered that the calendar displays the month of August 1934. A sign partially visible in the upper left-hand section of the photo humorously explains the bar's credit policy--"Credit makes enemies, let's be friends"--and on the shelves below the sign are open boxes of cigars. Some of the cigar brand names include John Hay Junior, Henrietta, Rose-O-Cuba, and Gilbert's Deuces. To the right of the credit sign is an ad for Daeufer's Peerless Beer that depicts a smiling woman, who's holding a glass of beer and saying, "What you like I like." Another copy of this same Daeufer's Beer ad, which additionally claims that the beverage is "Allentown's Favorite," shows up on the far end of the bar near the window, where there's also a display rack with packages of Tas-T-Nut snacks. A different Daeufer's Beer ad appears on the wall to the right of the clock above the far end of the bar. And on the other side of the clock are two framed certificates, one of which includes the year (1934) printed in large numerals. Below the certificates is an ad for Camel cigarettes. Back over at the cash register (behind the bartender) is a second ad for Camels, and hanging on the mirror above the cash register is yet another ad for Daeufer's Beer, along with a sign that suggests, "Try our delicious sandwiches." To cap off a night of smoking, drinking, and sandwich eating, patrons of this establishment could indulge in some of the candy displayed in open boxes in the far corner behind the bar, just above what appear to be two beer taps. Milky Way, Mr. Goodbar, and Zero candy bars as well as boxes of Cracker Jacks and packages of Beech-Nut Gum were available. For a closer look at the area behind the bar, see the cropped version of this photo (thumbnail image below).

A photo of hands on hips for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. (For an entire group devoted to this theme, see Just Put Your Hands On Your Hips .) This novelty photo features such detailed cowboy costumes--including hats, vests, bandanas, chaps, wrist cuffs, gun belts, and revolvers--that it must have taken these fellows a good while to suit up. The signs in the background of this real photo postcard are difficult to read. Two of them are: "Leave your horse outside, also the bull." "Safety first?"

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 .

A real photo postcard from 1937. For similar real photo souvenir postcards, see Fireman Save My Child, Sloppy Joe's Bar, Havana, Cuba and Shenanigans at Sloppy Joe's Bar, Havana, Cuba .