Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: New Year's

A nineteenth-century New Year calling card with a fanciful illustration. In the sky, a man is holding the reins connected to a pair of large birds who are pulling the airship that he and a female passenger are riding in. The initials "A.H.N.Y." on the airship's balloon stand for "A Happy New Year." Down below, a sailor on a ship is waving his hat as he hangs on to a mast next to a large banner that also displays a greeting for "A Happy New Year."

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of eyeglasses, goggles, and other eyewear . "A Happy New Year, Ben. K. Emerson." A New Year's greeting from bespectacled American geologist Benjamin Kendall Emerson (1843-1932). This is an unused real photo postcard with a PMC stamp box (suggesting a date between 1920 and 1935) on the other side. For some other photos with identifiable eyewear, see Spinning a Tale of Dogs in Glasses and Mother and Son with White-Rimmed Sunglasses .

Twenty-four adults and one child posed for this real photo postcard, which was used as a New Year greeting. Handwritten message (at right): "Wishing you all a Happy New Year. Lovingly, Emma." Addressed on the other side to Mrs. John Kreisel, 17 Cherokee St., S. Bethlehem, Pa., and postmarked in Allentown, Pa., on Jan. 3, 1908. Compare this photo with New Year Gathering, Chicago, Illinois, 1912 .

"Happy New Year — 1911 — from the Morgans." A real photo postcard greeting from the Morgan family, location unknown.

"Viel Glück im neuen Jahre." "Good luck in the New Year" is the message on this early twentieth-century German postcard featuring a snail chauffeur with two mushroom passengers.

"1910. A Happy New Year." A gold and purple New Year's postcard from 1910.

An early twentieth-century postcard depicting a couple aloft in an airship as they celebrate the new year by scattering gold coins and red hearts across the countryside.

"Remember when I called you mine in 1909." A 1909 postcard with a rhymed New Year's greeting. It looks like those are light bulbs forming "1909," judging by the yellow glow and golden rays emanating from each of the numbers. For a similar card in which the artist used flowers instead of light bulbs, see I'll Be Yours If You'll Be Mine in 1909 .

Edward Ridley & Sons, a New York City department store, printed this trade card for customers during the holiday season in 1880, and the store also took out newspaper ads to offer its "annual greeting." The other side of the trade card is a wintertime illustration of a little girl holding some toys as she stands in the snow. This side (above) features the store's Christmas greeting: 32nd Annual Greeting A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Toys, Dolls, and Holiday Presents. Edw. Ridley & Sons 309, 311, 311½ Grand St. 59 Orchard St. 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70 Allen St. New York The following excerpt from the store's advertisement in the New York Herald on December 5, 1880, provides additional details about its holiday sales: Thirty-second Annual Greeting Santa Claus' New Building. Opening Monday, December 6. First Floor—Endless variety toys, dolls, hobby horses. Also china, glass ware, &c. Second Floor--Work boxes, writing desks, Japanese varieties, &c., &c. Tuesday, December 7. Third Floor—Dolls, dolls, dolls. And everything belonging to a doll. Fourth Floor—Wednesday, December 8. Will contain toys of the very finest description…. Our new building gives 23,000 square feet. All devoted to toys. Come and see the toys and our methods. Worsted embroideries, slipper patterns, brackets, &c. Photo and auto[graph] albums, in plush, Russia[n] leather and French calf bindings. Handsome jewel and combination cases, pocketbooks, cigar cases, &c. Prices below every other house—we warrant.

This is the front of a Victorian-era trade card advertising a New York store (for the other side, see Christmas Greeting, Edward Ridley & Sons Department Store, New York City, 1880 ). I'm not sure why this wide-eyed little girl is taking all those toys with her out into the snow. She's dressed for the winter weather, however, and is even holding her hands—and her doll—in a muff to keep them warm.

The woman on the left is holding a ratchet noisemaker . A BPO[E] ( Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks ) flag is draped over the shoulder of the woman in the middle. The woman on the right is holding a mask. Take a look at the full version of this real photo postcard to see the entire group of partygoers.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of the secret lives of grown-ups (adults letting loose and having fun or possibly behaving badly with other adults; all in good taste, of course) . Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "Novelty Studio, 1118 First Ave., Seattle." These three couples are ready for a party. The woman on the left, who's a little out of focus for some reason, is holding a ratchet noisemaker . The man in the back on the left is holding a BPO[E] ( Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks ) flag that's draped over the shoulder of the woman in the middle. The woman on the right is holding a mask (mouse over the image for a better look at the noisemaker, flag, and mask ). The man on the right has some sort of flag tucked under his right arm, and all of them except that man are wearing party or regular hats. Were they attending a New Year's party at an Elks Lodge?

Rev. B. L. C. Baer was the pastor of the Highspire Church of God in Highspire, Pa. New Year Greeting, 1912 Being deprived the privilege of coming into your home I still herewith extend to you the greetings of the season. My good wishes for your happiness and success are not limited to a day or a week--they continue throughout the year; but at this joyous Christmas and New Year season I gladly renew and emphasize my good wishes, and as I count my blessings I find your good will among those most highly prized. B. L. C. Baer, Highspire, Pa.

"Happy New Year. Christmas cards and holiday goods. John F. Clarke, 104 Fulton St., N.Y." An interesting item of Victoriana despite its discoloration, this trade card served as an advertisement for John F. Clarke's business and provided a New Year greeting for his customers. In the curious illustration on the card, Father Time has dropped his scythe and hourglass. He's wearing sandals on his feet as he trudges away through the snow, and he's taking refuge behind a huge open book. Was he planning to "close the books" on the old year with the oversized ledger? Father Time is using the enormous tome to deflect the snowballs that an impetuous young schoolboy (apparently an older-than-usual representation of Baby New Year ) is hurling at him. The boy's snowball barrage is so relentless that Father Time has given up—he's departing the scene and yielding the New Year to the new kid on the block.

"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.

A postcard with an undivided back (only an address was allowed on the back of this type of early postcard--no message). There's no stamp or postmark, but it's addressed to: "Mr. & Mrs. M. A. Rice, Montclair, New Jersey." The stamp box on the back of the postcard ("Place postage stamp here. Domestic, one cent. Foreign, two cents.") is overwritten with the words, "Mervyn Pony Post," meaning, I assume, that Mervyn received it in person from Eva and Billy. Mervyn then presumably carried it home to show the New Year greeting on the front (a parody of a railroad passenger ticket decorated in red and green colors with Christmas holly leaves and berries) to his wife Nellie and the rest of the Rice family. General Railroad of Time, 1906-1907 Three Hundred & Sixty Five Trip Family Ticket This ticket officially stamped and dated will entitle Nellie & Mervyn and family to one continuous happy and prosperous passage through life from January 1st, 1906, to January 1st, 1907, and may be renewed for as long a period thereafter as they may desire, without further notice. 365. Signed and sealed by Eva & Billy. Father Time, General Passenger Agent. Copyright 1905 by William Joseph Burkhardt, 206 Ocean Avenue, Jersey City, N.J.