Photos, videos and docs of Alan Mays, with the keywords: "holding"

A Signal from Mars? (Lassoing a Toy Horse)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 00:20:06 +0000

The rope of a lasso surrounds a tiny toy horse.

For more information, see another detail from the same photo along with the original version.

A Signal from Mars? (Woman with Sheet Music)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 00:20:08 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A woman poses for a photo and pretends to sing as she holds the sheet music for A Signal from Mars: March and Two Step.

For more information, see another detail from the same photo along with the original version.

A Signal from Mars?

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 00:20:10 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of over the shoulder (something or somebody).

Everyone in this puzzling photo is holding something. The man on the left is holding a cane over his shoulder, and the second man has a rope wrapped around his left hand. Both men are watching the woman in the middle, who's holding sheet music and singing. The woman on the right, who's seated in a chair, is holding a lute and is playing it to accompany the woman who's singing. The woman standing beside the singer and both of the men are all holding rolled-up papers of some sort.

A closer look at the photo reveals some curious details. First, the sheet music that the woman is holding is entitled A Signal from Mars: March and Two Step, which was published in 1901 (hear a piano version on YouTube). Since the piece is an instrumental "march and two step" without any lyrics, why is the woman pretending to use it as she's singing?

Secondly, the rope that the second man is holding extends down to the floor where it's coiled around a small horse pull toy. Why did the man lasso a tiny toy horse?

I don't have any answers for the questions that this photo poses. Although the painted backdrop and patterned floor covering suggest that this picture was taken in a photo studio, I wonder if this might be a scene from a theatrical production. There was a popular comedic play with a similar title—A Message from Mars—that toured the United States between 1903 and 1905. As far as I can determine, however, A Message from Mars was not a musical, and there was no connection to the sheet music for A Signal from Mars.

German Girl with School Cone, 1951

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 04:57:50 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of beginnings and endings (houses being built or torn down, stores opening or closing, an old year ending or a new one starting, etc.).

Date and initials at lower right: "4.9.51. F.S." Printed on the back of this photo: "Photogr. F. Schumann, Pirna."

A snapshot of a young German girl who's holding a Schultüte, or school cone, which she received as a gift on her first day of school as a way to commemorate the beginning of her formal education.

For a similar photo taken a few years later, see Girl with Schultüte, 1955. For more photos, see my Schultüten (School Cones) album.

Easter Bunny Holdup (Full Version)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 21 Apr 2019 08:50:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

An Easter snapshot dated "Apr 1961."

The boy is holding his toy Easter bunny up above his head, and the woman has a pair of sunglasses and a purse (I thought at first that it might be a camera case) in her left hand. What appears to be a garden hose is snaking its way through the lower left-hand corner of the photo.

For a better view of the family, see the cropped version of the photograph.

Easter Bunny Holdup, 1961

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 21 Apr 2019 08:50:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Notice how the boy is holding up his toy Easter bunny. The woman is holding a pair of sunglasses along with her purse.

The full version of the photograph is dated "Apr 1961," and Easter occurred on April 2 that year.

For similar Easter photos, see A Girl with Her Bunny and Mom and Boys with Their Bunnies and Moms.

A Man and His Deer Head

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 18:58:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A real photo postcard of a man holding a deer head.

For a similar photo, see A Man and His Moosehead Bier.

You Are the Gorilla My Dreams

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 16 Mar 2018 04:26:06 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Novelty real photo postcard, date and location unknown.

Here's a Wireless Telegram—Be My Valentine

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 13:55:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Here's a wireless telegram
That I will send to you
I'm in love with you—I am
I love you 'deed I do
Be my valentine.
R. F. Outcault

Cartoonist Richard F. Outcault (1863-1928) featured Buster Brown and his dog Tige—both of them winking and smiling—in this valentine from 1904.

American Presidents in Miniature

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 22:14:35 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Cover of a small booklet containing information about the set of miniature presidential figures that was issued by toy manufacturer Louis Marx and Company in the 1950s and 1960s.

Grand Independence Ball, Oaksville, New York, July 3, 1883

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 22:05:11 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Grand Independence Ball at Reynolds Hall, Oaksville, Tuesday eve., July 3, 1883. Yourself and ladies are invited. Music by Wager's Band. Bill $2. A. C. Reynolds, prop'r."

An advertising trade card announcing a Fourth of July dance in Oaksville, New York.

Ein kleiner Junge mit einem großen Schultüte

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 21:21:58 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Ein kleiner Junge mit einem großen Schultüte. (A small boy with a big Schultüte, or school cone.)

Girl with Schultüte, 1955

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 21:22:10 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A handwritten date of 1955 appears on the back of this Schultüte (school cone) photo.

Poissons d'Avril

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 14:52:12 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Poissons d'avril (April fish).

A French real photo postcard for April Fools' Day, called poissons d'avril (April fish) in France. This hand-tinted card was postmarked on March 30, 1908.

World's Columbian Exposition Calling Card, Administration Hall

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 22:10:20 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Administration Hall. From your friend."

A Victorian-era hidden-name calling card with an illustration of the Administration Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. The illustration is a separate piece that lifts up to reveal the name (in this case, "Harry Owens") printed underneath.

I Smiled Until My Face Hurt

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 16:41:21 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Sailing Ship Calling Card

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 21 May 2014 21:25:37 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Victorian-era hidden-name calling card.

Corny Ears

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 17:32:09 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A real photo postcard, probably from Iowa, circa 1910s.

There are newspaper pages underneath the ears of corn that the guy is holding, and details from the top corners of two pages are barely visible under enlargement.

The headline of an article on one page begins with "Iowa M," and "[In]heritance" seems to be part of a section header on another page. At the top of the Inheritance page, the partial newspaper name and date looks like: "and Leader, Sunday Morning, November 14, 1910" (Leader, Sunday, Morning, and November are the only words that I'm reasonably sure about; another problem is that November 14 in 1910 wasn't a Sunday).

If "Iowa" is a clue about the newspaper's origin, then perhaps the paper was the Davenport Democrat and Leader or the Des Moines Register and Leader.

Uphold the Old Christmas Traditions and Customs

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sat, 14 Dec 2013 01:42:15 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Hold everything. Wish you were with us this Christmas just to enjoy the upholding of old traditions and customs."

Eighty-two and Two

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 21:32:06 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Handwritten on the back of this real photo postcard: "Grandpa Boor. Robert H. Studebaker. 82 & 2."

Posted to the Vintage Photos Theme Park group for "old age" theme week. It's poignant how the boy is resting his hand on top of his grandfather's.