Originally posted on Ipernity: Benjamin Purnell, Founder of the House of David, Benton Harbor, Michigan.

"Benjamin, founder of the House of David."

Benjamin Purnell (above) and his wife Mary founded the House of David, a religious commune, in Benton Harbor, Michigan, in 1903. The members of the commune performed in touring bands (see below), played on baseball teams, and ran an amusement park that featured miniature trains (like the ones below).

Tags:   ephemera postcards real photo postcards rppc photos photographs found photos portraits Purnell Benjamin Purnell men founders leaders clothes clothing hats hair hair styles beards religious groups David House of David House of David Park communes Israelite House of David religious societies groups societies religious religion Benton Harbor MI Mich. Michigan antique old vintage

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A lines/stripes photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

Handwritten note on the back of this real photo postcard: "Gerald. Taking two at a time."

I wish we could compare this photo with the one that Gerald was taking, but at least we have this single one of the two photos that were evidently being snapped at the same exact time.

I like how the lines formed by the rails of the tracks converge to a vanishing point in the distance, and then the three legs of the tripod, of course, similarly converge upon the camera.

Tags:   ephemera postcards real photo postcards rppc photos photographs found photos portraits men clothes clothing hats jackets ties neckties suits photographers photography photographer photographed photographed photographers lines perspective vanishing point distant distance receding vanishing points converge convergence railroad tracks tracks pipes smoking telephone poles utility poles poles wires antique old vintage vptp

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A real photo postcard originally posted on Ipernity: Two Jolly Good Fellows.

Tags:   ephemera postcards real photo postcards rppc photos photographs souvenir photos souvenirs found photos backdrops studio photos studio props portraits men hats bowlers top hats ties bowties vests suits clothing clothes moustaches smiles disembodied heads disembodied heads legs stepping jaunty jolly jolly good jolly good fellows amusing humor humorous funny antique old vintage photographic amusements comic foregrounds foregrounds

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This silhouette of a man wearing a hat and glasses (or a monocle?) is apparently cut from thin black paper. The Eiffel Tower at right, an unidentified building at left (anyone recognize it?), and an airship at top fill out the background of this souvenir postcard.

Update: The unknown building is the Palais du Trocadéro (Trocadéro Palace). Thanks to pellethepoet for identifying it (see comment below).

Originally posted on Ipernity: Parisian Silhouette Postcard.

Tags:   ephemera postcards silhouettes souvenirs portraits paper printed men hats eyeglasses glasses spectacles monocles Eiffel Tower Trocadéro Palace buildings airships dirigibles blimps ovals Paris France antique old vintage ND Phot. Neurdein postcard publishers Trocadéro palaces Palais du Trocadéro Palace of Trocadéro Trocadéro Palast

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Printed on the back of this advertising postcard: "Feel the difference in a Mallory straw. We have a wide selection now on hand. Why not drop in soon and select your favorite?"

The month of May used to be the time when men traditionally traded their winter felt hats for summer straw hats. The Mallory Hat Company created this postcard so that dealers could inform customers that it was time for them to purchase a new cool-as-an-iceberg Mallory straw Panama hat for summertime wear.

For an earlier example of an exaggeratedly large Panama hat used in an advertisement, see the San Francisco 1915 postcard that's featured as part of the Michigan State University Museum's Tall Tale Postcards: Storytelling Through the Mail exhibit.

Originally posted on Ipernity: It's Mallory Straw Hat Time!

Tags:   ephemera postcards tall-tale postcards advertising postcards advertising advertisements ads paper printed Mallory Mallory Hat Company Mallory hats companies manufacturers hats straws straw hats Panama hats Panamas men icebergs ice cold cool water oceans tall tales exaggerations oversized giant fantasy humor humorous funny comic blue yellow white Connecticut CT Conn. old vintage

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