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Photograph

Tall-tale Postcard: Will It Go In (without Vegetables)

Date: 1911
Description: Photographic mock-up for an Alfred Stanley Johnson photomontage postcard entitled "Will It Go In." Two men stand over an open cellar door, with their hands...
Photograph

Tall-tale Postcard: Shooting the Shoots (without Carrots)

Date: 1913
Description: Photographic mock-up for an Alfred Stanley Johnson photomontage postcard entitled "Shooting the Shoots." A small girl is sliding down a wooden plank, whic...
Postcard

Tall-tale Postcard: Some Tomatoes

Date: 08 09 1910
Description: Text on front reads: "Some Tomatoes Raised at Waupun, Wis. Wis. [sic]." On the flatbed train car: "Grand Trunk 67903." Photomontage of five giant to...
Photograph

Tall-tale Postcard: Kickers without Frogs

Date: 1913
Description: Photographic mock-up for an Alfred Stanley Johnson photomontage postcard entitled "Kickers." A boy wearing waders and holding a rifle stands with his arms ...
Photograph

Tall-tale Postcard: Melon Party (without Melons)

Date: 1911
Description: Photographic mock-up for an Alfred Stanley Johnson photomontage postcard entitled "Melon Party." Four girls wearing bows and dresses are holding an object...
Postcard

Tall-tale Postcard: Grapes

Date: 1913
Description: Photomontage of a stack of giant grapes resting on a flatbed cart. The side of the cart bears the inscription, "Wells Fargo Company Express." Red text at...
Postcard

Tall-tale Postcard: String Beans

Date: 1910
Description: Two girls stand in front of a large pile of giant string beans. Red text in the upper portion of the image reads, "How we do things at Ihlen, Minn."
Postcard

Tall-tale Postcard: One of the Squash

Date: 1910
Description: Three smiling children wearing white clothing are sitting atop a gigantic, dark squash. Text in top left corner reads: "Beaver Dam, Wis." Fence lines back ...
Postcard

Tall-tale Postcard: Sugar Beets

Date: 10 30 1909
Description: A man on a large horse-drawn cart hauls a group of giant sugar beets. The two horses are stepping onto a dirt road. An inscription in the upper left corner...
Postcard

Tall-tale Postcard: Plenty Potatoes

Date: 1912
Description: Two men, one wearing overalls and one wearing suspenders, stand on top of a mound of giant potatoes. A large cart drawn by two horses carries the potatoes ...
Postcard

Tall-tale Postcard: The Buck Fever

Date: 1910
Description: Two men are hunting with rifles in the Wisconsin woods. It is winter; there is snow on the ground. Instead of shooting a deer, one hunter shoots a giant ...
Postcard

Tall-tale Postcard: Peaches

Date: 1911
Description: Three young boys gather around a wheelbarrow filled with giant peaches. One of the boys is holding a peach that has been broken open, exposing its pit. Two...
Postcard

Tall-tale Postcard: Onions

Date: 10 30 1909
Description: An elderly, bearded man hauls a giant onion using a dolly. The man is wearing a black hat and white work gloves. The background shows the side of a barn....
Postcard

Tall-tale Postcard: Loading Cabbage

Date: 10 30 1909
Description: A group of male laborers load a giant cabbage up a ramp and onto a train car. The side of the train says "Wisconsin and Michigan." A pile of other giant ca...
Postcard

Tall-tale Postcard: Our Barn is Full

Date: 1912
Description: Several women and a man are outside of a barn, which is overflowing with giant onions, corn, and potatoes. A ladder is placed against the large stack of on...
Photograph

Tall-tale Postcard: Carrots

Date: 1912
Description: Photomontage of three women and a little girl pulling up a giant carrot root. Several other giant carrots, some of which have been pulled out of the ground...
Postcard

Tall-tale Postcard: Who Cares for an Auto

Date: 1916
Description: Three men ride a dairy cow on a dirt road, while a fourth pulls at the cow's tail. Of the three men, one is holding a tennis racket, one is holding a golf ...
Postcard

Tall-tale Postcard: Just Plums

Date: 1911
Description: Two boys haul four giant plums using a small wagon pulled by two white goats. One boy is holding the reins. The boys are wearing jackets and caps. The back...
Historical Essay

Tall-Tale Postcards - Image Gallery Essay

Larger Than Life Images of Animals and Produce
Learn about the tall-tale postcard industry and the career of photographer Alfred Stanley Johnson, Jr.
Postcard

Tall-tale Postcard: Musk Melons

Date: 1911
Description: A man and a boy use dollies to haul giant musk melons near a train. In red text on the upper center portion is the inscription, "How we do things at Bald K...

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