Paper Moon 2 Girls And A Woman Peekaboo 1900 Real Photo Postcard

Novelty studio portraits, featuring whimsical props such as the crescent moon, gained significant popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, roughly from the 1890s through the 1920s. These photographs often placed subjects in fantastical or allegorical settings, offering a form of lighthearted escapism from everyday life. The "man in the moon" prop, as seen here, was a particularly common and beloved motif, reflecting a broader cultural interest in celestial themes and symbolic imagery that permeated popular art and entertainment.

This era marked a period of increasing accessibility to photography, allowing more people to commission personalized portraits. Studios provided elaborate backdrops and theatrical props, enabling sitters to engage in imaginative self-presentation beyond stiff, formal poses. Such fantasy portraits captured a moment of burgeoning creativity in photographic practices, mirroring the public's growing enthusiasm for vaudeville, early cinema, and other forms of visual entertainment that also employed imaginative staging and character play.