A Small Sign at the Back of the Bar
Some photographs tell you everything at once. Others make you work for it.
This one, identified on the back as the Varsity Inn in Blandon, Pennsylvania, didn’t seem especially complicated at first. A fairly typical saloon interior. Three men. A curved bar. Bottles, cigars, and a scattering of signs on the wall behind them.
But one of those signs, partially hidden at the back of the bar, kept drawing my attention.
It was easy to miss. Obscured by one of the men, slightly out of focus, and just far enough away to resist a quick read. I had to zoom in well beyond what felt reasonable. Even then, it wasn’t entirely clear.
But it looked like it said: For Prothonotary, followed by what appeared to be the name G. Hintz, with additional text cut off.
Following a Word
“Prothonotary” is not a word you expect to find in the background of a saloon photograph. It’s an old term, still used in Pennsylvania, referring to the chief clerk of the civil court. More importantly for this photograph, it’s an elected position.
So if that reading was correct, this wasn’t just a sign. It was a campaign sign.
That was enough to go on.
A quick search of Berks County newspapers from the period turned up a 1917 race for Prothonotary. One name in particular stood out: William G. Hintz. The phrasing in the ads—“For Prothonotary”—matched what I thought I was seeing in the photograph.
Then came the confirmation. A full newspaper advertisement from the campaign, featuring Hintz’s name and office, aligned almost perfectly with the partially obscured sign in the image.
The small, uncertain detail started to take shape.
A Second Anchor
Another sign in the photograph had already been easier to read.
On the back wall is a poster advertising an “Annual Picnic” at nearby Jacksonwald, Pennsylvania. The date is clearly printed: Sunday, August 19, 1917, with musical entertainment by “30 Men 30.”
Blandon sits about ten miles from Jacksonwald. Close enough that the poster makes perfect sense in this setting.
Taken together—the campaign sign and the dated picnic poster—the photograph settles into place. Not broadly “early 20th century,” but specifically 1917.
What Was There All Along
None of this information was hidden, exactly. It was all present in the image from the beginning.
But it wasn’t obvious either. It required a second look, then a third. A willingness to follow a half-legible word and see where it led.
That’s part of what keeps these photographs interesting. Not just what they show, but what they’re willing to give up slowly.
A man standing at a bar in Blandon, Pennsylvania. A campaign sign just behind him. A picnic poster on the wall.
All of it ordinary. All of it specific.
And, for a moment, all of it aligned.
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Related Post: Pennsylvania
A nearly hidden sign reading “For Prothonotary” led from a saloon interior in Blandon, Pennsylvania to a 1917 political campaign—and a precise date for the photograph.