Love is in the air. And as thoughts turn to Valentine’s Day, we look at a great album of snapshots of people getting naked, getting cosy and having barrels of fun – in wooden barrels, once used for booze, grain and oil ever since Pennsylvania oilmen collected the substance in whiskey barrels after striking their first gushers. Photograph collector Robert E. Jackson sees love in these terrific snapshots. And we agree. So let’s hitch up our skirts and sing along to the Škoda lásky, also known as The Barrel Polka, Rosamunde and Roll Out the Barrel, the 1927 polka that became a wartime drinking song of good cheer, foxhole camaraderie and hope: Roll out the barrel, we’ll have a barrel of fun Roll out the barrel, we’ve got the blues on the run Zing boom tararrel, ring out a song of good cheer Now’s the time to roll the barrel, for the gang’s all here     “T is sweet to win, no matter how, one’s laurels, By blood or ink; ‘t is sweet to put an end To strife; ‘t is sometimes sweet to have our quarrels, Particularly with a tiresome friend: Sweet is old wine in bottles, ale in barrels; Dear is the helpless creature we defend Against the world; and dear the schoolboy spot We ne’er forget, though there we are forgot. But sweeter still than this, than these, than all, Is first and passionate Love—it stands alone… — Lord Byron, Don Juan     “Then, all to once, it gave a jump and it seemed to me it went like a streak of lightning. It must have shot 15-20 feet out and I went into an eddy or a pool where I went round, just like that. The barrel nearly stood up, and that is the place where things go down and disappear forever” – Annie Edson Taylor recalls becoming the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel in 1901     In Trinidad, one dollar buy Papaya juice, banana pie, Six coconut, one female goat, An’ plenty fish to fill de boat. One bushel bread, one barrel wine, An’ all de town, she come to dine. But here is bad, one dollar buy Cup of coffee, ham on rye. Me throat she sick from necktie, Me feet hurt from shoes. Me pocket full of empty, I got Calypso blues. – Calypso Blues     Mother phoned up last night, she was going spare She was in a temper, pulling out her hair Your sister’s courtin’ a scruffy looking Ted Father don’t give a monkey’s and this is what he said I don’t care, I don’t care I don’t care if he comes ’round here I got my beer in the sideboard here Let mother sort it out if he comes ’round here –  Chas ‘n’ Dave, The Sideboard Song        Spurred by demand for lamp fuel as whale blubber grew scarce, derricks popped up all over Pennsylvania’s oil region in the 1860s–although subsequent overproduction drove prices so far down that at one point, a wooden barrel was worth twice as much as the oil it contained… – Kate Pickert, Time     Funny glasses with a little piece of ice Anything that comes with lemon and a slice Fancy cocktails that are shaken and not stirred Drinks with cherries in that make you absurd With you finger cocked to leave your friends impressed Anything that ain’t a pint of Courage Best Mine’s pint of best… – Chas ‘n’ Dave, Getcha! for Courage Best Bitter     “It became a game that I took to with immense gusto: to see how much I could remember about dandelions themselves, or picking wild grapes with my father and brother, rediscovering the mosquito-breeding ground rain barrel by the side bay window, or searching out the smell of the gold-fuzzed bees that hung around our back porch grape arbor. Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don’t they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.” — Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine     We’ve lots more from Robert E. Jackson on the site. And you can follow him here for more great stuff. The post 23 Fabulous Vintage Snapshots of People In Barrels appeared first on Flashbak.