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Mobile, Alabama, 1939. " 'Texas,' ca. 1846 addition to Waring House built by Edmund Dargan, 110 Church Street." (Also seen here.) Note the contraption on the porch. 8x10 acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size.
The bandsaw is a 18" Parks Ball Bearing Machine Co., from around 1904.
Just from a quick scan of vintage bandsaws on Google Images, I'm pretty sure that a Shorpy member of the American Bandsaw Collectors' Society (there must be one!) will be able to name the brand from the distinctive spokes of the drive and idler wheels.
Definitely a bandsaw. The spare blades are hanging on the pipes above and to the side. Not OSHA approved!
The plant at the bottom of the stairs is a species of Verbascum, commonly known as mullein or velvet leaf. An import from Europe, it's now a common weed in the U.S., and is supposed to have medicinal properties.
Judging by what looks like upper idler and lower drive wheels, a table and an adjustable blade guide/post, I'd say the contraption is a band saw (minus a blade). Curiously, instead of a heavy metal framework, it seems to be almost bolted onto a wooden post behind it. According the 1940 Census, the tenant Mr. Kepler was a carpenter, which puts some teeth into my observation (if not onto the saw).
It looks very much like a band saw, with the saw missing.
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