Alan Mays' photos

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of friends . (The very first theme from May 27 to June 2, 2013, in celebration of the Vintage Photos Theme Park's tenth anniversary!) A handwritten list of names and the year appear on the other side of this real photo postcard: "1942. Harry Trevis, Austin Lolly, Grace Barnard, Billie Miner, Lill Sanberg, Jean Olsen, Bill Ryan, & Jean Kearney." A group of friends -- four couples -- sit in a car in front of a painted backdrop as they pose for a photo in an unidentified studio (possibly located in Coney Island).

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of statues and sculptures . Handwritten caption: "Bloody Lane, Antietam Battlefield, June 27, 1907." A man poses with his bicycle as he stands in the Sunken Road, or " Bloody Lane ," as it became known during the American Civil War after the Battle of Antietam . The day of the battle, September 17, 1862, was the " Bloodiest Day in American History ," with 23,000 Union and Confederate soldiers "killed, wounded, or missing after twelve hours of savage combat." During the three hours of fighting that took place along the Bloody Lane , "5,500 soldiers were killed or wounded and neither side gained a decisive advantage." Beyond the bicyclist is the 132nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Monument , which was dedicated in 1904. The statue atop the monument commemorates a battlefield incident, but not one that happened at Antietam. Instead, it depicts a soldier holding a regimental flag with part of its staff shot off, reflecting an event that occurred later during the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862. For additional details, see "Description of the Monument," pp. 197-98, in Pennsylvania at Antietam: Report of the Antietam Battlefield Memorial Commission of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, Pa., 1906). For better views of the bicyclist and the monument, see a cropped version of the photo. For modern photos of the monument and its surroundings, see the 132nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry page on HMdb.org: The Historical Marker Database.

A man and his bicycle with the 132nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Monument at the Antietam Battlefield. For more information, see the full version of the photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of blurry motion (someone or something moved as the photo was taken) . A photographer captured this scene along Locust Street in Columbia, Pennsylvania, in 1913. Flags and columns decorated the street and the buildings for the Old Home Week celebration that took place from October 12 to 19 that year. The image captures the hustle and bustle of people and vehicles in the town. The ghostly blur in the middle is a woman walking in the street, and a foot is all that remains of a man moving along the left-hand side. Another blurry man tends to his team of horses next to the sidewalk on the left, and a banner advertising "Oysters in Every Style" is draped across a storefront just beyond the horses. In the distance, a wagon is traveling along the right-hand side of the street, and a streetcar is barely visible beyond the wagon. For better views of the activity in the street, see enlargements of the left-hand side and right-hand side of the photo. To see what the same area looks like today, see the Google Street View of Locust Street . Additional photos taken during Columbia's Old Home Week celebration in 1913 appear in Frederic H. Abendschein's book, Columbia, Marietta, and Wrightsville: Images of America (Arcadia Publishing, 2009), pp. 18-20.

That ghostly blur on the right is a woman walking in the middle of the street, and that foot on the left is all that remains of a man moving along the street. Another blurry man is tending to his team of horses next to the sidewalk, and a banner advertising "Oysters in Every Style" is draped across a storefront just beyond the horses. See also an enlargement of the right-hand side of the photo and the full version of the real photo postcard.

A boy perches precariously on the base of one of the decorative columns as two men stand together along the edge of the street. Just beyond the two men, a horse and carriage have pulled to the side. In the distance, a wagon is traveling along the right-hand side of the street, and a streetcar is barely visible beyond the wagon. See also an enlargement of the left-hand side of the photo and the full version of the real photo postcard.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of screens - indoor, outdoor, any kind . Handwritten note on the other side of this snapshot: "First set we had." A photo of an early RCA Victor television set, possibly a 9-T-246 model with a ten-inch screen from the late 1940s or early 1950s. Compare this with the RCA 9T246 on the Early Television Museum's site. For another early TV, see Philco Television Set, 1948 .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of ladders . A fellow is making a spectacle of himself by perching on a ladder as his friends stand at the top of steps leading up to a porch. One woman (at left) and a man (third from left) are holding cameras. There's a bucket on the top step and a second ladder on the right. There's no indication where or when the photo was taken. For a close-up view of the group, see a cropped version of the photo.

See also the full version of this photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of dog behind the wheel (or a canine or feline anywhere in or near a car or other type of vehicle) . The driver in this snapshot is looking at the camera but the dog in the back seat is peering at something more interesting in the opposite direction. There's no date on the photograph, and I haven't been able to determine the make or model of the car.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of X marks the spot (an X to indicate something or someone on the photo) . "C.M.T.C. Camp" is the label that appears below the main tent area in this photo, which is credited in the lower right-hand corner to the "Chicago Aerial Survey Co." This is a real photo postcard, and the type of Azo stamp box (with squares in all four corners) printed on the other side suggests that the card dates between 1924 and 1949. Over 400 tents are visible in the photo, and the message that's part of the image says: "Had a fine trip here, all O.K. Here is my home for a month. X marks my tent. Everything looks fine so I'm sure I will like it here. Will write a letter soon." The postcard is unused, however, and no one has added an X to indicate a tent. This C.M.T.C. Camp was located in Illinois at Fort Sheridan (now closed except for the Sheridan Reserve Center ) and was one of about fifty Citizens' Military Training Camps , which were month-long training programs held each summer from 1921 to 1940 at U.S. Army posts.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of rocking horse . On the other side of this real photo postcard is an Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) that indicates that the photo may date to sometime between 1904 and 1918. The back of the card also gives its origin: "Strunk's Studio, 750 Penn St., Reading, Pa." At first glance the boy in the photo appears to be posing with a rocking horse, but a closer examination reveals that the horse's legs are attached to a wooden platform. It may be the same toy horse mounted on wheels that appears in other Strunk photos. See, for instance, a cabinet card with Roy Peiffer on Strunk's Studio Horse, Reading, Pennsylvania .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of people on a bridge . A group of twenty-six people -- ten men, nine women, and seven children -- stood on a narrow bridge over a swiftly flowing stream to pose for this photo. For better views of the group, see cropped versions of the left side and right side of the photo. The type of Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) printed on the other side of this photo postcard suggests a possible date that may be as early as 1904 to 1918. The postcard is unused, and there's no indication where the stream is located.

A close-up of the left side of a real photo postcard showing men, women, and children standing on a narrow bridge over a stream. See also a cropped version of the right side . For more information, see the full version .

A close-up of the right side of a real photo postcard showing men, women, and children standing on a narrow bridge over a stream. See also a cropped version of the left side . For more information, see the full version .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of tree (in a studio photo) . Caption: "I'll Eat Oranges for You — You Throw Snow Balls for Me." This is a real photo postcard sent sometime after Thanksgiving in 1922 from "Aunt Orpha" in California to "Master George Myers" in Burbank, Ohio. Printed on the other side: "Orange Grove Souvenir. Novelty Studios, 520 S. Broadway & 414 W. 7th, Los Angeles, Cal." Handwritten message: "My dear George. This man is a male nurse. He was in training when I was. We had a turkey dinner [on] Thanksgiving. What did you have? Aunt Ella was with us and your Uncle Tom's niece. By-by. Your Aunt Orpha." The "eat oranges" / "throw snowballs" caption appeared on souvenir photo postcards like this one that tourists in sunny California could send to relatives enduring winter weather back home. For another example, see I'll Eat Oranges for You—You Throw Snowballs for Me .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of something interesting or surprising in the background . . At first glance, this is a typical photo of a woman posing for a photo as she sits on a chair. In the background, however, is a girl watching from the window, which seems a little spooky. This is a real photo postcard with a divided back. "R. B. Hunter, LisbellAw" is stamped in ink on the other side, but the card is otherwise unused. Could "LisbellAw" refer to the village of Lisbellaw in Northern Ireland?

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of turrets . Caption: "Bay of Naples Hotel, Naples, Maine." Sign partially visible on the right: "Break[fast] Serv[ed] 8 To 11 [AM]." This real photo postcard shows a picturesque view of the Bay of Naples Hotel in Naples, Maine . The hotel opened in 1899, closed during the 1950s, and was torn down in 1964. Before the building was demolished, the cupola on top of the large turret on the left-hand side of the hotel was removed and ended up at an area campground. Fifty-seven years later, the cupola was moved, restored, and installed at the Naples Barn, a local business (see Dawn De Busk, " Cupola Moved to New Spot for Restoration ," Bridgton News , August 6, 2021, and a Google Street View showing the cupola in its current location). This is an unused photo postcard with a type of stamp box (EKC with "place stamp here") on the other side that suggests a possible date range from 1930 to 1950.