Alan Mays' photos

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of television sets in the living room . This photo is a little blurry, but I believe it shows the same television that appears in a slide of the Pipe-Smoking Television Man . The footstool in front of the TV also appears in both photos (the man is sitting on it in the other photo). For related photos, see my album of slides of the Pipe-Smoking Man and His Family . This is an undated red-border "Kodachrome Transparency" (slide), circa early 1950s. .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the monthly topic of slides and color photos . A color photo of a woman near an amusement park ride, date and location unknown.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of windows and windshields (photos through or of) . This cropped version of a real photo postcard shows a close-up of three men standing outside of a corner grocery store (location unknown, unfortunately). A bicycle is propped up against the building at left, a number of bushel baskets containing fruits or vegetables are situated on the sidewalk, and several market baskets with handles are visible in the store window at right. The full version of this postcard reveals that the grocery store itself is located in a separate building, but a number of row houses extend down the street just beyond the store.

This real photo postcard shows three men standing outside of a corner grocery store (location unknown, unfortunately). The store itself is located in a separate building, but a number of row houses extend down the street just beyond the store. A close-up view of the men and the storefront (mouse over the image above) reveals a bicycle propped up against the store building at left, a number of bushel baskets containing fruits or vegetables situated on the sidewalk, and several market baskets with handles hanging in the store window at right.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of stuff in the yard . Three gussied-up guys are standing in a grassy area that looks like it might be someone's yard. In front of them is a perplexing pile of who knows what. Is it a naturally occurring rock formation? Could it be a modernistic sculpture? Or maybe it's the byproduct of some kind of industrial process. This is an undated photo with "Quality Jensen Print" stamped on the other side. See also a cropped version of this snapshot.

Three fellows with a puzzling and perplexing pile. For more information, see the full version of the photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of birthday presents . There's no birthday card or cake, but I suspect that this undated photo shows a display of birthday gifts on the coffee table in front of two boys. One of them -- perhaps the younger boy in the white shirt -- is presumably the birthday boy. Toys on the table include a car, airplane, boat, rocket, and two pull-string flying propellers. There's also an Erector Young Builder's Set (Gilbert Set No. 10021) with packaging that features an illustration of two boys assembling a robot. Next to the Erector set is a container of Davis Pick-up Sticks manufactured by the Davis Toy Corp., Brooklyn, N.Y. There are two books and a stamp album on the table. One book is The Bible Story , Volume 10, by Arthur S. Maxwell, and the other is How to Tell Time: A Little Golden Activity Book (1957), by Jane Werner Watson. George A. Tlamsa was the editor of My First Stamp Album (Minkus Publications, 1960), and a packet of 130 foreign stamps is visible in front of the album. I'm not sure what the boy on the right is holding, but is that a barrel of a rifle in the hands of the boy on the left? Could that be another birthday gift? See also the full version of this photo.

An undated photo of two boys with a bunch of toys. For more information, see the cropped version of this photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of hippies (certified or imitation) . Photographer: " [Arthur] Mason 's Art Studio, Valley Falls, Kansas." A nineteenth-century cabinet card photo of an unidentified man with a long beard. If he were alive today, perhaps his beard would have qualified him as a hippie or possibly a hipster . For other hip longbeards, see Man with Beard, Topeka, Kansas , Rasputin and the Amorphous Enigma , and Benjamin Purnell, Founder of the House of David, Benton Harbor, Michigan .

A Victorian-era ticket with a unique border and striking typefaces. Typefaces: Bank-Note Italic Ornamented , 1875 ("Opening Party") , Mystic , 1882 (“Fox's Hall, South Worcester, N.Y.”). Thanks to Florian Hardwig for identifying the typefaces. Opening Party at Fox's Hall, South Worcester, N.Y. Thursday Evening, Dec. 15, 1887 Music by Belcher's Full Band. Yourself and lady are respectively invited. Bill $1.50. J. D. Beard, Manager. E. Fox, Prop'r.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of a dog and a tree . In this photo, a little girl sits in front of a spinning wheel next to two large dogs who are hitched to a cart. A tree is visible behind the girl, and there's also a fence and smaller trees or bushes in the background. This is a divided-back real photo postcard with "Made in Canada" printed on the other side. There's no message, address, or stamp on the verso, but the type of Velox stamp box design on the back may indicate that this card dates to between 1923 and 1939. In a different photo, the same girl, spinning wheel, dogs, and cart appear, but there's also a boy sitting in the cart and the dogs are adorned with hats, glasses, and pipes (see Spinning a Tale of Dogs in Glasses ). I have to do some more checking, but I believe that these photos may have originated in Quebec, Canada, where spinning wheels were manufactured and dog carts were used in rural areas.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the monthly theme of CDVs and cabinet cards . A nineteenth-century cabinet card photo of two young fellows posing with their bicycles in a studio located in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. See also a cropped version for a better view of the guys and their bikes. Names written on the back of the photo: "Adam J. Althouse & Calvin P. Muhey." Stamped in ink on the verso: "W. S. Anspach, Photographer, Cor. 3rd & Lehman Sts., Lebanon."

A nineteenth-century cabinet card photo of two guys and their bicycles. For more information, see the full version of the photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of food . Caption at the bottom of the photo: "A Joyous Outing." Date written vertically on the tree in the background: "Aug. 1913." A photo of twenty-six men and women who have gathered around a picnic blanket covered with food and place settings. See a cropped version of the photo for a better view of the food. This is a divided-back real photo postcard with no message, address, or postmark on the other side. The Cyko stamp box ("Cyko - Place Postage Stamp Here") printed on the verso indicates a date between 1907 and the 1920s, which matches the August 1913 date written on the front.

The food laid out on a blanket for a picnic in 1913. For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of fancy studio backdrops . A novelty photo with two young women in sailor costumes. The elaborate painted backdrop depicts an ocean of heavy waves with two ships billowing smoke on the horizon. A biplane is barely visible in the sky above them. The painted foreground features a submarine labeled "L 21 U.S." The submarine's hatch is open, its periscope is up, and it's flying an American flag. Submarine hull: "L 21 U.S." Handwritten caption: "R. Dodd. Sara Miller. 8-25-1917." Writing on the back also identifies the young women as "Ruth Dodd" on the left and "Sara Miller" on the right with the date given a second time as "8/25/1917." For a similar real photo postcard, see Daddy on the Deck of the F-6 Submarine .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of strange or unusual . Despite the caption on the photo, this group doesn't look like a sophisticated and fashionable " Smart Set ." Who are these people? Are two of them guys dressed as women (at left and in the middle)? Why is the one woman (second from left) wearing a white dress with a black hat, black shoes, and what looks like black bloomers sticking out below the dress? What kind of costume, which includes a skirt, vest, and sash, is the other woman (second from right) wearing? And, strangest of all, what or who is the person on the right — with a waist-level sign that says, "Ariel," and a puzzling hat that covers the whole head except for the nose and some dark glasses — supposed to be? This is an unused divided-back real photo postcard with trilingual text — "Post Card - Carte Postale - Postkarte" — printed on the other side that suggests a European origin. The back is otherwise blank, and there’s no message, address, or postmark to provide additional clues about when the photo was taken or where it came from. See also the full version of this photo.

Who are the people in this "Smart Set"? For more information, see the cropped version of this photo.