Alan Mays' photos

Autumn Sociable. Social Twelve cordially request the pleasure of your company and that of your friend on Saturday evening, Oct. 10th, 1896, at 7:15 o'clock, to join a social party at the residence of Mr. & Mrs. Jacob Ressler at Aberdeen. Committee: Social Twelve. Should the weather prove unfavorable the party will be held the following Saturd'y. Refreshments required.

"Mrs. P. C. Williams, rooms for tourists, bath, free garage, 1211 Allegheny St., Hollidaysburg, Pa. Kozy and komfortable. Rooms for tourists. Drive in."

"Leave It to Beaver Rocket to the Moon Space Game. Thrills with Beaver on a race to the moon. As seen on A.B.C. television coast-to-coast." The disembodied head of Beaver Cleaver floats in space somewhere between the earth and moon on the lid of this 1958 board game tie-in with the TV show Leave It to Beaver .

Handwritten note on the back of this tinted photo: "Carole with McGuffey Ann on the DeSoto, October 1949." A 1940 newspaper ad described the McGuffey Ann doll (it's name was actually "Ana" rather than "Ann") as "a real American beauty with pigtails and straw bonnet."

An on the farm photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A photo showing a remarkable assortment of people, animals, and equipment on display in front of a large Pennsylvania barn . The dealer's tag on this cardboard-mounted photo identified the location as a farm near Quarryville , Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Mouse over the image above to see close-ups of the men, women, horses, cows, carriages, and plows visible in the foreground.

For more information, see the full version of this photo:

For more information, see the full version of this photo:

For more information, see the full version of this photo:

"Jack Dempsey's Broadway Restaurant. The Meeting Place of the World." Printed on the back of this linen postcard: "Come in and say Hello! Jack Dempsey's Broadway Restaurant on Broadway bet. 49th & 50th Sts., New York City." Postmarked: Philadelphia, Pa., March 27, 1944. Handwritten message on the back: "Having a swell time, am half drunk. Love, Francis."

"Curve Premium Beer. Brewed and bottled by Altoona Brewing Co., Altoona, Pa. The famous Horse Shoe Curve. Contents 12 fluid ozs." A beer label featuring an image of the Horseshoe Curve , a three-track railroad curve located near Altoona, Pa., that was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1854 and is still in use today.

"What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta." Doodled drawing on a scrap of paper found at a store, Mechanicsburg, Pa., May 15, 2015.

"Hawk & Wetherbee, The Windsor, Fifth Avenue, New York." Samuel Hawk and Gardner Wetherbee--in business together as "Hawk & Weaterbee"--managed the Windsor Hotel, which tragically burned to the ground on St. Patrick's Day in 1899. For more information, see The Lost Windsor Hotel -- 5th Avenue and 46th Street .

Handwritten message on the back of this real photo postcard: "This was the name of our camp at Cooks Mill where we was the last ten days of August." These seven campers have enough firepower--a couple of shotguns and a rifle--to "raise hell," as their sign suggests, but it's more likely they used their guns and rods for hunting and fishing (I'm not sure why the one woman is holding a tin horn, though). Their camping trip, which took place during August sometime in the 1900s or 1910s, is documented in these three photos (the one above and two more below). The location--Cooks Mill--was a small settlement in rural Bedford County, Pennsylvania, that was described in 1900 as having one store, a grist mill, and ten dwellings.

Handwritten message on the back of this real photo postcard: "This is the table where we had a many good meal those ten days. The lady at the end was a visitor. She brought 1 gal. of ice cream along." The seven Raise 'ell campers and a visitor are seated around the table where they had "a many good meal" during their stay. Perhaps they're eating the ice cream that the woman at right brought with her. Next to her are two milk cans, which were probably used to store water. The stream that's visible In the background is Wills Creek , which is still a popular fly-fishing destination today. Is that a Buster Brown outfit that the boy is wearing in this photo and the previous one ?

Handwritten message on the back of this real photo postcard: "To yous all. This is a view of our tents. Rhoads and two of the clerks came down one night. Hunter." The seven Raise 'ell campers are sitting in front of their tents. What appears to be a quilt or coverlet is visible in the first open tent, and the man seated in front of that tent is still holding the shotgun he posed with in the first photo . Charles R. Rhoads was a pharmacist in the nearby town of Hyndman , Pa., in the 1900s and 1910s. Could he have been the Rhoads who--along with two of the clerks in his pharmacy--visited the camp? And how ironic is it--considering the guns that are visible in the photos and the hunting that presumably took place during the camping trip--that the writer's name is "Hunter"!

I'm not sure what to make of this strange vintage postcard. Perhaps it's delivering a message about drinking and driving, or possibly there's a moral about hifalutin folks who party too much hidden in there somewhere. Or maybe it's just showing us something similar to a Batmobile, only with a skull. 8-)

"Compliments of Jonas Lauer, the clothier, 321 Lackawanna Avenue, Scranton, Pa." Other similar Jonas Lauer trade cards feature a dog , an elephant , and a goat .

"Compliments of Jonas Lauer, the clothier, 321 Lackawanna Avenue, Scranton, Pa." Other similar Jonas Lauer trade cards feature an alligator , an elephant , and a goat .