Alan Mays' photos

"McNeil's Pain Exterminator, liver and blood pills. The J. X. Quigley Co., proprietors, Harrisburg, Pa."

"William Bohlmann, dealer in cigars and tobacco, No. 3 Main Street, Yonkers, N.Y."

"C. Byron Morse, fine and fancy cakes, ice cream, etc. Dining parlors for ladies and gentlemen, 912 Arch Street, Philad'a. Copyright 1878 by L. Prang & Co."

"Super Atomic Brand. Supercharged Flashlight Crackers. Super size, super report, super power, super flash. Made in Portuguese Macau. Lay on ground, light fuse, get away quickly."

"Diligence. The hand of the diligent maketh rich. Prov. X. 4." Stamped on the back of the card: "Union S.S., Churchville, Penn'a." Handwritten name on the back: "Kate." Kate evidently received this small Sunday school card as a reward for her attendance (or perhaps for some activity like reciting a Bible verse) at the Union Sunday School in the appropriately named town of Churchville, Pennsylvania.

A German boy with a "Rheinland" cap and knapsack is ready for his first day of school. He's holding a Schultüte (school cone) that has the words "zum ersten Schulgang" ("for the first day of school") printed on it.

Yikes!

An early label for Dwight's Cow Brand Soda.

"Pauline - The President's Cow. Mrs. T. W. Cochran." According to Wikipedia, " Pauline Wayne was a Holstein cow which belonged to William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States....From 1910 to 1913, Miss Wayne freely grazed the White House lawn. She was the last presidential cow to live at the White House and was considered as much a Taft family pet as she was livestock." I haven't been able to locate any information regarding Mrs. T. W. Cochran, who presumably was the photographer or postcard publisher.

Judging from the Euclid Beach pennant visible on the right-hand side, this real photo postcard of a girl milking a fake cow while two fake bulldogs stand guard was probably a souvenir from Euclid Beach Park , which was an amusement park located along Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio.

An African American photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Handwritten note on the back of this photo: "Gloria . . . and her wedding desk, Met. Life Ins., Oct. 1951." This "wedding desk" seems to be part of a bridal shower for Gloria in a Metropolitan Life Insurance Company office in 1951. It appears to be taking place in a large open room with other desks and people in the background and fluorescent lights overhead. The bride-to-be is wearing a corsage, there are a couple of roses in a vase on the desk, and additional flowers decorate the trellis that serves as a backdrop. On the desk itself are what I assume to be gifts--bowls, a shiny electric appliance of some sort (a waffle maker or roaster, perhaps?), a clock, a knife set, and an opened box of chocolate candies (mouse over the image above for a close-up view of the desktop ). It looks like Gloria is tasting something that was prepared in the pan in front of her, which may also have been a gift. Has anyone else ever heard of a workplace bridal shower referred to as a "wedding desk"?

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

"Hosford & Ketcham, Stationers, Nos. 57 and 59 William Street, New York." A Victorian-era business card with elaborate and colorful typefaces.

Three signs with slightly different wording are visible on this real photo postcard: - "This is Mrs. Campbell's Bar-B-Q." - "This is Mrs. Campbell's Home of the Bar-B-Q." - "This is Mrs. Campbell's Home Bar-B-Q." Judging from the few newspaper advertisements that I was able to track down, Mrs. Campbell's Bar-B-Q was in business near Tyrone, Pennsylvania, during the late 1920s and early 1930s. One ad in the Tyrone Daily Herald , Dec. 22, 1927, p. 8, provides the following information: "Chicken and Waffles Sunday. At Mrs. Campbell's Barbecue. Come and eat all of Mrs. Campbell's famous waffles you can eat. 5 miles west of Tyrone, near Bland's Park. Phone 9756-R." Bland's Park is now known as DelGrosso's Amusement Park and is located along Pleasant Valley Boulevard (also called Old U.S. Route 220) between Tyrone and Altoona. Although the park is still in existence, I haven't been able to determine what happened to Mrs. Campbell's Bar-B-Q. The latest mention of the eatery that I was able to find was an announcement in the Altoona Mirror newspaper for April 10, 1934, p. 20: "The Ladies' Aid society of the Methodist church will meet at Mrs. Campbell's barbecue on Wednesday evening, April 11."

A religious photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A first communion photo of a girl with a superimposed ghostly image of Jesus. The folded cardboard frame that holds the photo is decorated with a printed border and includes the studio name, "Stanley of Hazleton, Pa." (see below for the photo and border ).

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

Now you know! A question posed and answered at the York County Heritage Trust's amazing Agricultural and Industrial Museum in York, Pennsylvania.

Handwritten note on the back of this photo: "Andy's Pants. 7/20/35."