Alan Mays' photos

Detail from John Elmer Miller's Birth and Baptismal Certificate, Centre County, Pa., 1874 :

Detail from John Elmer Miller's Birth and Baptismal Certificate, Centre County, Pa., 1874 :

Children are often featured in early twentieth-century Fourth of July postcards. This one (above) shows children participating in a parade, but many others depict kids shooting cannons, setting off fireworks, and performing other dangerous activities (see examples below)

"With freedom's soil beneath our feet, and freedom's banner streaming o'er us." (Lines from Joseph Rodman Drake's poem, "The American Flag.")

"Copyright 1908, P. Sander N.Y." Handwritten on back of postcard: "From Momma for Clarence, July 4th, 1910."

Postmarked June 22, 1910.

And, kids, don't go shootin' up the town and scarin' the neighbors with all your guns, cannons, and fireworks!

"New Home Sewing Machine Co, 1127 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. D. S. Ewing. A painful alternative. I will have a New Home machine! A New Home or a divorce, take your choice, sir!" A Victorian-era before-and-after trade card demonstrating the dire consequences that faced husbands who did not purchase New Home sewing machines for their wives.

"M. Th. Wallin. Axel Rydin Fotograf, Norrköping." A nineteenth-century calling card for M. Th. Wallin by photographer Axel Rydin of Norrköping , Sweden.

"The Fireman. A Dealer in Chops." Axe chops, of course, not pork chops!

"The Manhattan, A. J. Meloney, prop. South Carolina Avenue, Atlantic City, N.J. Near the beach." The proprietor of the Manhattan Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, used an illustration of a Native American on his business card. See below for a selection of other late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century hotel business cards. For additional examples, see my Hotels and Motels album.

"McCall's Ferry Hotel, C. F. Quade, proprietor. Opposite Columbia & Port Deposit Station. P.O. address: Bon View, Lancaster Co., Pa. The popular summer resort along the Susquehanna. Good fishing at all times. First-class accommodations." A photo of the McCall's Ferry Hotel and links to other historical photos from the surrounding Martic Township area are available on the Conestoga Area Historical Society's Web site (thanks to Rita over on Flickr for locating the hotel photo).

"Merchants' House, Denver, Pa. F.P. Miller, prop'r. Bar stocked with the finest wines and liquors. Livery connected."

"Central Avenue Hotel, No. 831 Market Street, Philadelphia. O. H. Dash, proprietor. Terms, two dollars per day. Also, proprietor of Surf House, Atlantic City, N.J."

"Oxford Market Hotel, 1907 and 1909 Oxford Street, Philadelphia. Jones & Co., proprietors. Accommodation for the traveling public, stabling for horses, depot and express wagons to hire."

"Railroad Hotel, corner River and Front Sts., opposite steam boat landing and R.R. depots, Cleveland, Ohio. Geo. Thompson, proprietor. Meals, twenty-five cents. Passengers and baggage conveyed to and from the house, free."

"Northwestern Hotel, Sioux City, Iowa. John Ross, proprieter."