Alan Mays' photos

Outer Space Guide Instructions: Find desired planet on this wheel. Set it opposite arrow on bottom piece. In windows provided find answers. Diameter in miles. Period of revolution around sun. Mass (Earth = 1.00). Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.

This Cuthbertson wheel chart displayed the different conjugations for German verbs, but versions for other languages were also available.

1. Turn calorie wheel to "0" in small window. 2. Insert finger in notch indicating the calorie count for each item of food eaten. Push notch to bottom of slot. 3. Read total calories in window. It will add up to the total for each meal. For extremely heavy meals, where calorie wheel makes more than one complete revolution, add 1000 to total shown.

This advertising wheel chart for Gübelin watches and clocks displays the difference in time around the world and includes a "bright Swiss coin" to "bring you luck."

For the other side of this wheel chart , see How Quickly Can You Stop? (below). "Keystone Automobile Club Safe Driving Calculator. Miles per hour: 55. Feet per second: 81. Average stopping distance: 271. See other side."

For the other side of this wheel chart , see the Keystone Automobile Club Safe Driving Calculator (below). "How Quickly Can You Stop? The average stopping distances in the Keystone Calculator are based on the average breaking distance plus the distance covered in ¾ of a second, which is the average 'reaction time,' the period which elapses between the instant danger is observed and the actual application of the brakes. . . . Keystone Automobile Club. The Motorist's Friend Since 1906."

"Davidson Modern Movers. Agents: United Van Lines, Inc. Pre-planned moving in sanitized vans. Davidson. Fast motor freight. Proven dependability since 1896. 'Feature' matchbook. Pat. 1,839,845-6. Lion Match Co., Baltimore, Md." A die-cut matchbook cover.

A real photo postcard showing a fife and drum band. Mouse over the image above for a close-up view of the band members .

See also the full version of this real photo postcard.

An artists or art photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. This Kodachrome slide is dated February 1967. The woman, whose first name is Ethel, apparently painted this still life along with a number of other oil paintings that are pictured in additional slides I purchased together in one tray a couple of years ago. For another example, see this clown painting from a Kodachrome slide dated December 1968.

A Kodachrome slide dated December 1968. For another work of art by the woman who painted this clown, see Ethel's Oil Painting, 1967 .

Rebus: "Eye AM Uriah E. Heckert. W-Hoe T-He Devil R Yew?" Translation: "I am Uriah E. Heckert. Who the devil are you?" Acquaintance cards--like this rebus version--continue to attract some media attention. The latest is a Daily Mail posting by Annabel Fenwick Elliott on April 24. See her discussion of these "cheeky cards": " May I Have the Pleasure of Seeing You Home?' The 'Flirtation Cards' 19th-Century Men Used to Woo Ladies (But They Had to Be Returned If She Wasn't Interested) ."

A photo of a new beginning for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "When children in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Austria set off for their first day in school upon entering first grade," Wikipedia explains, "their parents and/or grandparents present them with a big cardboard cone"--called a Schultüte or school cone--"prettily decorated and filled with toys, chocolate, candies, school supplies, and various other goodies. It is given to children to make this anxiously awaited first day of school a little bit sweeter." I'm not sure whether this boy was anxious or confident as he held his decorated Schultüte (is that Betty Boop in a sailor cap on the side of the cone?), but this tradition must have been an exciting way for him to mark a new beginning as a student on his first day of school. For more photos of students commemorating their first day of school in this way, see the Schultüte - School Cone group.

"Nasturtium Dwarf. Price 5¢." An early chromolithographed seed packet from the William D. Burt seed company of Dalton, N.Y.

"My Glass Bottom Boat Ride at Silver Springs. Walter Ray." A cleverly constructed souvenir folder and photo, positioned together so that it seems like we're peering into the front of the boat to see the passengers inside. Silver Springs is a long-standing Florida tourist attraction (and more recently a state park ) known for its artesian springs and glass-bottom boat rides. Walter Ray, for whom the boat is named, was one of the co-owners of Silver Springs. For a similar image, see PopCulture's glass-bottom boat photo .

A real photo postcard with a gun-toting couple who have bagged a pair of rats or some other kind of small varmint.

"Hotel Langford. Lighted by electricity. Heated by steam. Everything new. Sample room for traveling men. Near the passenger station. Baths--hot and cold. Rates, $2.00 per day. Susquehanna, Penn. F. F. Langford, propr." This nineteenth-century business card indicates that the Hotel Langford catered to salesmen (called "commercial travelers" or "traveling men" at the time) by offering them "sample rooms" where they could display their wares for potential customers.