Alan Mays' photos

A knitted photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A real photo postcard with a mother and daughter wearing knitted tops along with plaid pleated skirts.

An insulting " vinegar valentine " for schoolteachers. Schoolmistress You teach each little elf More than you know yourself; And talk like a petticoat college; To spank the little boys Is the greatest of your joys; 'Tis thus you preside at the seat of knowledge. For another example of a vinegar valentine, see Wretched Typo the Printer .

An insulting " vinegar valentine " aimed at printers. Printer Lead-colored claws, tobacco-stained jaws, Wretched Typo, you cram up your stick, Drunk today to your sorrow, half sober tomorrow, And then swear you're a regular "brick." Your foreman condemns how you count up your "ems," How you "sub" it at half-price he likes, But the editor only, at his desk groaning lonely, Damns you and your interminable "strikes." For another example of a vinegar valentine, see You Teach Each Little Elf More Than You Know Yourself .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of your most popular vintage photo (post one of your most viewed or liked vintage photos that you haven't previously added to the Vintage Photos Theme Park) . With 2,884 visits, this is currently my most viewed vintage photo on Ipernity, I'm not sure why a photo of snakes turned out to be so popular. For other photos with lots of views, see my album of Most Viewed Vintage Photos, Dec. 22, 2019 . I was surprised to hear from "MJFTampa" about this photo a couple of years ago (see comments section below). He said, "This is an incredible find for me: This is my father, he worked for Ross Allen from 1962-1965; he was also on a billboard in Panama City Beach promoting Ross' reptile show during the summer season. Amazing what we can find on the internet!" ________ Signs on the wall: "Kinds of poisonous snakes milked at Ross Allen's: 47. Date: 12-31-59. Number of snake-bites, institute personnel: 47. Number of fatalities, institute personnel: 0. Snake-proof boots manufactured by Gokey Co., St. Paul, Minn. Coral. Scarlet king. Gokey snake-proof boots." This is a Kodachrome slide dated January 1964 that shows a man "milking" a rattlesnake at Ross Allen's Reptile Institute in Silver Springs, Florida, in order to obtain venom, which would then be used to produce antivenom . Several other snakes are lying on the floor near the man, who's evidently wearing a pair of the "Gokey snake-proof boots" that are advertised on the wall behind him. According to Wikipedia, Ross Allen (1908-1981) was "an American herpetologist and writer who was based in Silver Springs, Florida for 46 years, where he established the Reptile Institute. He used it for research and education about alligators, crocodiles and snakes, also sponsoring and conducting collection expeditions." See also a linen postcard that shows a scary close-up of the rattlesnake milking :

A linen postcard with a close-up of a rattlesnake being "milked," which supplies venom for use in making antivenom . For another view of the procedure, take a look at a slide of a rattlesnake milking demonstration that also took place at Ross Allen's Reptile Institute in Silver Springs, Florida:

An Ektachrome slide dated July 1964.

A bicycles photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. For other bike photos and ephemera, see my Bicycles and Tricycles album.

Handwritten on the back of the photo: "Bob has his mouth 'opened' as usual. 3/27/38" Stamped on back: "Ritz-y Printz, Mar 28, 1938, 1112 G St., Washington, 16 W. Lexington St., Baltimore, 707 Boardwalk, Atlantic City."

"The Weary Farmer (Up to Date), designed & pub. by Frank W. Swallow, Exeter, N.H." I'm not sure why Frank W. Swallow of Exeter, New Hampshire, published this early twentieth-century postcard, which ridicules the "Weary Farmer," his family, and the hired help for living a life of luxury. One clue might be the well-off real estate dealer, who's standing in front of his office, where the sign says, "No deserted farms left. Fair farms, $5,000.00 to $50,000.00." Was there an economic downturn at some point that caused families to abandon their farms? Did Swallow feel that some farmers and real estate agents were profiting from the misfortune of others? I haven't solved this mystery yet, but in the meantime here's the cast of characters portrayed on the card: The Farmer is fanning himself while lying on a hammock and sipping sweet cider from a straw. The Hired Man is sitting beneath a tree as he smokes a cigarette and reads a dime novel ( Diamond Dick ) with his unused shovel and hoe by his side. The Son is out on the golf course. The Real Estate Dealer is wearing expensive clothing, including a diamond ring. An automobile is parked in front of his real estate office, where there's a sign that says, "No deserted farms left. Fair farms, $5,000.00 to $50,000.00." The Hired Girl is sitting in a rocking chair as she dries the dishes. The Wife and Daughter are dressed in fine clothes as they sip their tea. The Cow , however, is toiling away on a treadmill, supplying the power and the raw material--milk--for the butter and cheese machines, which apparently provide enough income to allow everyone else besides the cow to live a life of leisure.

A "Please Push Button" sign (featuring a manicule or pointing hand mark, like this: ☞) at the John Brown Wax Museum, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, August 4, 2009.

A "Step Down" sign (featuring a manicule or pointing hand mark, like this: ☞) at the Lincoln Train Museum, Gettysburg, Pa., August 12, 2011.

"The Haines Shoe House. Ice cream, tours. Next exit, right to 462, then right to Shoe House Rd." Sign with manicule (the pointing hand mark or ☞) at the Haines Shoe House (below, with mailbox) in Hellam, Pennsylvania.

"Spencerian Steel Pens are the best. Da locum melioribus." Cover of a folded nib card, circa 1890s. Nib pens (or dip pens ) were used for Spencerian Script and other writing styles. The metal tips, or nibs, of the pens were sold separately, and some came in small cardboard folders that had covers with elaborate designs like this.

"Rainbow Cabins, Newcastle, Ont., Canada. 50 miles east of Toronto on No. 2 Highway." A real photo postcard advertising the Rainbow Cabins. Postmarked 1952 on the back.

"The Fifty-Fifth Annual Observance of Groundhog Day, Saturday, February 2, 1963, in the 187th year of the Independence of the United States of America, by the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge of Quarryville in Lancaster County, the Garden Spot of America, likewise in the State of Pennsylvania and the United States of America." This is an enlargement of the groundhog illustration on the front cover of the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge's program for its 1963 celebration. The lodge members call upon their own groundhog, Octoraro Orphie, to forecast the weather in Quarryille , Pennsylvania, each year on Groundhog Day , which occurs on February 2. (Farther west in Pennsylvania, another group, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, relies upon a different groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil , to predict the weather in Punxsutawney , Pennsylvania.) The Colerain Township, Pa. Web site (viewed in 2015 but no longer available in 2017) describes the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge this way: "The Slumbering Groundhog Lodge of Quarryville, Pennsylvania was founded on Groundhog Day, February 2, 1908, by George W. Hensel, Jr. The big boss is a fuzzy buck-toothed creature named 'Orphie' and he has the unique ability to forecast an early or late spring with the help of his shadow. Honorary members of the lodge include Sir Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and J. Edgar Hoover. The purpose of the club is for members to throw away worries, cares, and woes and have a good laugh at themselves." For more information, see the full front cover of this 1963 program , the back cover , and the lodge's 1921 Groundhog Day menu .

The top section of the front cover of this Groundhog Day program from 1963 grandly announces, "The Fifty-Fifth Annual Observance of Groundhog Day, Saturday, February 2, 1963, in the 187th year of the Independence of the United States of America, by the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge of Quarryville in Lancaster County, the Garden Spot of America, likewise in the State of Pennsylvania and the United States of America." The middle section of the cover contains a list of past members of the lodge, while the bottom part advises current members to await the pronouncement of Octoraro Orphie, their Weather Prophet: "Let us sit by the side of the Groundhog hole and wait for the Prophet who knows, who can tell when the winter is over and gone and done with its ice and its snows. Why should we hark to the siren call of those of a spurious clan! Let us sit by the side of a Groundhog hole and wait for the Prophet who can." For additional information about the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge, see an enlargement of the groundhog illustration on the front cover of this 1963 program , the back cover of the program , and the lodge's 1921 Groundhog Day menu .

The Colerain Township, Pa. Web site describes the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge of Quarryville, Pennsylvania, as a club whose members "throw away worries, cares, and woes and have a good laugh at themselves." This is obvious when you take a look at the back the lodge's 1963 program (above), where comical job titles--like Director of Groundhog Dietetics and Impresario of Groundhog Music--are listed for each member. See below for the entire list of "Lodge Titles and Assignments." For additional information about the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge, see an enlargement of the groundhog illustration on the front cover of the 1963 program , the full front cover of the program , and the lodge's 1921 Groundhog Day menu . Lodge Titles and Assignments Prefect of Progeny Surgeon-General and Secretary of Internal Affairs Ear and Radar Technician Potentate Exalted Consultant for Whistle Pigs and Whistle Stops Sunsighter Lecturing Patriarch Defender of the Right of Eminent Domain Prefect of Slumber Watchman by Night Able Sleuth and Locator of Holes Pedagogical Prophet Director of Groundhog Diatetics Assistant Eye Rubber Senior Official Greeter Duke of the Ducats Chief of Secret Service Ambassador Plenipotentiary Director-General of Communications Topographical Engineer Patriarch of Enlightenment Impresario of Groundhog Music Agricultural Representative with Rank of Prophet Clipper de Pate-De Luxe Chief Oiler and Lubricator Specialist in Chronometer Synchronization Doctor of Pow But Not Wow Enlightener DeLuxe Peer of Penumbra Nabob of the Basket Thrice Venerable Patriarch Coordinator of Shadows Maestro of Melodious Music Inspector of Incisors and Bicuspids Director of Groundhog Migration Reguis Professor of Arctomancy Grand Inquisitor Director of Gastronomic and Nutritional Research Patriarch of Degrees Operator Operandi Watchman by Day Junior Official Greeter Inspirational Patriarch Patriarch DeLuxe Ambassador without Stipulated Designation Consultant for Hole Improvements Chief Eye Rubber Councilor for Insurance and Assurance Bailiff of the Bailiwick Lord Chief Justice of Groundhog Jurisdiction Venerable Patriarch Greeter of Distinguished and Extinguished Guests Maestro Strummer of Strings Guardian of the Clover Ambassadorial Patriarch Junior Patriarch Welder of Fraternalism Grand Shillalah and Shamrock Commodore of Seafarers and Safaris Grand Actuary of Action and Reaction Chief Surveyor of Holes Grand Scribe of Scribble and Script Lord High Executioner

"Punxsutawny Beef and Provision Company, Punxsutawny, Penna., packers-manufacturers, beef, pork, veal, lambs, and provisions. H. A. Philliber, general manager. John F. Philliber, business manager. Groundhog Brand hams, bacon, and lard. Weather for today. Date: 11/4/29. Forwarded by: Truck." Punxsutawney , Pennsylvania, is home to Punxsutawney Phil , the famous rodent who predicts the weather each year on Groundhog Day , which is celebrated on February 2. The Punxsutawney Beef and Provision Company used an illustration of its hometown groundhog--complete with an umbrella and "Weather for Today" newspaper report--as the logo on this 1929 billhead. For an example of the company's logo on a matchbook cover, see Groundhog Brand Pure Kettle-Rendered Lard .