Alan Mays' photos

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

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

Mouse over the image above to see a close-up of the queen and her retinue . Although I purchased this photo at an antique mall in Lewisburg, Pa., it didn't initially occur to me that this was a photo taken at Bucknell University, which is located in the same town. Instead, it seemed likely that this was a scene from "Milton, Pa.," as noted in the lower right-hand corner of the photo. I finally deciphered "Ishiguro," whose photography studio was located in Milton, and that name, along with the "May 1934" date written on the back of the photo, finally led me to Bucknell and its L'Agenda 1936 yearbook, which identified Dorothea Millikin as the 1934 May Queen. A newspaper article that appeared prior to the 1934 May Day celebration, which was part of a Spring Festival, provides additional details about the event: "Bucknell University's first Spring Festival will be held next week-end [Friday, May 11, to Sunday, May 13, 1934] in connection with the annual May Day pageant and Mother's Day celebration. The three-day program will feature dramatic, musical, and athletic events for all students. . . . The annual May Day pageant Saturday afternoon will be preceded by a fashion show and tea for the co-eds and a varsity baseball match with Ursinus [College] for the men. Hundreds of visiting mothers will be entertained at the Mothers Banquet Saturday evening at which the men's glee club will entertain" ( "Bucknell Plans May Day Spring Festival and Mother's Day Event," Gazette and Bulletin [Williamsport, Pa.], May 5, 1934, p. 13). Notation at the lower right-hand corner of the photo: "Ishiguro, Milton, Pa., No. 2." Handwritten date on the back of the photo: "May 1934."

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

A real photo postcard showing a group of men dancing 'round the maypole.

A sleeping photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Why is a sleeping baby perched in the crook of this tree? Who or what is holding the baby up so that it doesn't fall down? Unfortunately, there's no message or other information on the back of this real photo postcard to provide answers to these questions.

Handwritten on the back of the photo: "Lizzie from Paul Neiman. A Rosy Crowd."

Handwritten on the back of the photo: "1345 14th Street No., St. Petersburg, Florida, Wed. morning, Aug. 19th, 1936. All ready to pull out for home." I'm not sure why the photographer decided to hide in the weeds across the street in order to take the picture.

An undated real photo postcard. A man carrying a package was hurriedly walking down the street when the Movie Shots photographer took his picture. For a similar photo, see Woman Walking, Movie Shots Photo, Philadelphia, Pa.

This photographic calling card belonged to Ellen Sophia Auchey (1860-1942), who lived in York County, Pa. The card likely dates to sometime before 1886, which is the approximate year that she married Adam B. Laughman (1865-1930).

The center panel from a milk bottle collar that wrapped around the top of a bottle in order to remind customers who received home delivery of milk to return their empty bottles. For more information, see Milk Bottle Collar: Reminder and Order Form .

A milk bottle collar (for wrapping around the top of a bottle) that served both as a humorous reminder to return empty bottles and as an order form to ask the milkman to deliver specific items (back when dairies used to make regular home deliveries). "Help keep down the cost of your milk by returning your empty bottles. Every unreturned bottle adds to the cost of delivering milk to your door. If you have any empties around your kitchen or basement, please return them." "Lady, please send me home. Empty." "Handy Order Blank. Place over return bottle. Please leave: ________. Name: ________. Address: ________." For an enlargement of the middle panel with the cartoonish milk bottle, see Lady, Please Send Me Home!

"Hotel Lincoln, Chambersburg, Pa. On the Lincoln Highway, U.S. 30." Printed on back: "MWM Color-Litho 'Bursheen' Finished, made only by MWM, Aurora, Mo."

A television photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. For another interesting television photo, see Don't Give Your Televison the Boot . A Kodachrome slide dated August 1962. If you look closely, you can see the reflections of the photographer and his camera on the TV screen (mouse over the photo above for an enlarged view of the reflected image ). The photographer appears to be kneeling or sitting in front of the television in order to take a photo of what may have been his brand new TV set. The bright flash from the camera stands out at the top of the reflected image, the photographer's illuminated fingers are visible at both sides of the camera, and his disembodied pant legs (from the knees down) eerily appear by themselves at the bottom of the TV screen.

Detail from Reflections on a RCA Victor Super Color Television, 1962 , showing the TV screen with its reflected image of the photographer and his camera. The photographer appears to be kneeling or sitting in front of the television in order to take a photo of what may have been his brand new TV set. The bright flash from the camera stands out at the top of the reflected image, the photographer's illuminated fingers are visible at both sides of the camera, and his disembodied pant legs (from the knees down) eerily appear by themselves at the bottom of the TV screen.

A Kodachrome slide dated December 1968. Although there doesn't seem to be anything playing on the television, I doubt that the kids would be that transfixed by a blank TV screen.