Alan Mays' photos

A business card for Slaymaker, Barry and Company (later Slaymaker Lock Company ). Printed by D. B. Landis of Pluck Print, probably sometime in the 1890s. Slaymaker, Barry & Co. Manufacturers of Shelf Hardware Self Locking Scandinavian Pad-Locks Lancaster, Pa. John J. Kane

I chose ostriches in order to pick a theme about animals (or any other topic) for the second week of Wild Card Month—Pick Your Own Theme! in the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Sign: "Cawston Ostrich Farm, South Pasadena, Cal." This is an unmailed real photo postcard with an AZO stamp box (four corner triangles with two pointing up and two pointing down) on the other side, which suggests a date as early as 1917 to 1930. The Cawston Ostrich Farm in South Pasadena, California, was in operation from 1886 to 1935, and many visitors posed for souvenir photos like this. For another example, see Rajah Shriner at the Cawston Ostrich Farm, South Pasadena, Calif.

A real photo postcard of two women and five children posing for a picture along a dirt road. One of the kids is holding a stick or branch, and the youngest is holding an oversized hat (see an enlargement for a better view of the group). A brick house surrounded by trees is in the background. The AZO stamp box on the other side (four corner triangles pointing up) suggests a date as early as 1904 to 1918.

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

A rather blurry and discolored cyanotype real photo postcard.

I chose musicians in order to pick a theme about people (or any other topic) for the first week of Wild Card Month—Pick Your Own Theme! in the Vintage Photos Theme Park. The handwritten message on the front of this real photo postcard (see the left-hand side) is: "Vara Light, 928 Maple St., Lebanon, Pa. Answer soon." There's no stamp or postmark on the other side, but Vara Light addressed the postcard to " Miss Sarah Zimmerman , Linglestown, Pa.," and also wrote a message: "This is a picture taken at Mt. Aetna last summer. The one standing is my uncle, a minister. Also the one with the violin [meaning that the violinist is also one of her uncles?]. The lady with the guitar is my aunt. Am working now in Lebanon. Tell Miles to answer my card." This postcard back has an AZO stamp box (four corner triangles pointing up), which suggests a date as early as 1904 to 1918. Vara Katherine Light married William Hoehle Keller on September 1, 1910, and at that time her address was 330 N. 9th Street, Lebanon, Pa. It seems likely, then, that the card dates to sometime prior to their wedding. I haven't been able to identify which of Vara's aunts and uncles might be the musicians in the photo, but they may have been siblings of her father, Harry Henry Light , who was a prominent businessman in Lebanon, Pa. I previously posted a Small-Town Parade with Cornet Band and Church Float photo for the theme of people playing musical instruments in 2014 and another photo showing Pop Morehead's Family for the theme of musicians and musical instruments this past April. For other photos and ephemera, see my Music and Musicians album.

A cars and trucks photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. This is a real photo postcard addressed on the other side to Mr. Sam Ekey, Warren, Pa., R.D. #4, and postmarked in Warren, Pa., on March 31, 1913. Handwritten message: "Warren, Pa., 3/30, 1913. Dear Brother, Wm. Kopf would like to have his posts Saturday. If you need the money take it, 12½¢ each. Frank needs about 10 7 fts. Maybe we can give Henderson his and give Frank Henderson's from last year [meaning, as far as I can understand, that "Henderson" is going to get the fence posts originally intended for "Frank," and Frank is going to receive his ten seven-foot fence posts from among the ones that they prepared for Henderson last year]. Everything OK. Norman has the mumps. He is at home on the farm. E.E." It's likely that "E.E." was Emil Ekey (1886-1976), who was writing to older brother, Sam Ekey (1881-1965). "Frank" may have been Frank A. Ekey (1868-1959), another brother. A quick search didn't yield any information regarding the other individuals--William Kopf, Henderson, and Norman--that Emil mentions. The flooded street was the result of the Great Flood of 1913 , which "occurred between March 23 and March 26, after major rivers in the central and eastern United States flooded from runoff and several days of heavy rain." I assume that the photo shows a street in Warren , which is located in northeastern Pennsylvania at the confluence of the Allegheny River and Conewango Creek. The license plate on the car in the photo is no. "23801, Penna., 1913," and the man in the driver's seat is looking back at the photographer. Beyond the automobile there are three people--one of them only visible through the vehicle's windshield--wading through the floodwaters. To the left of the threesome is a mailbox stranded by the water, and to its left are two individuals standing in the doorway of a building. A mailman wearing waders and holding a mailbag is standing in the water on the right-hand side of the photo. Perhaps he was headed over to the mailbox to collect the mail. Emil didn't mention the flood in the note he wrote to his brother. I wonder if either of them knew any of the people in the photo. It would also be interesting to know who the photographer was.

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park topic of disasters (fires, earthquakes, floods, etc) . Caption on this real photo postcard: "Cyclone, June 12, 1911. S. Otselic, N.Y." Damage to trees from a cyclone (tornado) that hit South Otselic , New York, on June 12, 1911. For another photo taken the same day, see Cyclone Damage on Barn , an image from the collection of the Farmers' Museum, Cooperstown, New York.

A Swedish matchbox label branded with the names of Argus , the multi-eyed giant of Greek mythology, and Vulcan , the Roman god of fire. "The Argus Vulcan Safety Matches. Made at Tidaholm, Sweden. Contents 60 matches."

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park topic of distinctive houses . This is an unmailed real photo postcard with an AZO stamp box (four corner triangles pointing up) on the other side, which suggests a date as early as 1904 to 1918. The photo shows a one-story house with a square hip (or pyramid) roof and a central chimney, along with gingerbread trim on the small porches at the front and on the left. A young girl, a collie dog, and a man with suspenders and a straw hat are standing in front of the house. A close-up view reveals that there's a second dog lying in the grass on the right-hand side of the building.

A photo of a girl, a dog, and a man standing in front of a house, location and date unknown. Note that there's a second dog lying in the grass on the right-hand side of the building. For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard.

"We will be closed on Acsension [Ascension] Day, May 30, & Penicost [Pentecost] Monday, June 10." A sign sighted at an Old Order Amish business near Maytown, in western Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, May 27, 2019. A smaller handwritten sign that I saw at another Amish business on the same day simply said that they'd be closed for a religious holiday on May 30. Amish businesses in Lancaster County close on Ascension Day and Pentecost Monday , and the Amish spend the day visiting family and friends.

A photo of three women, three men, or three children for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "On a toot in Chicago, Ill., Jan. 18/08. E. R. Negur. R. S. Hambliton. P. C. Pell." A real photo postcard addressed on the other side to Miss Ethel Barber, Oberlin, Ohio, 99 S. Prof. St. Postmarked at Chicago, Ill., Jan. 20, 1908, and at Oberlin, Ohio, on the same date. Handwritten message: "Sun., 1/18/08. The auto on the other side is busted now, or I would take you riding. I left Roy take it & he broke it. The streets are crowded with extra news boys all about war with Japan. Heard Burr McIntosh lecture tonight, and he claims war will come soon. Heard [Gum Savlans?] this a.m."

A woman uses an umbrella to protect herself and her daughter from the menacing approaches of a giraffe and seal in this nineteenth-century advertising trade card by M. F. Tobin for Hayward's, a dry goods store in New York City. Hayward's 131 Eighth Avenue, bet. 16th & 17th Sts., New York. Silk umbrellas, $1.00 & $1.50 a specialty. Repairing & recovering. Copyrighted 1881, M. F. Tobin, N.Y.

A ticket or invitation for the "Second Sociable" held by the Marietta Dancing Class in Marietta, Pennsylvania, on February 22, 1887. I haven't been able to locate any information about the dancing class or Samuel B. Gramm 's role as instructor. The date of February 22 suggests that the dance may have been a celebration for George Washington's Birthday . The Marietta Dancing Class S. B. Gramm, instructor, Invite you to attend their Second Sociable, on Tuesday evening, Feb'y 22d, 1887, at the Marietta Rink Music by Taylor's Orchestra.

A parades photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A photo of engineering students from the Pennsylvania State College (now Penn State University) participating in a parade, probably sometime in the 1910s, The sign above the horse-drawn wagon that's carrying the first parade float (on the right-hand side of the photo) identifies it as belonging to the "Department of Mechanics and Materials of Construction," which was established in 1906. Today it's known as the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics within the University's College of Engineering. Students on the wagon appear to be operating some sort of machinery (a lathe, perhaps?). The next float (in the middle of the photo) is mounted on an automobile. A student marching in front of it is carrying a sign proclaiming, "I Can Travel 30 Miles in 10 Hours." The sign on the side of the automobile says, "Railway Mechanical Engineering," and then--as far as I can tell--repeats the student's sign: "I Can Travel 30 Miles in 10 Hours." A model of a locomotive is barely visible at the back of the float, but I'm not sure whether railway travel at 3 miles per hour for 10 hours was an engineering achievement worthy of a parade float in the early twentieth century. Finally, almost hidden in the shadows in the upper left-hand corner of the photo is another horse-drawn float with a sign for "The Thespians."

Students demonstrate some sort of machinery on a parade float. For more information see the full photo: Penn State Engineering Students on Parade, ca. 1910s .

The first line of the sign on the side of this parade float says, "Railway Mechanical Engineering," and--as far as I can tell--the second line is "I Can Travel 30 Miles in 10 Hours," which is also the message on the sign that the student is carrying. A model of a locomotive is barely visible at the back of the float. Was railway travel at 3 miles per hour for 10 hours an engineering accomplishment worthy of a parade float in the early twentieth century? For more information see the full photo: Penn State Engineering Students on Parade, ca. 1910s .