Alan Mays' photos

A close-up of the girl. See also the full photo .

A detail showing the photo that the girl is holding. For more information, see the full cabinet card photo of the girl .

I spotted this store display of Punxsutawney Phil groundhogs rendered in solid milk chocolate at a Gardners Candies store in State College, Pennsylvania, last year. I'm pleased to report today on Groundhog Day , February 2, 2019, that the esteemed rodent has predicted an early spring this year. Despite CNN's cynicism—see Groundhog predicts an early spring. Don't get too excited, he's usually wrong —I'm optimistic that the long national nightmare of last week's polar vortex is finally over.

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park monthly topic of snow (submit a photo on this topic each week in addition to—or instead of—a photo for the weekly topic) . Five fellows are flinging snow at each other in this real photo postcard. No date or location, unfortunately.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of hold it (people holding something) . These three guys are holding guns and a baton as they pose in cowboy and police costumes. Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "Metropolitan Photo Studio, 645 Sixth Ave., N.Y." The signs in the background are difficult to read. Two of them are: "Brother Jones' Gin Mill." "We use the best chemicals in our distillery."

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of flawed memories (photos that are damaged, faded, or have other imperfections, especially ones in which the flaws somehow enhance the image; this includes photos with defective processing, light leakage, and double exposures) . A spooky CDV with an unidentified faceless family. Perhaps their faces were somewhat washed out in the original photo, but they may also have been intentionally rubbed out afterwards. Take a gander at a cropped version of the CDV for a closer look at the family's faint facial features. For another faceless photo, see Who's the Dummy Now?

A close-up of a faceless family foursome on a nineteenth-century CDV. See also the full photo .

The Nickelodean , a trade magazine for the early film industry, included a state-by-state listing of news "Among the Picture Theaters" in its issue for March 4, 1911. Under the section for Pennsylvania (p. 260), it noted, "A moving picture theater has been opened in the Richland House Hall at Richland." The Richland House was a hotel in Richland , Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, but I haven't been able to uncover any other information about this ticket or the moving picture theater held in the hotel's hall. Searching for "Braden & Funny Little Tommy" didn't yield any results either. The back of the ticket gives the dates of the shows as Saturday and Monday, February 22 and 24, without specifying a year. Thanks to Time and Date's Weekday Calculator , I was able to determine that February 22 and 24 fell on Saturdays and Mondays in the years of 1902, 1908, 1913, 1919, and 1930. Since the theater at the Richland House evidently opened in 1911, I'm guessing that this ticket dates to 1913. The Braden Entertainment with Edison Talking Moving Pictures Two hours of good show. Fun, travel, industrial, Wild West, cowboy, and lots of others. Braden & Funny Little Tommy. Bring this ticket first night only as you will have a chance to secure a Kalba diamond stick pin absolutely free. Admission, 10 cents. Free! Back of ticket: Richland House Hall. Saturday and Monday, 7:30 P.M. Feb. 22-24.

See the front of this ticket for more information. Richland House Hall Saturday and Monday, 7:30 P.M. Feb. 22-24.

A distinguished gent in a souvenir real photo postcard from "Miami, Fla., 1922," as it says on the tree stump. Looks like the poor fellow is fending off alligators with his cane as he poses in front of a scenic backdrop of ocean, sky, and coconut tree, all of which received appropriate tinting after the photo was developed. For an untinted photo from the same studio, see Man and Dog with Alligators on the Beach (note that the tree stump is hidden behind the dog).

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park monthly topic of snow (submit a photo on this topic each week in addition to—or instead of—a photo for the weekly topic) . This photo reminds me of the one-liner that Henny Youngman made famous: "That Snow Lady, she's my wife!" There's no date or location on this snapshot, unfortunately. For another snow lady, see Nancy and Her Snowwoman, December 1951 .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo of strollers, prams, or baby carriages (including the kind that's the subject of Rick's Taylor-Tot Stroller Vintage Memories group) . Stamped on the back of this photo: "James Lett Co., Dec. 29, 1942." I've heard about rubber baby buggy bumpers, but this is the first time I've seen a baby carriage made out of bricks! Or at least that's what it looks like in this wintertime double exposure of a kid in a stroller combined with a brick porch. Check out the full, uncropped version , too.

An odd double-exposure photo of a bricked-over baby carriage that's more amusing than ghostly. See the cropped version for additional information.

Handwritten note on the back of this photo: "Xmas 61 - Cloyd in front [of] our house. I wanted to get the top of the house. Almost missed him. Got it too high." Stamped on back: "Jack Rabbit Co., Spartanburg, S.C."

An early twentieth-century postcard that could be customized with the name of any city or town.

An amusing postcard that draws upon the "Oh You Kid!" craze of 1909 for its humor. This card was a bit risqué for its time, suggesting that a husband might fool around with other women while his wife is away. The caption on the card comes from the song, " My Wife’s Gone to the Country! Hurrah! Hurrah! ,” which was one of the "Oh You Kid!" songs published as sheet music in 1909: My wife’s gone to the country, hurray! hurray! She thought it best "I need the rest" That’s why she went away She took the children with her, hurray! hurray! I love my wife, but oh, you kid! My wife’s gone away In this age of social media, it's difficult to appreciate just how popular this--nudge, nudge, wink, wink--idea of "I love my wife, but oh, you kid!" became as it circulated in print through sheet music, postcards, and newspapers. Jody Rosen, however, documents its wide-ranging influence in a fascinating article that appeared in Slate magazine. See " How a Sexed-up Viral Hit from the Summer of '09–1909–Changed American Pop Music Forever ." For some additional postcard and sheet music examples, see my Oh You Kid! and Its Variants album.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of the secret lives of grown-ups (adults letting loose and having fun or possibly behaving badly with other adults; all in good taste, of course) . Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "Novelty Studio, 1118 First Ave., Seattle." These three couples are ready for a party. The woman on the left, who's a little out of focus for some reason, is holding a ratchet noisemaker . The man in the back on the left is holding a BPO[E] ( Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks ) flag that's draped over the shoulder of the woman in the middle. The woman on the right is holding a mask (mouse over the image for a better look at the noisemaker, flag, and mask ). The man on the right has some sort of flag tucked under his right arm, and all of them except that man are wearing party or regular hats. Were they attending a New Year's party at an Elks Lodge?

The woman on the left is holding a ratchet noisemaker . A BPO[E] ( Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks ) flag is draped over the shoulder of the woman in the middle. The woman on the right is holding a mask. Take a look at the full version of this real photo postcard to see the entire group of partygoers.