Alan Mays' photos

A detail showing the magazine issue that the girls were using as a prop while their picture was taken. For more info, see the full version of the real photo postcard. Front cover: Studio Light [Incorporating] The Aristo Eagle The Artura Bulletin May [1919?] A Magazine of Information [for the Profession] Published by the Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y. Back cover: The whole story of print perfection told in a word is: Aristo

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of smiling faces of yesteryear - photos of smiling people . A Silver Springs souvenir folder with a photo positioned so that it looks like we're peering into the front of the boat to see the smiling passengers inside. Silver Springs is a Florida tourist attraction -- and now a state park -- known for its artesian springs and glass-bottom boat rides. For an earlier example, see another Glass Bottom Boat Ride photo and folder.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of adults at play . Printed on the other side of this real photo postcard: "Souvenir of Saltair Beach, Season of 1918, Dave Levene, Manager." Handwritten note on the verso: "Saltair, July 7, 1918. Eleanor & June." On July 7, 1918, this group of about thirty-five adults and three or four kids stopped playing in the water long enough to pose for a picture at Saltair Beach , a resort located in Utah along the shore of the Great Salt Lake.

A small Victorian-era trade card for George W Kissinger (1855-1935), a merchant in Reading, Pennsylvania. Geo. W. Kissinger, Flour, Feed & Potatoes, No. 929 Penn St., Reading, Pa. Bufford

This is a bright orange nineteenth-century business card for George Roch (1852-1913). A number of directories list him as a music teacher or musician, usually with an address in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, rather than Lebanon. John H. Long (1850-1925) was a carpenter and organ manufacturer in Lebanon. Prof. Geo. Roch, Music Teacher and Tuner of Organs and Pianos, at J. H. Long's Organ Factory, Lebanon, Pa. 174 Instruments tuned between February 1, 1885, and September 7, 1885.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of an accident happened (the results) . A 1973 photo showing the aftermath of a fender bender involving a light blue VW Bug. A police officer, partially visible at the right, is already on the scene. Pedestrians on the sidewalk and a telephone booth are visible down the block.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of railroad tracks . A photographer captured two women walking side by side along abandoned railroad tracks. This is an unused real photo postcard without any message, address, stamp, or postmark. The type of Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) printed on the other side suggests a possible date that may be as early as 1904 to 1918. See also a cropped version of the photo.

Notice the hill that's visible in the distance beyond the women who are walking along the railroad tracks. At the top of the hill are wooden utility poles for telephone, telegraph, and/or electrical lines. See also the full version of this real photo postcard.

I chose televisions for the Vintage Photos Theme Park theme of pick your own theme about things—objects, artifacts, or items . A young boy, who's wearing a robe over pajamas, is playing a toy guitar as he sits on an ottoman. There's a television set on the table behind him, and the walls are covered with the type of knotty pine paneling that was popular in the 1940s and 1950s. The boy's pajamas and all the Christmas decorations -- a poinsettia on the fireplace, ornaments in a glass bowl on top of the TV, and some more ornaments on the table that's partially visible on the right -- make me wonder if the boy has just received the guitar as a present on Christmas morning.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of clouds (literally or figuratively — above the clouds, beyond, cloud nine, head in them, silver linings, or what have you?) . Two women pose with a paper moon in front of a painted backdrop decorated with clouds and stars. This is an unused real photo postcard with a divided back but no stamp box. See also the full version of the photo.

A paper moon picture with fingerprints, smudges, and other imperfections. See also a cropped version of the photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of Christmas in July (why wait until December? post a photo for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, or any other similar holiday celebration) . An undated color snapshot. I guess Santa didn't bring that kid what he wanted!

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of be a clown (clowns, people dressed as clowns, or people clowning around) . Banner (upper left): "8th Ward Camping Club." I haven't been able to determine where the Eighth Ward Camping Club was located or why its members were dressed up in clown costumes and other amusing getups. Considering that there's a fellow behind the group who's delivering a tray full of mugs filled with beer, I'm sure that they're enjoying themselves. See a cropped version of the photo for a closer look at the costumes. The type of Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) printed on the other side of this photo postcard suggests a possible date that may be as early as 1904 to 1918.

A closer view of the Eighth Ward Camping Club's costumes. For more information, see the full version of the photo.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of bicycle or bicycles . This is an undated photo of a bicycle with training wheels. The bike is conveniently parked in someone's living room right between an RCA Victor television and a small table with a lamp.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of car plus woman (photo of a car with a woman standing near, sitting on, or draped upon it) . This is an undated photo of a woman posing with her family's automobile. It must have been a new car, since her whole family posed with it. I have three other photos showing the woman standing in front of the car, one with her husband, another with her son, and the third with her mother. The husband and the woman's mother also posed separately with the auto in two additional photos.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of distinctive houses . Caption: "The Hornberger Cottage, Central Oak Heights, West Milton , Pa." The Hornberger Cottage, originally called the Woodlawn Cottage when it was built in 1909, was purchased by Jerome Hornberger (1876-1936) in 1919. Central Oak Heights , located in Union County, Pennsylvania, originated in 1909 as a religious camp meeting affiliated with the United Evangelical Church but is now simply an association of cottage owners. The Hornberger Cottage was the "grandest of 62 frame homes built at Central Oak Heights," according to Jeannette Lasansky's book, Union County River Towns (Arcadia Publishing, 2011), p. 106. The cottage is notable for its wide porch on the first floor and balconies on the second and third levels. The porch and balconies were all later enclosed, as shown in a photo published in the booklet, Central Oak Heights, 100 Years, 1909—2009: Cottage Histories (PDF, 2009), p. 18. In this photo, we see that a man and six women are standing in front of the cottage or sitting on the porch. I found it strange that another woman is standing by herself on the second-floor balcony. A cropped version of the photo provides a closer look at the woman and reveals that she's wearing dark glasses, suggesting that she may be blind. After checking further, I believe that the woman on the balcony is Grace Hornberger (1899-2007), who was Jerome's daughter. Grace lived to the age of 108, but she became blind at the age of 18 due to unknown causes (see Karen Blackledge, " Area Woman, Blind Since Youth, Listens to Books ," an otherwise unidentified newspaper clipping from 1999 posted to Find a Grave).

A close-up view of the man and women outside the Hornberger Cottage, along with the woman with dark glasses standing by herself on the second-floor balcony. For more information, see the original version of the real photo postcard.