Alan Mays' photos

A looking at the camera photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Sign on the wall behind the train: "Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden, 17.9.62" ("Berchtesgaden Salt Mine, 9/17/62.") Twenty-four riders on a mine train are peering intently at the photographer's camera in this souvenir photo from the Berchtesgaden Salt Mine in Bavaria, Germany, on September 17, 1962. For a similar photo from a different mine, see Hallein Salt Mine Tour, near Salzburg, Austria, July 31, 1962

"You bet I am the stuff."

A snow or sand photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Handwritten caption on the back of this snapshot: "Dec. 1951. Nancy Ellen Isaacs."

"Wishing you a happy New Year." A Victorian-era greeting for the New Year.

"Viel Glück zum neuen Jahre." (Good luck for the New Year.)

Rev. B. L. C. Baer was the pastor of the Highspire Church of God in Highspire, Pa. New Year Greeting, 1912 Being deprived the privilege of coming into your home I still herewith extend to you the greetings of the season. My good wishes for your happiness and success are not limited to a day or a week--they continue throughout the year; but at this joyous Christmas and New Year season I gladly renew and emphasize my good wishes, and as I count my blessings I find your good will among those most highly prized. B. L. C. Baer, Highspire, Pa.

A futuristic photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A snapshot of a woman in a somewhat tilted view of the Unisphere , an example of the futuristic (or futurist) architecture of the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair .

Caption on the front of this postcard: " C.V.R.R. Yards, Williams Grove, Pa." Printed on the back: "14546 - Pub. by A. M. Deichler, Lancaster, Pa., for J. Hurst Est., Mechanicsburg, Pa." Postmarked Mechanicsburg, Pa., Aug. 30, 1918, and addressed to Miss Grace Hoy, 730 S. Duke St., York, Pa. Handwritten message: "Dear Cousin, Expected to see you at the Grove but failed to see you there. Such a crowd of people I never seen as was there on Thursday. All well. Hope this will find you all the same. Emma." A photographic version of this scene appeared in " Grangers at the Grove: Annual Farmers Exhibition Ended Nearly a Century Ago ," a newpaper article by Joseph Cress, which was published in The Sentinel (Carlisle, Pa.), Sept. 5, 2015. "Engine Number 30 arrives in Williams Grove during the Grangers' Picnic in 1916" was the caption of the photographic version, which was provided by the Cumberland County Historical Society.

A ticket or invitation for a "Universal Ball" held in Keene, New Hampshire, on March 5, 1852. As listed on the ticket, musician S. K. Conant played both the violin and the "Kolquearougion," an instrument he invented. Although a newspaper article in 1859 called his invention the "Kolquearougion Bells," I haven't been able to uncover any additional information about it. Universal Ball Your company, with ladies, is respectfully solicited at the Town Hall, in Keene, on Friday evening, March 5, 1852. Music by Hall & Conant's Celebrated Lowell Brass Band. D. C. Hall, cornet and bugle; S. K. Conant, violin and Kolquearougion; B. Hall, clarionett and piccolo; G. P. Kittredge, violin and prompter; W. Bennett, bass. Tickets, $1.50, to be obtained of authorized agents, and at the door. Dancing to commence at seven o'clock.

What kid wouldn't want a Simplex toy typewriter that's endorsed by Santa and works well enough to "write a good business letter"? If you're not convinced yet, take a look at the other side of this advertising card to see samples of the typewriting. For a later Santa Simplex ad, see Santa's Favorite Simplex Typewriters, 1908 . Simplex Typewriters $1.00 up. Novel and useful holiday gifts. Anyone can use them. My dear child, Come and see my grand display, more wonderful than your wildest dream of Fairy Land. Yours for fun, Santa. At my headquarters. Walter S. Calvert, 3 Main St., New London, Conn. Nicely finished machines that will write a good business letter and machines so simple a child learning its first letters will be helped. Presents that please and benefit the user and reflect credit on the giver.

See also the front of this Simplex Typewriter advertisement. For a later die-cut ad, see Santa's Favorite Simplex Typewriters, 1908 . Walter S. Calvert, 3 Main St., New London, Conn. Toys, Dolls, and Games. Sample of work of Simplex No. 1, $1.00 Dear old Santa, Please I want the 1905 typewriter. This one will be fine for cousin Jim. Sample of work of Simplex No. 2½, $2.50. Dear Gladys, I am delighted with my Simplex and do so love writing to you: Are you not to get one? Sample of work of Simplex No. 5, $5.00 Dear Father: This is in all essentials an efficient typewriter and is easy to operate. Thanks. Frank. (see other side )

A 1950s Christmas display at the National Christmas Center near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, features Jimmy, his sister, and Santa Claus. The jolly old gent is looking closely at Jimmy's note—"Dear Santa, please pause here"—which refers to the bottle of Coca-Cola ("the pause that refreshes") that Jimmy left for Santa on the mantelpiece. The kids are so surprised at seeing Santa that they haven't even noticed the unwrapped toys, including a Blockhead! party game box, that he's left for them underneath the Christmas tree.

A photo of something beginning with C —in this case, a coach on a photographic Christmas card —for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "Best wishes for a Merry Christmas. Ollie." Oliver "Ollie" Fawcett coached the Lycoming Dairy team, which was an early Little League Baseball team in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He used a photograph of himself and the team on this Christmas card from the 1950s. Coach Fawcett and the boys are posing in front of the field house at what is now known as the historic Carl E. Stotz Field , which is named after the founder of Little League .

Coach Oliver "Ollie" Fawcett and the Lycoming Dairy Little League Baseball team posing in front of the field house at the historic Carl E. Stotz Field . Fawcett used this photo on a Christmas card in the early 1950s.

Christmas 1922 Greeting To all our friends--and if, perchance there be any who do not have for us a friendly feeling, even to them--we wish a Merry Christmas. May the end of a perfect day be yours When the evening stars appear; And may every day be a perfect day To the end of a perfect year Sincerely, your pastor, Luther B. Hafer, Taneytown, Md.

Doesn't every little kid yearn for a pipe-smoking pup for Christmas?

"May your family fireside radiate and reflect the warmth and glow of a happy Christmas. Long & Company, one-half square east of R.R. sta. Phone 19. Lititz, Pennsylvania. Famous Reading Anthracite."

"Christmas Greetings and Best Wishes for the New Year. The Disques."