Alan Mays' photos

A business card by Pluck Print with an illustration of anthropomorphic pigs by the Philadelphia engraving firm of Crosscup and West. C. L. Hartz Dealer in all kinds of first-class smoked meats, such as ham, dried beef, bologna, breakfast bacon, &c Cheese: New York state, full cream, imported Swiss, sapsago, kimmel, and Limburger. 223 East Frederick St., Lancaster, Pa. At Northern and Central Markets. Avenue C, stalls 37 and 39, Northern Market. Pluck Print. Buyers Office. Crosscup & West, Phila.

"There are some fish around here. Greetings from Beach Haven Terrace, N.J." Printed on the back: "Series 925, Freak Fish, 12 designs." See also There Are Some Fish Around Here .

"The Russ Bros. Modern Ice Cream Plant, Harrisburg, Pa. The home of Velvet Ice Cream." According to " Russ Bros. New Ice Cream Plant ," an article in the Ice Cream Trade Journal , March 1920, pp. 47-49, the Russ Bros. Ice Cream Company bought an old typewriter factory located at Nineteenth and Manada Streets in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and converted it into a modern manufacturing plant capable of producing up to one million gallons of ice cream in a year.

Handwritten note on the back of this real photo postcard: "This is as we looked Monday, July 5th, 1909, after the floral parade. Ed, Edith, Edward, Russell, Hattie, and Otto Zahn." Hand-lettered card attached to the car: "29." Number above the doorway of the building in the background: "1004." I didn't think I'd be able to uncover any information about a "floral parade" held in 1909. As it turned out, however, the Washington Post newspaper sponsored an Independence Day celebration in the form of a "Floral-Flag Automobile Parade" on July 5, 1909, that received widespread coverage. The weekly Horticulture magazine on July 3, 1909, p. 8, for instance, expressed the hope that the event would sell more flowers during a hot summer: "Washington has been sweltering under the most torrid wave that has visited the city in years. Business is quite dull, commencements are over, and even Cupid is enervated by the heat. All the city is agog, though, over the forthcoming automobile and flower parade that will take place on the 5th of July. Autos will be decorated with flags and flowers. The Washington Post offers a first prize of $100 for the handsomest decorated auto. It is to be hoped that this flower parade, at least, will become an annual custom. It will be of inestimable value to the florists, as well as to the flower-loving public." Henry Litchfield West, in an article about "A Safe and Sane Fourth of July" in The Forum , August 1909, p. 108, described some of the parade cars: "The Washington Post conceived the idea of an automobile floral-flag parade, and this event proved to be a genuine spectacular and artistic success. There were over a hundred motor cars in line, and the decorations were extremely novel and pleasing. One automobile was reconstructed into an accurate representation of the Confederate ram Merrimac, and was manned by young men in sailor costumes; another was converted into a yacht with masts and sails; another was a floral boat apparently drawn by an enormous white swan; and still another was in the form of a pergola, decorated with wistaria vines and blossoms. An electric machine which elicited the applause of the thousands who lined the route of parade was apparently a huge wicker basket of pink roses, in the centre of which and surmounted by a canopy of roses was seated the lady who operated the car. Another electric machine was a symphony in red, white and blue. Altogether the event proved to be a most unique and beautiful celebration…." The decorations on this automobile weren't as elaborate (see a cropped version for a closer view), but it's remarkable that with a few details we can find information about a Floral-Flag Automobile Parade held over a century ago.

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

"Rosey's Auto Graveyard on Lincoln Highway at Vintage , Pa. Between Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pa." The Lancaster County Postcard Club's book, Lancaster County Postcards: Windows to Our Past (Stevens, Pa., 1998), p. 94, gives a date of 1919 for this postcard. Printed on the other side of the postcard: Rosey Buying and selling running and not running automobiles. Paying highest cash prices. Dealer in all kinds of supplies. On the Lincoln Highway. Vintage, Lanc. Co., Pa. Ind. Phone, Gap 420-G. Bell Phone, Gap 422. Published by I. Steinfeldt, Lancaster, Pa. Made in U.S.A. C. T. American Art. A-80583. Excerpts from a 1921 article about "Rosey" and "The Graveyard": "Rosey," whose real name is Morris Roseman, is proprietor of "The Graveyard," a most interesting and profitable "outdoor showroom" for defunct automobiles and other motor vehicles. Vintage is a small place twelve miles east of Lancaster, Pa., on the Lincoln Highway, which gives "The Graveyard" a strategical position: First, because of the tremendous motor vehicle traffic along the highway, and second, because Vintage is in Lancaster county, noted for its great number of automobile, truck, and farm tractor users and owners.... "Rosey" is a cheerful character, but while he is never tired of having colored post cards made of his famous "Graveyard," he does not consider his own portrait especially decorative and there aren't many pictures of him extant. --from K. H. Lansing, " Being a 'Character' Has Money Value ," American Garage and Auto Dealer , August 1921, pp. 13-14.

"Ice Cream, Clifford Sutton, 5¢" For other ice cream price tags, see Ice Cream, 5 Cents and Wertley's Quality Ice Cream Price Tags .

Wertley's Ice Cream tags with prices that reflect the tax that was assessed during World War I.

Swinging and squinting in the bright sunlight. Location unknown.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo of backyard sports (e.g., croquet, badminton, horseshoe pitching, bocce ball, etc.) . A tinted French real photo postcard from the early twentieth century showing children with a dog and toys, including a hoop and stick, doll, badminton racquet and shuttlecock, jump rope, and rings.

A postcard-sized example of ornamental penmanship featuring a flourished bird. The piece is unsigned and may date to as early as the 1880s or 1890s. "Compliments of Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Shoemaker, Dakota, Ill." Joseph Shellenberger Shoemaker (1854-1936) was a well-known bishop in the Mennonite Church. He and his wife, Elizabeth Sechrist Brubaker (1856-1931), were married in 1877, and they were members of the Freeport Mennonite Church in Freeport, Illinois. For additional examples of bird flourishes and other ornamental penmanship, see my Writing, Lettering, Flourishing album and the Clinton Clark Scrapbook , which was uploaded to the Internet Archive by IAMPETH (International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers, and Teachers of Handwriting).

"Admira. Kamera náročných. Meopta. Solo Lipnik." A Czechoslovakian matchbox label advertising the Admira movie camera manufactured by Meopta . Check out the illustrated list of movie cameras on the Meopta Virtual Museum site.

"The Morning After. July 5. Witch hazel, liniment, arnica. F.L. 219/6. Gene Carr." Postmarked at Milton Mills, New Hampshire, on July 6, 1915. Cartoonist Gene Carr 's postcard demonstrates the dire results of a dangerous evening of Fourth of July fireworks in the early twentieth century. On July 5th, the heavily bandaged kid now needs a crutch for walking, as well as medications—witch hazel, liniment, and arnica—for treating aches and pains. The poor cat obviously didn't fare too well either. The ill effects of holiday fireworks are also the subject of early stereographic cards like The Glorious 4th of July / The 5th of July .

An on the water photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A curious photo of a boy and a dog in a rowboat out on the water. Both of them are looking toward the photographer, who's on the shore or in another boat. The boy is holding a fish in one hand and a fishing rod in the other, and he's wearing a headdress and other clothing in imitation of Native American garb (for a closer view, see a cropped version ). Along the far shore in the background is what looks like the silhouette of a swan, though it seems much too big to be a real bird. This is an unused real photo postcard with an AZO stamp box on the back that suggests that the photo may date to sometime between 1904 and 1918 (or perhaps later).

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

Sparkler box with unique typefaces for Fourth of July merriment.

An on the road photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "Columbia Highway, Ore. Shepherds Dell, #254. Cross & Dimmitt ." Travelers on what is now called the Historic Columbia River Highway in Oregon stop along the road to look over the side of Shepperds Dell Bridge . See a cropped version of this real photo postcard for a closer look at the bridge and automobile.

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