Alan Mays' photos

"Solar Tip Shoes. Manufactured only by John Mundell & Co., Philadelphia. The best sole leather tip made. Pat'd February 19, 1878."

This real photo postcard was addressed to Miss Olive Hanner, Strasburg, Ohio, and was postmarked Akron, Ohio, Nov. 5, 1909. There was no greeting or message.

A real photo postcard of a girl holding a diabolo toy.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo that makes you say, I can't believe someone took a picture of that! I wonder why someone took this snapshot of a messy porch area. A handwritten note on the back of the photo simply identifies the location as "our back porch or rather the screen porch" but doesn't explain why it was necessary to document the topsy-turvy state of affairs.

"Not Exceeding the Speed Limit. 10 Miles to Bungtown. 1908, Union Card Co., Montpelier, Vt." Postmark on the other side of this postcard: "East Greenwich, N.Y., Aug. 11, 1909." Addressed to: "Mr. Roland Spring, R.F.D #1, Santa Barbara, Cal." Handwritten message: "Aug. 10, 1909. Dear Brother, I hope this finds you well again. You would have enjoyed a boat ride on Lake George with us on Sat. Guess it beats Cal. for fine scenery. Vermont Mts. were beautiful. N.Y. has a fine crop of apples and potatoes. Your sister, Mabel." The mundane message on the back of this postcard, which was published by the Union Card Company of Montpelier, Vermont, in 1908, doesn't shed any light on the meaning of the cartoonish illustration on the front, unfortunately. Created at a time when automobiles were a rarity and most people traveled from place to place by walking, riding in horse-drawn vehicles, or boarding trains, this postcard seems to be poking fun at both motorists and farmers. "Darn that old gas wagon" is what the people riding in the horse-drawn wagon are saying as they complain about one of those newfangled automobiles. "Don't get blue, dad will get you to town safe," says the farmer's daughter to the motorists, whose car has apparently broken down. Did they run over what appears to be a log in the road behind the car, and why is that kid carrying a tire--if that's what it is--as he runs across the road there? "Here is where I get back at them. I'll soak him $25.00 for this job," mutters the farmer under his breath as he hitches his oxen to the automobile and prepares to pull the car along the road, perhaps the whole "10 Miles to Bungtown" as the sign says. I'm not sure whether Bungtown was a real place or a fictitious name like Podunk . The caption on the card suggests that the only time drivers are "not exceeding the speed limit" is when their "gas wagons" have broken down. I wonder what a typical speed limit was in 1908. And, finally, I don't understand why the farmer intends to overcharge the motorists to "get back" at them. Did their car damage the dirt road? Were early automobiles like this generally regarded as nuisances that traveled at dangerous speeds? In any case, this provides an interesting example of how difficult it can be to fully understand the meaning that something as ordinary as a postcard had for those who created and used it over a hundred years ago.

This real photo postcard shows Amish and non-Amish men on a farm (notice the silos on the left). Although there's no identifying information on the card, it's likely that this photo was taken sometime in the 1940s or 1950s at an auction or sale in Big Valley (also known as Kishacoquillas Valley ), which is located in Mifflin County , Pennsylvania.

A real photo postcard of a young Mennonite woman. She's identified as Edna Good on the other side of the card. For another photo, see Edna Good Seated on a Chair (below).

A real photo postcard of Edna Good, a young Mennonite woman. See also Edna Good in a White Dress (below).

Plain dress for the mother, less so for the daughter.

A real photo postcard of four little children standing on the beach. The blotchy image gives the scene a ghostly appearance.

A patriotic advertising card for the Galt House hotel in Cincinnati, Ohio. The text on the other side of the card-- Nothing Succeeds Like Success (see below)--appeared in various newspapers and magazines as early as 1881. The Cincinnati Galt House was apparently named after the original Galt House hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. Galt House Cor. Sixth & Main, Cincinnati, O. Galt House, $1.50 per day for meals and room, Single meals, 35 cts. W. E. Marsh, Jr., prop’r. Established in 1836 by W. E. Marsh, Sr. Street cars for Zoological Garden and other places of interest pass the door. W. A. Adams, eng.

The reverse of a nineteenth-century advertising card for the Galt House hotel in Cincinnati, Ohio (see below). The "Nothing Succeeds Like Success" text appeared in newspapers and magazines as early as 1881, including the Madison Weekly Herald , Madison, Indiana, April 27, 1881. Nothing Succeeds Like Success It has heretofore been a mystery to us why STRANGERS are generally charged so extravagantly by HOTELS in large cities. Happening a short time since at the GALT HOUSE, corner Sixth and Main Streets, CINCINNATI, OHIO, managed by W. E. MARSH, Jr., son of the proprietor who established the Galt House FIFTY years ago, the mystery was solved. The accommodations at the GALT HOUSE ARE EQUAL in every respect to the best TWO-DOLLAR per day hotel, and yet the charges are only ONE DOLLAR AND FIFTY CENTS per day for meals and room; single meals THIRTY-FIVE CENTS. The GALT is HEADQUARTERS for the most complete meals, which together with FREE use of the PARLOR, OFFICE, CHECK-ROOM, etc., constitute the greatest bargain obtainable in the city. The solution is easy when the facts are known. The GALT is run exclusively in the interest of STRANGERS, the same RATE being charged per day, all times to EVERY ONE. Whatever will produce a reasonable RENT for the property is the EXTENT of its charges, thus doing away with the usual LESSEE’s profits. Its management is constantly under the immediate and personal control of the OWNER W. E. MARSH, Jr. Its employees being paid according to the volume of business, are efficient and reasonable in cost. The above peculiarities, a low, UNIFORM price, a reasonable RENT-charge ONLY, a rigorous and practical supervision of its internal affairs, and CO-OPERATIVE salary payments, have secured the GALT a fair transient trade, and the experiment is a success, producing RENT for the real estate. To this benefactor, who has made it possible to stay TWO DAYS in the city at the usual expense of ONE, we heartily recommend our friends.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of: come on in, the water's fine (people enjoying themselves--or not--in water) . "56. Floating in Dead Sea." A real photo postcard of a man posing with a book and umbrella in the Dead Sea , where the density of the salt water makes it easy to float.

The Keystone Auto Transit Company used this business card to signal big plans--service to five cities, $1.5 million in authorized capital, a full slate of officers--when it started up in 1917, but it seems to have stayed in business for only a short time. The company placed an advertisement in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday, October 21, 1917, offering motor freight services that were intended to compete with the railroads. The ad promised quick delivery of freight by "trackless locomotives," a term that was sometimes used to refer to trucks and cars in the early twentieth century. "Freight in a Day" was the title of an article (though it reads like another advertisement) that appeared in the same newspaper a week later on October 28, 1917, and it also used "trackless locomotives" and other railroad terminology to describe the company's operations: "The Keystone Auto Transit Company have inaugurated a freight and express service between New York, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, [and] Harrisburg, employing a great fleet of tractors and trailers [early versions of today's tractor-trailer trucks] that carry as much as thirty tons to the load. "These big trackless locomotives [ trucks ] and their trailers will leave a specified station in each of the cities at exactly 11 A.M. and will undertake to deliver to the consignee's door on the day of shipment, which, of course, provides for early morning collection. "These collections are made by more than fifty lighter and even faster trucks, which carry the individual shipments to the general depot [which was a truck depot, not a railroad depot] for loading on the overland trains [over-the-road trucks ]. These trains [ trucks! ] are scheduled to meet frequently on each route, so that drivers and supplies are always available should an accident occur." Although it's obvious that the Keystone Auto Transit Company intended to compete with the railroads, the venture apparently failed, and I haven't been able to uncover much besides this business card to document the company's existence. For some interesting details about the challenges facing early trucking companies like this one, take a look at Wikipedia's article on the History of the Trucking Industry in the United States . Keystone Auto Transit Co. (Incorporated) Incorporating with auth. cap. $1,500,000. Large Shipments Especially Solicited. New York. Pittsburgh. Atlantic City. Baltimore. Philadelphia Service Station, 1714-16-18 Callowhill St. Bell Phone, Spruce 3826. Keystone Phone, Race 5090. J. W. White, President. F. T. Finch, 1st Vice President and Traffic Mgr. Pres., Phila. Motor Service Corp. V. E. Kugler, 2d Vice President and Treasurer. Treasurer, Blair Eastern Co. F. H. McNerney, 3d Vice President. Mgr., Western Furniture Mfg. Co. F. J. P. Hildenbrand, Secretary. General Insurance, Philadelphia, Pa. Hon. W. H. Fisher, District Mgr. Oaklyn, N.J. Represented by

Handwritten caption: "Muttie the Acrobatic Cat."

Wisconsin photographer Alfred Stanley Johnson, Jr., created this fanciful scene of Boy Scouts roasting a larger-than-life potato over a campfire and published it as a postcard in 1912. This copy of the card was addressed to Mrs. Galen Groff, Kirkwood, Lanc. Co., Pa., R.F.D. #1, and was postmarked in Quarryville, Pa., on October 7, 1913. Handwritten message: "Oct. 7, 1913. Dear Aunt, As Ernest said, we were to come down for chestnuts. I thought I would write and tell you that Roy and I will be down on Sun. if it suits you and it don't rain, but if it doesn't suit you please let me know as it will be all right. Maud E."

"Weikel & Smith Spice Co., Philad'a. Mustard, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, cayenne pepper, nutmegs, mace, ginger." A nineteenth-century advertising trade card featuring wonderfully unique lettering and detailed drawings of plants. For additional Weikel and Smith Spice Company items, see the following two labels for Choice Bohsemeem spices, one of which is illustrated with insects and the other with birds (below).

"Choice Bohsemeem, the best & purest spices, Weikel & Smith Spice Co., Philadelphia." See below for another Choice Bohsemeem label .