Alan Mays' photos

A mother and son-—along with a tree and wrapped presents-—seem to be materializing out of the ether in this Christmas double exposure. For other haunted holiday happenings, see The Ghosts of Christmas Past and The Ghosts of Easter Past (below).

"Star Freezer, American Machine Co., Phila. Thos. Hunter, lith., Phila." This Victorian-era trade card features a group of winged infant children who are gathered around a goat-drawn wagon that's transporting a Star Ice Cream Freezer manufactured by the American Machine Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Depictions of winged infants--called putti or cherubs--were popular in Victorian and Edwardian advertisements and illustrations. These winged children are secular counterparts to biblical angels and mythological cupids, and their appearance doesn't necessarily signify religious devotion or romantic love. In this case, I believe that they were simply used in a lighthearted way to extol the virtues of the company's ice cream freezers. And they might have also appealed to the children who collected and pasted trade cards into scrapbook albums in the late nineteenth century. For a list of "meritorious advantages" provided by this freezer, see the other side of the card:

The back of a Victorian-era trade card for the Star Ice Cream Freezer, which was manufactured by the American Machine Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. How could anyone resist buying one after reading all the "meritorious advantages" listed here? See below for the front of the card. The Star Ice Cream Freezer, Double Action Is recommended with confidence as equal to the best freezers in the market, with some meritorious advantages not found in others. Prominent among which we mention: --The tub is made strong and of best quality cedar, bound with galvanized iron hoops. --The gearing is completely covered, so that nothing can get between the cogs. --The can can be revolved to harden cream after stirrer has been removed. --The cross-bar is arranged to give the greatest facility for packing ice. --The can and stirrer both revolve, but in opposite directions. --The scraper is self-adjusting. --The workmanship and material are of the very best. Sizes, Prices: 2 qt., $8.75. 3 qt., $4.50. 4 qt., $5.50. 6 qt., $7.00. 8 qt., $9.00. 10 qt., $11.00. 14 qt., $14.00 each. Manufactured by American Machine Co., N.E. corner, Lehigh Avenue & American Street, Philadelphia. For sale by all hardware and house furnishing stores.

I haven't been able to figure out exactly where the Wertz ice cream man is from, but I'm listening for his bell upon my street because I've heard his truck is really neat (with apologies to Jonathan Richman ). Attention The ice cream man is coming your way with Wertz' delicious home-made ice cream delivered to your door for your convenience. Listen for the bell starting May 3, 1949. Future orders taken for brick, cut brick, & molds. ½ Gal. $1.05. Qts. 60c. Pts.30c.

"S. S. Grand View Point Hotel. A Steamer in the Allegheny Mountain[s]. 17 miles west of Bedford, Pa. U.S. 30. Elevation 2464 feet." An aerial view of this ship-shaped hotel, once a popular stop along the Lincoln Highway in western Pennsylvania, shows just how precariously it was perched on the side of the hill. Mouse over the image for an enlarged view of the building and the cars and trucks parked along the road. For more information about the hotel, see the Grand View Ship Hotel: A Steamer in the Allegheny Mountains, 1932 . For additional postcard views, see below.

Part of a real photo postcard of the Grand View Ship Hotel (see below). Note all the vehicles parked along the road. Is that a bus with the Greyhound logo?

A Prohibition-era comic postcard that depicts a man dreaming about a change to the Volstead Act that would allow the sale of beer and create work—and prosperity—for brewers, farmers, and other laborers. As Wikipedia explains, the Volstead Act "was enacted to carry out the intent of the Eighteenth Amendment , which established prohibition in the United States " and banned the production and sale of alcoholic beverages beginning in 1920. Prohibition lasted until 1933, when the Twenty-first Amendment was ratified in order to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment. Franklin Delano Roosevelt used " Happy Days Are Here Again " as his presidential campaign song in 1932, and the repeal of Prohibition took place soon after Roosevelt took office. Signs and captions: "Free lunch today. Good old time lager beer. Free beer tomorrow. Happy days are here again." Dream of Prosperity Last night I dreamed that the Volstead law had been amended permitting the sale of beer (Oh! what a grand and glorious feeling!). Immediately 100,000 carpenters, bricklayers, and laborers went to work building and refitting breweries; 50,000 brewery truck drivers, helpers, vatmen, and coppersmiths were hired; and 100,000 printers were put to work printing beer labels. Bottle works and barrel makers engaged thousands more. Bookkeepers, stenographers, clerks, and salesmen found ready employment by the hundreds of thousands. Thousands of farmers left the city and returned to farms to raise hops and barley. 150,000 musicians went to work in the beer gardens. There was no unemployment. The country hummed with industry. The tax secured from the sale of beer was placed in a fund that was used for an old age pension. Then the scene changed–I saw 1,000,000 bootleggers holding a protest meeting. Disgusted, I then awoke.

One in a series of humorous "Where Women Vote" postcards published in the 1910s that demonstrated the dire consequences of giving women the right to vote. It took until 1920, when the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, to ensure that all women in the United States had the right to vote. This postcard was postmarked Broad Top, Pa., May 8, 1913, on the other side and was addressed to Mr. Ralph L. Diggins, Millersville, Lanc. Co, Pa., M.S.N.S., indicating that Diggins was a student at the Millersville State Normal School in Millersville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, at the time. Handwritten note on the back: "Dear Brother, We are very busy. Will write you a letter on Sunday. It is very warm today. The trees are in blossom. The apple tree is white and also the cherry trees. The plums are froze. Elsie." This postcard and others from the "Where Women Vote" series are pictured in Kenneth Florey's book, American Woman Suffrage Postcards: A Study and Catalog (McFarland, 2015), pp. 344-47.

"The Instrumental Aires, featured at the Sapphire Room, Hotel Floridan, Tampa, Florida." A real photo postcard showing the three suave fellows who performed as the Instrumental Aires at the Hotel Floridan (now the Floridan Palace Hotel ). An ad from 1955 identified the musicians as "Bill Horn, direct from 2 years in Las Vegas, Bill Byers, Tampa's favorite vocalist, [and] Rickey Powell, wizard of the strings" (I'm not sure who's who in the photo, however).

"Friendly Tavern, Route 11-15, north of Harrisburg, Pa." The Friendly Tavern was located in Perry County , Pennsylvania, along a stretch of highway where U.S. Route 11 combines with U.S. Route 15 . The building that housed the taven is now part of an establishment called TJ's (see the Google Maps Street View from 2015).

An ice cream photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "#1248. A. Hoch's Cow in Patriotic & Industrial Parade, July 3, 1909, Newburg, Pa. Laughlin Photo. Hoch's Ice Cream Parlor." Photographer and postcard publisher Clyde A. Laughlin originally published a series of real photo postcards showing scenes from the Patriotic and Industrial Parade in Newburg, Pennsylvania, July 3, 1909, not long after it took place. This photo shows a boy riding a cow to advertise "Hoch's Ice Cream Parlor" (mouse over the image for a closer look ). The details in this photo are sharp, but I purchased the card knowing that it does not date to 1909. Unlike other early Laughlin photos, this one is reproduced in black and white rather than sepia, and the Kodak postcard backing was obviously manufactured much more recently than 1909. Fortunately, I have a copy of the book, Clyde A. Laughlin, "Postcard King of the Cumberland Valley": Biography of the Artist and Photographer and Checklist of His Postcards , written and published by Clyde's grandson, Walter Lewis Cressler, Jr., in 2000. The author explains on page 30 that his grandfather reprinted the photographic cards from the Newburg parade in 1961 when the town celebrated its centennial. So it's likely that this version of the Hoch's Cow photo is one of the cards from 1961. For another ice cream photo, see Eating Ice Cream at Raise 'ell Camp, Cooks Mill, Pennsylvania , and check out my Ice Cream album for additional photos and items of ephemera.

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

Stamped on the back of this real photo postcard: "H. W. Haffley, photographer, Aaronsburg, Pa." The Holstein cow in the middle of the photo pauses to glance over at the photographer as the farmer hides behind two other cows on the right.

A real photo postcard with a note: "Uncle Ira with His Pigs on Wig Hill, the homestead that grandpa H. I. Johnson [built]." See the full version for the uncropped photo and accompanying note (below).

"Uncle Ira with His Pigs on Wig Hill, the homestead that grandpa H. I. Johnson [built]." For a better view of Uncle Ira and his pigs, see the cropped version of this real photo postcard (below).

"2888 - Scenic Railway, Venice, California." An early "scenic railway" (roller coaster) constructed with peaks, walls, and tunnels--plus an elk statue on top--to simulate a ride through the mountains.

"The Chocolate and Cocoa Town."

A huge ice cream cone towers over the kids standing in front of the Hansel and Gretel House at the Enchanted Forest theme park in Ellicott City, Maryland, in this postcard from the 1950s.