Alan Mays' photos

"Reward of Merit presented to Oliver K. Ott, by William C. Weiss, teacher. An honorable testimony of approbation for industry, punctuality, & good conduct." Probably the same Oliver K. Ott (1860-1944) who's listed on Find A Grave.

Cracker Jack Riddle cards like this one were issued in sets of twenty in 1906. They included well-worn humorous riddles that circulated widely in books and newspapers at the time. A book of Conundrums, Riddles, and Puzzles by Dean Rivers that appeared in 1903, for instance, contained all the riddles on this card and probably most or all of the ones on the other nineteen cards. Cracker Jack It is not often one can find A candy good for body and mind, But our old doctor says it's true That "Cracker Jack" is good for you. This famous confection is manufactured from choice, wholesome materials and blended together in a scientific manner. Cracker Jack is a combination of candy, popcorn, and peanuts, and it is very nutritious as well as palatable. It is more easily digested and assimilated than richly made candies. It is good alike for young and old. The more you eat The more you want. Manufactured by Rueckheim Bros. & Eckstein, Chicago, U.S.A. See riddles on other side. "Cracker Jack" Riddles What relation is a door mat to a door step? A step farther. What is the difference between one yard and two yards? A fence. How do we know that Noah had a pig in the ark? Because he had Ham. When is money damp? When it is due in the morning and missed at night. What is the cheapest way to buy a fiddle? Buy a little medicine and get a vial in? How may book-keeping be taught in a lesson of three words? Never lend them. Why are records brittle things? Because they cannot be lowered without breaking. When did George Washington first take a carriage? When he took a hack at the cherry tree. What is the difference between forms and ceremonies? You sit upon one and stand on the other. Why do girls kiss each other and men not? Because girls have nothing better to kiss, and men have. Why were the brokers in the panic of 1873 like Pharaoh's daughter? They saved a little prophet from the rushes on the banks. Send name and address with 2c stamp and receive a full set (20 different kinds) of our famous "Cracker Jack" Riddle Cards.

A "stud notice," which the Encyclopedia of Ephemera (New York: Routledge, 2000), pp 315-16, defines as: "A printed announcement . . . circulated to owners of horses in a particular district indicating that a named stud horse would be available to serve mares during a given season." The horse--Loch Fergeis--may be named after Loch Fergus , a loch in Scotland. The place names--Cummingstown, Palmstown, and Oakville--indicate locations in Cumberland County , Pennsylvania. I haven't been able to determine the year this notice was printed, nor have I been able to uncover much information about M. M. Hummel, D. W. Kough, and George H. Hummel. Farmers Take Notice! Loch Fergeis will stand for service the 1st week commencing April 7th, at M. M. Hummel's, on the road leading from Cummingstown to Palmstown, the following week at D. W. Kough's, about one-half mile south of Oakville and week about at above mentioned places. Terms:--$5.00 to insure a mare with foal, colt to stand and suck. Anyone parting with mare will be held for the insurance. If mare is parted with, insurance due at once. Description:--Dark roan, fine style and heavy bone, close jointed, sixteen and one-half hands high, weight, fifteen hundred lbs. George H. Hummel, owner and keeper

"Hear my prayer o Lord, and let my cry come unto thee." A Victorian religious card with distinctive fonts for the Bible verse (Psalm 102:1) along with chromolithographed illustrations separated by gnarly branches.

The red glow of an erupting volcano serves as the dramatic backdrop for this luggage label from the Excelsior Hotel in Naples, Italy. The stylized "JP" monogram in the lower left-hand corner identifies the artist as J. Paschal, and the printer was S. A. Richter & Co. of Naples. For a luggage label from a similarly named hotel, see Hotel Excelsior, Siena, Italy (below).

A photo of something beginning with T (in this case, T as in Tower) for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "Bill's Tower, Bill's Place, Pa. Top of Rays Hill. Elev. 1958'." Bill Place, a roadside stop and service station along the Lincoln Highway (U.S Route 30) in south central Pennsylvania, was situated on Rays Hill at an elevation of 1,958 feet. Bill's Tower, as seen here in this real photo postcard, provided a 40-mile view of the surrounding area. Bill's Old Backhouse , the outhouse at Bill's Place, was also featured on a postcard (see below). For another roadside tower, see Yonker's Tower, Polish Mountain, U.S. Route 40, Maryland (below).

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park for the theme of famous--a person or place . As far as I can determine, the famous person that the fellow in this real photo postcard is pretending to greet is William Howard Taft , who won the U.S. presidential election as the Republican nomnee in 1908 and served as the twenty-seventh president of the United States from 1909 to 1913. I found a similar postcard (see below) with another guy pretending to have his picture taken with a man who's sitting at a table and reading a newspaper. This man, as far as I can ascertain, is William Jennings Bryan , who ran unsuccessfully against Taft as the Democratic nominee for president in 1908. I haven't located any other novelty photos featuring Taft or Bryan, but I wonder if these were produced in 1908 during the presidential election.

A real photo postcard of a guy pretending to have his photo taken with a man who appears to be William Jennings Bryan , the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for U.S. president in 1908. Interestingly enough, a similar novelty photo (see below) evidently features William Howard Taft , Bryan's Republican rival in the 1908 presidential election. Taft won the election that year and became the twenty-seventh president of the United States (1909-1913).

"Behind the Flying Saucers. Frank Scully. The book everyone is talking about. Popular Library. Earle Bergey." Earle K. Bergey 's wonderfully frightening cover illustration of saucers in the sky and panic in the streets certainly helped to make this "the book everyone is talking about" when it appeared in 1950. But author Frank Scully 's account of flying saucer crashes and dead extraterrestrials in Arizona and New Mexico was probably enough to get people talking even without the cover. Scully wasn't the only one writing about such scary topics in 1950. Author Donald Keyhoe also argued that The Flying Saucers Are Real :

"The Flying Saucers Are Real. Donald Keyhoe. True story behind the strangest phenomena in history! Gold Medal Book. 107. Frank Tinsley '50." The Flying Saucers Are Real , written by Donald Keyhoe , first appeared in 1950. Frank Tinsley's dramatic cover illustration helped to convey the startling news that flying saucers (or UFOs aka unidentified flying objects) are actually extraterrestrial spacecraft. For another book from 1950 on the same topic, see Behind the Flying Saucers :

When I purchased this photo at an antique mall in Laughlintown, Pennsylvania, a few years ago, I assumed that it was a souvenir photo like the ones from Atlantic City, New Jersey, and other sea- and oceanside locales (see below for some examples). After searching for similar studio photos of women wearing kimonos and posing in fake boats, however, I discovered a few other copies of this same photo, including a hand-colored version posted by Okinawa Soba on Flickr under the title of Studio Boat! - Three Maritime Geisha in Old Japan . The discussions there on Flickr about the origin of this photo established that it came from the studio of Japanese photographer Kusakabe Kimbei (1841-1934) and probably dates to the 1890s (see especially Noel43's Kusakabe Kimbei Compilation , which compares several other Kusakabe Kimbei photos with this one to show that the same backdrop appears in all the photos). So instead of a unique seaside souvenir photo, this turned out to be an artistic creation by Kusakabe Kimbei that evidently was reproduced and sold primarily to tourists and other visitors to Japan like the photographer's other works. How it ended up in the antique shop in western Pennsylvania where I found it is anyone's guess.

A real photo postcard. "Here's to Phoebe, A jolly good fellow! Have one on me."

A membership card for a children's fan club celebrating cartoon character Felix the Cat . The card also served as a way to encourage kids to watch the cartoons on Satellite Six , a TV show hosted by Glendora (Glendora Vesta Folsom) on WRGB in Schenectady, New York, in the early 1960s. 13 22-3-7-1 13-17 26-13-26-19-17 17-12-2-1 11-3-8 17-3-3 10-3-19-5 17-3 26-1-6-3-26-1 17-22-13-4! 8-) Felix the Cat Fan Club This is to certify that Eloise Trainor is now enrolled in Glendora's Satellite Six Felix the Cat Fan Club and is entitled to all privileges and special information reserved for members. Glendora, Commander, WRGB Satellite Six, 4:30, Monday-Friday. No. 65271. Felix the Cat Secret Code For members only! (1) E, (2) K, (3) O, (4) S, (5) G, (6) C (7) P, (8) U, (9) F, (10) L, (11) Y, (12) A (13) I, (14) B, (15) J, (16) M, (17) T, (18) Q (19) N, (20) W, (21) Z, (22) H, (23) X, (24) V, (25) R, (26) D Messages will be given by numbers. Simply copy the numbers, then figure out the message.

"Let me take the Liberty to invite you to the Fifth Annual Ball of the Original Ulster Social Club, Incorporated, at Tammany Hall, 14th Street near Third Avenue, Wednesday evening, Jan. 23, '07. Music by Prof. D. J. Lent's Full Orchestra. Tickets, admit gent and ladies, incl. wardrobe, 50 cents. Two gold prizes will be drawn for. Martha. 815 . . . 1905, F. S. Backus" Postcard addressed on the other side to Leon Closson, Whitehall, Wash. Co., New York, Box 554, and postmarked Brooklyn, N.Y., Jan. 16, 1907. This 1907 invitation or advertisement was overprinted on a humorous postcard dated 1905. A quick search didn't turn up any information regarding the Ulster Social Club, but Wikipedia Commons has an image of Tammany Hall as it appeared in 1914.

"This card entitles Name: ________ to a day membership in the Mount Washington Club on the Top of New England, White Mountains, N.H. Date of ascent: Aug. 23, 1938." As Wikipedia reports, Mount Washington is the "highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288.2 ft (1,916.6 m)," which certainly qualifies it as the "Top of New England." The unnamed original owner of this card evidently visited the mountain on August 23, 1938, and may have taken a ride on the Mount Washington Cog Railway --depicted on the back of the card--to get to the top.

Peach Festival Sponsored by the Women's Guild of Second Reformed Church, 45 South Sixth Street, Saturday, September 13, 1952, 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Baked ham supper, peaches and ice cream, novelties, cake and candy. Tickets good for anything on sale. Tickets - 10 cents. No. 3623.

Real photo postcard. "Zanesville, Ohio. 8/29/15."