Alan Mays' photos

"The Land of Big Corn. Copyright 1909 by Martin Post Card Co."

This 1908 real photo tall-tale postcard by William H. Martin shows presidential candidate William Howard Taft (later president, 1909-1913) at a campaign whistle stop. Martin evidently intended the oversized vegetables that surround the railroad car and crowd to represent the prosperity that would result if voters elected Taft president.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park contribution for the theme of shaped photos--ovals, circles, hearts, leaves, etc. Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "W. G. Kirtiklis Photo Studio, 103 N. Wyoming Street, Hazleton, Pa., Bell 'Phone 26 J." Two unidentified gents (just joking, of course, about the Erikson and Garrett names) appear in this leaf-shaped image. See below for other photos that use some familiar--and some unique--shapes. For additional examples, take a look at the gallery of Masked Photos in Different Shapes that I compiled over on Flickr.

Another leaf-shaped photo. See also Leaf Erikson and Leaf Garrett (below).

Two little girls who were obviously the apples of someone's eyes when this photo was taken.

A strangely shaped photo of a dressed-up fellow.

An oddly shaped photo of Greene High School in Greene, New York, which was built in 1902. I haven't been able to determine whether the building is still standing.

"Hallowe'en. Friendly fairy, witch, or fay, fulfill the wish you wish to-day. Ellen H. Clapsaddle."

A Vintage Photos Theme Park contribution for the topic: Are you sitting comfortably? Chairs, seats, benches, anything to sit on . I wish that this seat was still in existence--I'd sit in it to wish that this was a color photo rather than black and white. Although there's still a Children's Zoo that's part of the Bronx Zoo , the wishing seat is no longer there. To see some color photos of this particular wishing seat along with examples of magical seating opportunities in other locations, check out the Wishing Seats gallery I created over on Flickr.

"Hallowe'en. Uncertainly. Hope. Despair. Happy ever after. Ellen H. Clapsaddle. Int. Art Pub. Co. 1909." In a Halloween posting about Pumpkins and Postcards and Portents–Oh My! , Mikaela Taylor of Middlebury College explains that the illustration on this postcard reflects a Halloween custom that involved throwing chestnuts in a fire: "Anthropomorphized nuts, paired off with the titles 'Uncertainty,' 'Hope,' 'Despair,' and 'Happy Ever After,' represent the practice of interpreting the behavior of chestnuts in a fire. Those participating would assign two chestnuts to a couple and observe whether the chestnuts burned together, jumped apart in the flame, crackled loudly, or came together. A couple was said to live a long happy life together if their corresponding chestnuts burned brightly and quietly next to each other, or their relationship would end in disaster if they crackled contentiously and popped in different directions."

"You are invited to attend a Hallowe'en party to be given by the employees of the Lancaster Stanley-Warner Theatres at the Capitol, Saturday nite, November 1, 11:30 p.m. This invitation admits one. Fifty cents." For other vintage Halloween party invitations, see Witches Watch Halloween Party Invitation, October 31, 1914 , Halloween Party Invitation with Bat and Witch , Come to a Hallowe'en Party , and Yooooo Are Invited to a Halloween Party (below),

Signs: "Blossom Hill Peaches." A vintage photo showing a man at a roadside fruit stand selling peaches from Blossom Hill Fruit Farm. The farm was located a few miles north of the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the area around it had so many orchards at one time that it was known as Fruitville. Today there are housing developments where peaches and apples once grew, but some of the road names--Blossom Hill Drive and the Fruitville Pike--reflect the earlier uses of the land.

A photo of laundry on a clothesline for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. This photo is small enough that I didn't realize until I scanned it that the boy is standing atop a barrel there in the middle of the yard (mouse over the image above for an enlarged view ). Sitting on the barrel next to him is an older woman (not a man, as I initially thought) who might be his grandmother. Before I scanned the photo, I didn't notice the dog at her feet either (I believe it's a little blurry from moving while the photo was taken), and I also mistook the leash that she's holding for a cane.

For more information, see the original photo :

An unused real photo promotional postcard.