Alan Mays' photos

"This man used Le Page's Liquid Glue in the wrong place. Unequaled for repairing wood, leather, glass, ivory, china, jewelry, metals, &c. Sold in bottles and in cans. No loafers allowed here. Hold on! It's no use pullin' I'm stuck with Le Page's Glue. Awarded gold medal, London, 1883. Forbes Co. Lith." A Victorian-era advertising trade card that humorously illustrates the consequences of misusing Le Page's Liquid Glue.

"Dodge, Haley & Co. Iron, steel, heavy hardware, and carriage stock. William H. Haley, Edwin L. Haley, Chas. H. Dodge, Hayward C. Dodge. 45 Oliver Street, Boston."

A fountains, lakes, and ponds photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "Big Spring, Bellefonte, Pa., 11,500,00 gals. daily." A real photo postcard dating to 1939 shows the Big Spring in Bellefonte , Pennsylvania, with its pump house in the background, a pond holding water from the spring, and a fountain in front of the pond. The spring is still a source of drinking water for the town and surrounding area, but its surface is now covered to comply with sanitary regulations. Mouse over the image above for a close-up of the people walking around the edge of the spring. For more views, see the Fred D Smith Gallery of Postcards and Photos of the Big Spring and other Bellefonte landmarks.

For more information, see the original photo :

"Dear Miss, I very much desire the pleasure of your acquaintance and your company home this evening. If agreeable please keep this card, if not kindly return it. Yours truly, ________." See also Fair Lady, I Send You This Beautiful Chromo with My Compliments (below) and my Acquaintance Cards album for additional examples.

"Fair Lady, I send you this beautiful chromo with my compliments. If I may be the happy youth on the promenade, please retain it. If I must suffer misery on the fence, be so good as to return it. Yours truly, ________." See also Dear Miss, I Very Much Desire the Pleasure of Your Acquaintance (below) and my Acquaintance Cards album for additional examples.

In the early twentieth century, Wisconsin photographer Alfred Stanley Johnson, Jr., created a series of tall-tale postcards featuring oversized fruits, vegetables, and fish. Johnson also used the image of the fish on this postcard for another one of his cards (see below for the other postcard and a side-by-side comparison of the fish from each card).

A tall-tale postcard by Wisconsin photographer Alfred Stanley Johnson, Jr. The large fish on this card (at bottom center) appears to be the same one he used on another card (see below for the other postcard and a comparison of the fish ).

Alfred Stanley Johnson, Jr., a Wisconsin photographer and creator of a series of tall-tale postcards, used the same image of a fish in two different postcards (see below).

"Seasick Series. Rocked in the cradle of the deep." I find early seasickness postcards like this both repulsive and intriguing, and I'm amazed at how many were published. It certainly seems appropriate for Weird Vintage Postcards! 8-)

"Chas. H. Smith. Compliments." (I'm not sure that the middle initial is H, however.) An impressive example of ornamental penmanship on a hand-drawn and -lettered "flourished" calling card that likely dates to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Note how the bird appears to be eyeing an insect of some sort. Here are some other similarly ornate cards: Although it's not as ornate, this flourished card also features a bird chasing after an insect: This one's even simpler: The design on the following calling card is printed, but it imitates the hand-drawn and -lettered cards:

Sign: "Paul Bunyan, 1937." Caption (the white lettering at the bottom is almost unreadable): "Paul Bunyan and Babe, His Blue Ox. HAK, Bemidji, Minn." A real photo postcard of a man standing between the statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox , which were originally constructed for a winter carnival in Bemidji, Minnesota, in 1937. Compare this image with a snapshot of similar statues in Ossineke, Michigan:

A sailor suits photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "Whiteley Studio, 2345 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, N.J." This little fellow doesn't look too happy at having his picture taken, even though his sailor suit fits in well with the ocean backdrop chosen for this seaside souvenir photo.

What looks like a calling card for D. B. Landis on the front (above) turns out to be an advertising trade card on the back (see below). David Bachman Landis (1862-1940) operated Pluck Art Printery, a letterpress print shop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but he started out as a printer in his hometown of Landisville, which is located about eight miles from Lancaster. For the other side of this card, see The Village Vigil, Landisville, Pa., 1883 (below).