Pennsylvania (Various Counties)

An undated red-border Kodachrome Duplicate slide. Hughes Dairy Bar was located along Route 15, north of Tioga, Pa. For another view of this same car, which is a Ford Super Deluxe convertible with a 1949 license plate, see Just Married, 1949 .

A front porch photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A group of 36 men and women assembled on and in front of the porch of a fraternity house. I found this photo at an antique mall in Pennsylvania, and judging by the "AKD" banner, the "State" pillow, and the "S[tate] 1910" pillow, this is probably the same men's social fraternity that William Raimond Baird described in Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities , 7th ed. (New York: College Fraternity Publishing, 1912), p. 572: "Alpha Kappa Delta--Organized May 4, 1909, at Pennsylvania State College [now Pennsylvania State University]. The membership is about 50. The badge is an oblong shield displaying the letters forming the society's name in the center in vertical order. The colors are orange and blue. It rents a house." Perhaps that's the house that the fraternity was renting. The AKD banner on the porch, interestingly enough, includes a skull and crossbones in its upper left-hand corner. And who are the young and middle-aged women in the photo? Girlfriends and chaperones? Students and profs? Today, Alpha Kappa Delta is the name of a sociology honor society founded in 1920. It would be interesting to know, however, what happened to this fraternity in the decade after this photo was taken.

Gilbert's Guide. Along the Lincoln Highway in Pennsylvania from the Ohio line to Philadelphia. To find the distance between two places, move the slide to the name of place at top of card. The number in the first row opposite the name on slide is the distance in miles. Daniel Gilbert, Chambersburg, Pa. Eddie Herr. Quality auto insurance. Service that satisfies. -------- Ohio Line, Beaver Falls, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Ligonier, Jennerstown, Bedford, Everett, McConnellsburg, Chambersburg, Caledonia, Gettysburg, Abbotstown, York, Wrightsville, Lancaster, Coatesville, Paoli, Philadelphia.

Handwritten on back: "Super Highway near Bedford, Pa."

License plate: "Penna. 1907 8267." Salvaged from a grimy real photo postcard.

"Susquehanna Trail. The right road to a good smoke. Mild, mellow cigar." As Wikipedia explains, "The Susquehanna Trail was an auto trail in the United States linking Washington, D.C., with Niagara Falls, New York. It passed through Baltimore, Maryland; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Williamsport, Pennsylvania; and Buffalo, New York." Although it's no longer an official designation, "Susquehanna Trail" is still widely used in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York as a name for roads, businesses, and places along the old route. Somewhere along the way, a tobacco company thought it would make a good name for a cigar as well.

Although I purchased this photo in Pennsylvania, I don't have any information regarding its date or location. It's possible that it was taken at a family get-together or a church gathering, but it's difficult to tell whether the group is posing in front of a residence, meeting house, or another type of building. Some of the clothing--especially the women's head coverings--suggests the type of plain dress that is still characteristic of Amish, Mennonite, Brethren, and other religious groups in Pennsylvania. Mouse over the image to see additional notes.

Mary Jane and Her Merry Melody Makers gave performances in Pennsylvania and other states in the 1940s. One newspaper ad billed the group as "A big company of maiden musicians with a comedian who gets laughs" ( Gettysburg Times , Oct. 1, 1943), and another described the show as a "program of dances, acrobatics, marimbas, songs, and comedy" ( Reading Times , Aug. 16, 1946). For other photos of the group on Flickr, see Rita's Mary Jane & Merry Melody Makers and Colin Aitchison's Mary Jane & Her Merry Melody Makers 1930's .

The cover of this small die-cut cookbook, Old Pennsylvania Recipes , by Mrs. T. Roberts Appel and Mrs. Calvin N. Wenrich, published in 1933, shows an Amish girl standing in front of a gate.

A QSL postcard that was used to acknowledge radio contact between Citizens Band (CB) radio operators.

Mouse over the image above to see a close-up of the queen and her retinue . Although I purchased this photo at an antique mall in Lewisburg, Pa., it didn't initially occur to me that this was a photo taken at Bucknell University, which is located in the same town. Instead, it seemed likely that this was a scene from "Milton, Pa.," as noted in the lower right-hand corner of the photo. I finally deciphered "Ishiguro," whose photography studio was located in Milton, and that name, along with the "May 1934" date written on the back of the photo, finally led me to Bucknell and its L'Agenda 1936 yearbook, which identified Dorothea Millikin as the 1934 May Queen. A newspaper article that appeared prior to the 1934 May Day celebration, which was part of a Spring Festival, provides additional details about the event: "Bucknell University's first Spring Festival will be held next week-end [Friday, May 11, to Sunday, May 13, 1934] in connection with the annual May Day pageant and Mother's Day celebration. The three-day program will feature dramatic, musical, and athletic events for all students. . . . The annual May Day pageant Saturday afternoon will be preceded by a fashion show and tea for the co-eds and a varsity baseball match with Ursinus [College] for the men. Hundreds of visiting mothers will be entertained at the Mothers Banquet Saturday evening at which the men's glee club will entertain" ( "Bucknell Plans May Day Spring Festival and Mother's Day Event," Gazette and Bulletin [Williamsport, Pa.], May 5, 1934, p. 13). Notation at the lower right-hand corner of the photo: "Ishiguro, Milton, Pa., No. 2." Handwritten date on the back of the photo: "May 1934."

For more information, see the full version of this photo .

"Nicollette at Boswell, Pa." Sign: "Come In. Only 5¢." I haven't been able to uncover any information regarding this "Nicollette" (or "nicollettes," perhaps, if there were others besides this one), but my best guess is that this was an early nickelodeon move theater . See also a cropped version of this photo for a close-up of the entrance and the guys sitting on the steps.

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

A real photo postcard showing miners at the Atlantic Coal Company's Mine, Boswell, Somerset County, Pa.

"Girls' Saxophone Band. Luther W. Albert, director. Evangelical Orphanage, Lewisburg, Pa. Special music for special occasions. Give us a call." A promotional card for the Girls' Saxophone Band, which was active from the 1930s to the 1950s. For another orphanage band, see Tressler Orphans' Home Band, Loysville, Pa.

"Kintz and Eilenberger, dealers in fancy and staple dry goods, Penn Avenue, Scranton, Pa. Next door to the St. Charles Hotel."