Lancaster County, Pa.

Babies in wash basins seemed to be a trend in photographs and advertisements at one time. See Richard Sheaff's discussion of Baby in a Basin on his amazing Sheaff : ephemera site. I haven't located any information regarding Galen Piper, a local photographer in Bainbridge, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In this photo, a scene with a house, fence, and tree is visible on what appears to be a hand-drawn backdrop.

"McCall's Ferry Hotel, C. F. Quade, proprietor. Opposite Columbia & Port Deposit Station. P.O. address: Bon View, Lancaster Co., Pa. The popular summer resort along the Susquehanna. Good fishing at all times. First-class accommodations." A photo of the McCall's Ferry Hotel and links to other historical photos from the surrounding Martic Township area are available on the Conestoga Area Historical Society's Web site (thanks to Rita over on Flickr for locating the hotel photo).

"W. A. King. D. R. King. W. A. King & Co. Columbia Steam Cracker and Biscuit Bakery, Nos. 169, 171, and 173 Locust St., Columbia, Lancaster Co., Pa. Bakers of large and small steam pretzels. Presented by ________." Daniel R. King and his son William A. King operated a bakery in nineteenth-century Columbia, Pennsylvania, when steam power was the cutting-edge technology and Victorian typefaces were in vogue.

"Hinkle's Handy Egg Colors. Manufactured by Hinkle Drug Co., Columbia, Pa....Not for use in coloring any food except shell eggs. Contents--6 one-dram bottles." Front panel of a small box containing six small glass tubes with corks. Inside the glass tubes are the dried-out remains of the different colors of Easter egg dye.

"The Columbia Diner, Route 30, Columbia, Pa. Open 24 hours. Private parties. Home made cheesecake. Take out." The Columbia Diner was located along the Lincoln Highway (Route 462 today but formerly Route 30) in Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

"Merchants' House, Denver, Pa. F.P. Miller, prop'r. Bar stocked with the finest wines and liquors. Livery connected."

A shoat is simply a "young, newly-weaned pig." "Public Sale of 125 Shoats. On Tuesday, February 12, 1889. will be sold at public sale, at Irwin's Hotel, Ironville, West Hempfield Township, the following, to wit: 125 Chester County shoats, weighing from 40 to 140 lbs. A few breeding sows. Stock can be seen three days before sale. A credit of 90 days will be given. Sale to commence at 1 o'clock, when terms will be made known by A. H. Hershey. Isaac Hieneman, auct. H. L. Bard, clerk. (Please distribute among your friends.) The New Era Steam Job Printing House, No. 3 South Queen St., Lancaster, Pa."

"Benj. H. Brubaker, dealer and packer of Pennsylvania seed-leaf tobacco. East Petersburg, Lanc. Co., Pa."

Visit our Sunday-School Air Port; come on a glorious flight Far to the lands of the Bible, shining in radiant light. Straight through the heaven of beauty bathed in the sunshine of love, Come on a tour of the Bible all other journeys above! Airships are waiting and ready, the pilots are steady and true; Off we are starting next Sunday, and here is a ticket for you! Handwritten at the bottom: "Zion Lutheran Sunday School, E. Petersburg, Penna., October 27, 1929." Printed on the other side: "Here's your pass for the take-off next Sunday!" Handwritten address on the other side: "Misses Stella and Martha Weaver, R.D. #1, Manheim, Penna." Postmarked: East Petersburg, Pa., Oct 23, 1929.

"I'm being royally entertained in Elizabethtown, Pa., but yet I occasionally think of you."

"Market Street, Elizabethtown , Pa., Looking South from the Square. Pub. by G. N. Falkenstein." A postcard addressed on the other side to Mrs. Annie Perinell, Mt. Joy, Pa., with postmarks for Elizabethtown, Pa., April 12, 1906, 7 p.m., and Mount Joy, Pa., April 13, 1906, 7 a.m.

"Silver Belle, Ephrata, Penna. Nationally renowned. 1932-1976. Ephrata Mountain Springs, Lancaster Co., Pa. Historically famous, 1753-1976. Silver Belle Association presents an outstanding array of internationally known lecturers, teachers, world famous psychics." For information about Camp Silver Belle, a Spiritualist group, see Spirit Photo, Camp Silver Belle, Mountain Springs Hotel, Ephrata, Pa.

"How we do things at Ephrata, Pa." Wisconsin photographer Alfred Stanley Johnson, Jr., reused these same onions in another tall-tale postcard that he entitled Onions (below).

"For county treasurer. 1893. E. H. Hershey, of Gordonville, Leacock Twp., Lancaster Co., Pa. Subject to Republican rules." A selection of political candidate cards for men aspiring to local offices in Pennsylvania in the 1880s and 1890s.

A taken unawares photo (shots of people who clearly have no idea they're being snapped) for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A photo of the W. L. Zimmerman and Sons grocery store in Intercourse , Pennsylvania, shows an Amishman with his horse and buggy (mouse over the image above for an enlargement that makes it easier to see the man in his dark clothes). Since the Amish religion prohibits photography, it's likely that the man in this photo was either unaware that he was being photographed or else he did spot the photographer and turned his back to the camera. As scholar Donald B. Kraybill explained in a Top Ten FAQ about the Amish for the PBS Web site, "Amish churches forbid individuals to pose for face-on photos for two reasons. First, they cite the second of the Bible's Ten Commandments: 'Thou shalt not make… any graven image, or any likeness of any thing….' (Exodous 20:14). Second, in a communal society that values humility, posing for photos is a sign of pride that calls attention to oneself and rubs against Amish beliefs about the importance of deferring and yielding to others." It's ironic, then, that this grocery store appeared in the 1985 film Witness when actor Harrison Ford, who played the part of an undercover detective dressed in Amish garb, made a call from a telephone booth located on the porch of the store. That was a later phone booth, since the booth visible in this photo is the small but elaborate building situated between the buggy and the Gulf gas pumps (it has a "Zimmerman's Store" sign on one side and a very faint "Enterprise Telephone Co." sign painted above its front door). Unfortunately, Zimmerman's grocery store (the sign partially visible beyond the phone booth probably refers to "[Lanco] Service Stores," a local affiliation of independent grocers) went out of business in 2014. The store's role in Witness was described in " Lancaster County Grocery Store Featured in Harrison Ford Movie Closes Its Doors ," an article by Tim Stuhldreher that appeared on LancasterOnline, April 3, 2014. Check out Google's street view of this same scene, which dates to 2011 when the store was still open.

For information about this photo, see An Amishman and His Buggy at Zimmerman's Store, Intercourse, Pa. :

A vintage business card for "Dr. J. C. Brobst, druggist, Broad St., Liti[t]z , Penn."

"A Happy New Year 1879 from H. A and S. S. Brickenstein." The Rev. Hermann A. Brickenstein and his wife, Susan Shultz Brickenstein, were listed in the 1890 edition of the American College and Public School Directory , p. 96, as principal and vice-principal of the Linden Hall Seminary, a "Moravian school for young ladies," in Lititz, Pa. Linden Hall continues its educational mission today as "the oldest girls' school in the United States."