Alan Mays' photos

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of tricks or treats! (any kind of Halloween photo, including costumes, masks, jack-o'-lanterns, decorations, ghosts, skeletons, haunted houses, or anything spooky, scary, or frightening; no limit—post as many Halloween photos as you'd like!) . A photo of three young men goofing around in the backyard. I'm not sure if that's a Halloween mask or whether the fellow in the middle is wearing it voluntarily, but the two other guys appear to be having fun. There seems to be a lot of activity going on around them, with a woman partially visible on the right, a dog on the left, and a man walking in the background.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of tricks or treats! (any kind of Halloween photo, including costumes, masks, jack-o'-lanterns, decorations, ghosts, skeletons, haunted houses, or anything spooky, scary, or frightening; no limit—post as many Halloween photos as you'd like!) . Handwritten caption in green ink, lower right-hand corner: "Jack - Hallow-Eve - 1933." A real photo postcard showing "Jack" -- usually a man's name -- dressed as a woman for Halloween in 1933. The photo was previously pasted in an album and has remnants of paper and glue on the other side. The photographic paper used for the postcard backing has an Azo stamp box (squares in all four corners, in use from 1924 to 1949).

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of infant adoration (babies with those who love them) . This is an unused real photo postcard with a nicely lit portrait of a doting mother and her young child. The Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) printed on the other side indicates that the photo may date to sometime between 1904 and 1918.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of sitting on the sofa . I like the colors and patterns in this undated photo of a couple and their dog posing for a picture in their living room. Note especially the bright red sofa (with white antimacassars ), the busy design printed on the curtains, and the woman's striped blouse and distinctive eyeglasses. For another unique sitting-on-the-sofa photo, see Easter Bunnies and Baskets .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of horses, carriages, or wagons . The handwritten message on the other side of this real photo postcard says, "This is our horses Robert & Maud in front of Fulton Miller's house." There's no stamp or postmark, but the card is addressed to "Mr. Glen[n] Lyle , RFD, Brookville, [Pennsylvania], c/o Herbert Lyle." The Velox stamp box (with diamonds in the corners and "Place Stamp Here" in the middle) indicates that it may date to as early as 1907-1917.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of a high school prom photo (yours or someone else's) or any photo of a dressed-up couple , Handwritten note on the other side of the photo: "May 17th, 1969. Prom." A prom photo taken over fifty years ago. Anyone know the meaning of the symbols on the mat-like wall decorations? For another prom photo, see Prom Night .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of photo with decorative border or frame . Printed on the other side of this real photo postcard: "White House Photo Parlor, W. H. Burnham, Prop., 25 Clinton Ave., Cortland, N.Y." A portrait of a young girl with glasses. Her dress has a lacy collar, she has a bow in her hair, and she's wearing a necklace and a lapel watch with chain. The type of Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) printed on the other side suggests a date that may be as early as 1904 to 1918. Compare the oval border of this photo with the one used for Man's Portrait in Elaborate Border .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of (modest) bathtub shots . Mom is smiling but Junior looks a little worried as dad snaps a photo at bath time. For a basin instead of a bathinette, see Baby in a Basin, Photographed by Galen Piper, Bainbridge, Pa.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of outdoors at night . Handwritten note on the back of this snapshot: "3 oclock in the morning." Five women and three men pose for a photo at three o'clock in the morning. A handmade "welcome" sign on the door includes a drawing of two skull and crossbones.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of broken or dilapidated . A note on the other side of this photo says that the covered bridge was "near where I was raised, had to cross it to get to town," but there's no indication where the bridge or town was located. The blotchy and discolored photo makes the dilapidated bridge seem that much more rickety and run-down. The "1857" (I think that's a "5" written backwards) may be the year the bridge was constructed. What appears to be an advertising sign (for "Shapiros"?) is visible on the left inside wall at the entrance to the bridge. This is a real photo postcard with an undivided back and a style of stamp box -- containing a sailboat illustration and the words "Place 1-Cent Stamp Here" -- that suggests a date that could be as early as 1905 to 1908.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of highways and byways . Caption: "Church St., Hyndman, Pa." This is a real photo postcard showing the buildings and landscape at the corner of Church and Bedford Streets in the small town of Hyndman , which is located in the south central part of Pennsylvania among the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians . Fortunately, Google Street View has recorded both metropolitan highways as well as the small-town byways like the one. The current Google view of this location is similar to the scene captured one hundred years ago in the photo. The street is now paved and a few windows are missing from the house, but the pillars holding up the porch are intact and the iron fence is still there. The type of Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) printed on the other side of this photo postcard suggests a possible date that may be as early as 1904 to 1918.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of lamps, chandeliers, candlesticks, and other types of lighting . This is a color slide, circa 1959, that shows two flower paintings hanging on a wall. Below them is a Motorola "Stereophonic High Fidelity" console. Based on the online documentation for a similar model, the top of the stereo lifts up on the right for access to a record player inside. The six knobs on the left are labeled Function, Compensator, Loudness, Treble, Bass, and Balance. On top of the left side of the stereo are a decorative porcelain table lamp and a framed photo. This is another slide from the collection of the Pipe-Smoking Man's family . I only recently realized that two other photos from the collection show different parts of this same room. A photo taken to the left of this one also captures part of the stereo console (see Flowering Plants and Groovy Curtains ). The door, wall thermostat, and chair in this photo are visible in a photo taken to the right of this one (see Still Life with Television ). The flower paintings may be the work of "Ethel", a relative of the Pipe-Smoking Man (see Ethel's Oil Painting, 1967 ).

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of at the amusement park . A snapshot of a boat ride in an amusement park, date and location unknown.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of school days . This is a real photo postcard that's dated 1913 on the other side. The photo shows a teacher and her students at Rhode's School, a one-room schoolhouse -- now a private residence -- located along Old U.S. 22 about two miles east of Krumsville in Greenwich Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. A local publication reprinted this photo in 1969 with the following caption: "The teacher in this picture was Miss Carrie W. Kline [1857-1931], a native of Richmond Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. She was a graduate of the Keystone State Normal School [now Kutztown University ], class of 1877. She started teaching at the age of 19 and followed the profession for fifty years in the schools of Penna. She taught at Rhode's School from 1908 to 1915." -- From Da Ausauga (Kempton, Pa.: Fereinicht Pennsylfawnish Deitsch Fulk, Inc.), vol. 9, no. 4 (June-July 1969), p. 1.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of three in the front / two in the back . The handwriting on the other side of this real photo postcard indicates that the photo was "Taken July 9, 1911" and this copy of it was intended for "Mrs. O. W. Wesner." For a similar souvenir photo with an automobile, see Out for a Drive in Coney Island .

Printed on the other side of this real photo postcard: "Souvenir Post Card, Seagate Photo-Studio, Coney Island, New York. Mrs. Quartner, Prop., Surf Ave., Opp. 15th Street."

This picture has the same appearace and size as a real photo postcard but it doesn't have a postcard backing. The women are identified on the other side as "Bess Stubinger" and "Bess Lester." For another photo of people posing in a tree, see Hatchet Job .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of asleep . Handwritten note on the other side of this photo: "This is the party that claims he got the Manheim bunch full when in Altoona . I caught him napping when the Dead Game[r]s of Lancaster was camping here." The Dead Gamers' Camping Association was a fraternal group based in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (see The Dead Gamers Camp in Allenwood, Pa. , an article by Heather Truckenmiller on the Valley Girl Views blog). The photographer caught the man fast asleep on a cot during a sunny afternoon as bright light illuminated the sleeper and the side of the tent. This is a real photo postcard, and the type of Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) printed on the other side suggests a date from 1904 to 1918.