Album Families in Vintage Photos from Alan Mays

Reflections of Ruth

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 03:28:02 +0000

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of significant window reflection (or another kind of reflection if you don’t have one from a window).

A family poses for a photo in a boat named Ruth. The still water captures a mirror-like reflection of the boat and its occupants.

This is a divided-back real photo postcard with a type of Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing) that suggests that the photo may date to sometime between 1907 and 1918. The card is unused with no message, address, or postmark on the other side.

Tim and His Tricycle in Front of the House (Full Photo)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 04:50:59 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A photo of a boy and his parents in front of their house. The house number on the edge of the porch roof (just above where the parents are standing) is 350. A sign on the pole at left says, "Cars Stop Here." Unfortunately, there's no indication of where the photo was taken.

For more information, see the cropped version of the photo.

Tim and His Tricycle in Front of the House

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 04:51:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of a little or a lot of snow.

Judging by the message on the back of this photo (see transcription below), Tim is the name of the boy standing with a tricycle on a wooden sidewalk in front of his house. Tim is wearing a glove on his left hand, and he's holding his other glove in his mouth for some reason.

Tim's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wray, are standing on the porch as a photographer takes a picture of the family and their house (see the full photo). The porch and sidewalk are clear of snow but there's still some in the yard and on the street. Tim is wearing a hat, coat, and one glove, but the weather is warm enough for his parents to step outside without coats.

The Cyko stamp box ("Cyko - Place Postage Stamp Here") on the other side of this divided-back real photo postcard indicates that it may date to sometime between 1907 and the 1920s.

There's no address, stamp, or postmark on the back of this photo postcard, but a handwritten message from H. Wray to Lizzie Demsey fills most of that side. Here's my transcription of the message:

Lizzie Demsey

Dear Lizzie,

Just a few lines hoping you are well as this is leaving us all here in the best of health. I am sending you a photo of our house. I would rather have waited a little longer till the summer came before having it but James sent a man to take it & we did not know anything about it. Tim was just going to bed & I was washing. You will see we hadn't taken the storm windows off nor the storm door when it was taken. This comes with my best wishes to you all. I remain yours sincerely, H. Wray.

Remember me to Mrs. Humes when you see her.

Vintage Family Selfie

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 02:27:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of proud papa -- man holding an infant or small child.

The man at lower right is holding a string that he pulled to release the shutter on a camera to take this photo. This "string selfie" captured a portrait of himself and thirteen other members of his family, including a man and a woman at the front who are holding a small kid on their laps.

This is a real photo postcard with a divided back and a type of Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) on the other side that suggests a possible date that may be as early as 1907 to 1918. There's no address, postmark, or message on the verso.

Large Family Portrait, Findlay, Ohio

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 03:55:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of perfect family portrait (family members trying to look good).

Photographer's name on this nineteenth-century cabinet card photograph: "F. B. Zay, Findlay, O. FBZ."

Frederick B. Zay (1842-1910) of Findlay, Ohio, took this photo of an unidentified family. The parents and their nine children are all nicely dressed, and the photographer has arranged them carefully in front of a nondescript backdrop.

Wishing You All a Happy New Year, 1908

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sat, 01 Jan 2022 17:20:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Twenty-four adults and one child posed for this real photo postcard, which was used as a New Year greeting.

Handwritten message (at right): "Wishing you all a Happy New Year. Lovingly, Emma."

Addressed on the other side to Mrs. John Kreisel, 17 Cherokee St., S. Bethlehem, Pa., and postmarked in Allentown, Pa., on Jan. 3, 1908.

Compare this photo with New Year Gathering, Chicago, Illinois, 1912.

Hot Meal, July 1914

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 03:47:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of food.

The remnants of a meal were still on the table when the photographer snapped this picture. The calendar on the wall displays the month of July 1914, and it must have been a hot summer day judging by the sweat glistening on some of the faces. The dealer's notation on the back of this real photo postcard identifies the locale as Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Easter Sunday Family Portrait, April 18, 1954

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 04 Apr 2021 15:18:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Written on the back of this snapshot: "Easter Sunday, Apr. 18-54."

Wedding Guest Mystery (Detail)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 02:19:06 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

After closely inspecting this photo (see the full and cropped versions) for quite some time, I was surprised to finally realize that there's someone--or part of someone, to be precise--missing from it.

Take another glance at the bride's mother, who was caught with her eyes closed. A man's shoulders are visible directly behind her. The man's head, however, has been imperfectly altered so that it partially blends in with the folds of the curtain behind him.

Who was this mysterious wedding guest, and who wanted him out of the picture? We'll never know, but I find it amazing how well hidden--to my eyes, at least--he turned out to be. It's remarkable that this simple method of concealment was so successful in hiding this man's presence in the photo.

Wedding Guest Mystery (Cropped)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 02:19:08 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

As I mentioned (see the full version of this photo), I bought this picture at an antique mall and noticed something strange about it after I got it home.

I purchased the photo because I liked the furnishings in the room--take a look at the chandelier, curtains, and flowers in the background, for instance. And there's a flowery border running along the top of the wall just below the ceiling.

I also found the wedding party interesting. The wide-eyed groom seems to be stunned, but the bride, who's holding a large bouquet of flowers, looks calm and serene. The groom's father (at far right) is sporting a moustache and so is the bride's father (on the left). The photographer happened to catch the bride's mother (standing to the left of the bride) with her eyes closed.

I examined all these details and looked at the photo for quite a while before I spotted something downright strange. Did you find it yet? If not, check out another enlargement from this image.

Wedding Guest Mystery

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 02:19:10 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of putting on the ritz—dressed up for a special occasion.

I picked up this wedding photo at a local antique mall a year or two ago. It wasn't in great shape, but it was a larger photo mounted on cardboard, and I liked the interesting room furnishings, the period clothing, and the amusing facial expressions.

When I got home and examined the photo more closely, however, I noticed something strange about it. Were you able to spot it? If not, take a look at a cropped version of the photo.

Happy New Year 1911 from the Morgans

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 02 Jan 2020 04:48:57 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Happy New Year — 1911 — from the Morgans."

A real photo postcard greeting from the Morgan family, location unknown.

Decorated Car for the Floral-Flag Automobile Parade, Washington, D.C., July 5, 1909 (Cropped)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 04:43:42 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

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

A Fiddler and His Parents

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 06:43:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A rather blurry and discolored cyanotype real photo postcard.

Easter Bunny Holdup (Full Version)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 21 Apr 2019 08:50:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

An Easter snapshot dated "Apr 1961."

The boy is holding his toy Easter bunny up above his head, and the woman has a pair of sunglasses and a purse (I thought at first that it might be a camera case) in her left hand. What appears to be a garden hose is snaking its way through the lower left-hand corner of the photo.

For a better view of the family, see the cropped version of the photograph.

Easter Bunny Holdup, 1961

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 21 Apr 2019 08:50:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Notice how the boy is holding up his toy Easter bunny. The woman is holding a pair of sunglasses along with her purse.

The full version of the photograph is dated "Apr 1961," and Easter occurred on April 2 that year.

For similar Easter photos, see A Girl with Her Bunny and Mom and Boys with Their Bunnies and Moms.

Pop Morehead's Family

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 05:05:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Do you have ideas for future topics for the Vintage Photos Theme Park? If so, please add them to the Suggestion Box!

A photo of musicians and musical instruments for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

"Pop Morehead's Family. Alma, Pop and Jean, J.W., Moss, Henry, Mary."

Charles M. "Pop" Morehead, Sr. (1891-1973), lived in Littlestown, Pennsylvania, and performed in groups billed as Pop Morehead's Family, Pop Moorehead and His Kentucky Mountaineers, and the Kump Station Ramblers.

For other real photo postcards of country music groups from south central Pennsylvania, see Arizona Kid and His Cow Girls, Reading, Pa., 1941; The Lone Rangers, Lancaster, Pa.; and The Oklahoma Travelers, Highspire, Pa.

Flashy Easter Baskets

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 04:42:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has the flashiest Easter basket of all?

Mom and the kids pose with Easter baskets as the light from dad's flash bounces off the mirror in the background.

Location and date unknown.

Faceless Family CDV (Cropped)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 04:42:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A close-up of a faceless family foursome on a nineteenth-century CDV. See also the full photo.

Faceless Family CDV

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 04:42:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of flawed memories (photos that are damaged, faded, or have other imperfections, especially ones in which the flaws somehow enhance the image; this includes photos with defective processing, light leakage, and double exposures).

A spooky CDV with an unidentified faceless family. Perhaps their faces were somewhat washed out in the original photo, but they may also have been intentionally rubbed out afterwards.

Take a gander at a cropped version of the CDV for a closer look at the family's faint facial features.

For another faceless photo, see Who's the Dummy Now?