Album Perry County, Pa. from Alan Mays

Juniata River Near Amity Hall, Perry County, Pennsylvania, ca. 1930s

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 04:24:12 +0000

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of the long and winding road (road photos, winding or otherwise).

Caption: "The Juniata Near Amity Hall. 9."

This is a real photo postcard with a scenic view of the Juniata River in Perry County, Pennsylvania. The road in the photo is now US 22/US 322 (U.S. Route 22 concurrent with U.S. Route 322). The location is near Amity Hall, which refers to a landmark inn that closed in the 1980s, suffered a fire in 2009, and has since been torn down.

The tire cover on the back of the automobile parked along the road says, "See Bob" and "Auto Supplies." The license plate on the car is 69M52, and I believe it's a Pennsylvania plate. Unfortunately, I was unable to make out the year, which appeared on license plates at the time the photo was taken.

On the other side of the card is an Azo stamp box (squares in each of the four corners), which indicates that the photo likely dates to sometime between the 1920s and the 1940s. There's no message, address, stamp, or postmark on this card, but other copies that I spotted online had postmarks dating to 1935 and 1939.

Orphans Home Band, Loysville, Pa.

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 17:15:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A real photo postcard showing the Tressler Orphans' Home Band. "Tressler" was part of its name beginning sometime in the nineteenth century, so I'm not sure why it's missing from the drum in this early twentieth-century photo.

For a later incarnation of the band—with spiffier uniforms and a different drumhead—see Tressler Orphans' Home Band, Loysville, Pa.

Clark's Ferry Bridge Tickets

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 07 May 2015 22:09:44 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Clark's Ferry Bridge Co. Good for one passage across Clark's Ferry Bridge with passenger automobile, seating capacity not over seven persons. Without trailer. Christian W. Lynch, president. F204762, F204763, F204764."

As Wikipedia explains, "The Clark's Ferry Bridge carries U.S. Routes 22 and 322 across the Susquehanna River near Duncannon, Pennsylvania about 20 miles north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania."

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased the Clark's Ferry Bridge in the 1940s and eventually discontinued tolls. The bridge was completely rebuilt in the 1980s.

New and Old Clark's Ferry Bridges with Paddlewheel Coal Digger, July 26, 1925

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 13:05:00 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A bridge photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

Handwritten note on the back of this photo: "7-26-1925. New & old Clark's Ferry Bridge."

As Wikipedia explains, the current Clark's Ferry Bridge, which was built in 1986, "carries U.S. Routes 22 and 322 across the Susquehanna River near Duncannon, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania." This photo, however, shows the two bridges that preceded the current one.

The concrete bridge in front was brand new when this photo was taken in 1925, and the older soon-to-be-demolished wooden covered bridge behind it was constructed in 1859. Drivers who crossed the privately owned bridge were charged a fee (see tickets below), but that changed in the 1940s after the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased it and discontinued tolls.

In the foreground is a curious-looking boat with a paddlewheel. After a bit of searching, I learned that this was a "paddlewheel coal digger," one of many such boats that dredged the tons and tons of anthracite coal that washed down the river from mining operations farther north in Pennsylvania. For more information, see Van Wagner's article, The Hard Coal Navy of the Susquehanna River, and his 35-minute YouTube documentary, The Billy Marks: Paddlewheel Coal Diggers on the Susquehanna River.

Friendly Tavern, U.S. Routes 11 and 15, Newport, Pa.

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 17:54:58 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Friendly Tavern, Route 11-15, north of Harrisburg, Pa."

The Friendly Tavern was located in Perry County, Pennsylvania, along a stretch of highway where U.S. Route 11 combines with U.S. Route 15. The building that housed the taven is now part of an establishment called TJ's (see the Google Maps Street View from 2015).

Tressler Orphans' Home Band, Loysville, Pa.

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sat, 29 Aug 2015 15:27:24 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A real photo postcard of the "Tressler Orphans' Home Band, Loysville, Pa."

For another orphanage music group, see Girls' Saxophone Band, Evangelical Orphanage, Lewisburg, Pa.

B. B. Lupfer, Graduate Optician, New Bloomfield, Pa.

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 18:46:34 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"B. B. Lupfer, graduate optician, New Bloomfield, Pa. Bell 'phone. All work warranted. Office days, Monday and Saturday. 15 years experience. Wide practice."

See also Charles S. Frantz, Graduate Ophthalmic Optician, Watchmaker, and Jeweler, Lancaster, Pa. and Dr. F. C. Williams, Eye Specialist, Harrisburg, Pa.

An Old-Fashioned Baptism, Perry County Parade, 1970

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 17:21:22 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Perry County Sesquicentennial Parade, photo taken at the intersection of West Main and Apple Streets, New Bloomfield, Pa., 1970.

For other photos from this parade, see:

Brothers of the Brush, Perry County Parade, 1970

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 19:02:24 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Signs on float: "Brothers of the Brush, Elliottsburg Jail." "Comb Nation Jail."

Perry County Sesquicentennial Parade, photo taken at the intersection of West Main and Apple Streets, New Bloomfield, Pa., 1970.

For other photos from this parade, see:

Freckle King and Pigtail Queen, Perry County Parade, 1970

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 19:02:26 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Sign on car: "Perry Co. Freckle King, Pigtail Queen."

Perry County Sesquicentennial Parade, photo taken at the intersection of West Main and Apple Streets, New Bloomfield, Pa., 1970.

For other photos from this parade, see:

New Bloomfield Post Office, Perry County Parade, 1970

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 19:02:28 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Sign on float: "New Bloomfield Post Office. Perry Co. Sesquicentennial 1970, The County Seat, New Bloomfield, Pa. 17068."

The United States Postal Service's "Mr. ZIP" character--the cutout of a wide-eyed, smiling postman that's standing in the middle of the float next to two mailbags and a mailbox--promoted the use of ZIP codes, which were first used in 1963.

Perry County Sesquicentennial Parade, photo taken at the intersection of West Main and Apple Streets, New Bloomfield, Pa., 1970.

For other photos from this parade, see:

Bolze's Steam Engine Club, Perry County Parade, 1970

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 19:02:30 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Perry County Sesquicentennial Parade, photo taken at the intersection of West Main and Apple Streets, New Bloomfield, Pa., 1970.

Sign hanging below the canopy on the steam engine: "Bolze's Steam Engine Club, Landisburg."

According to Michael R. Zeigler's article, "The Bolze Family Steam Engine History," which was originally published in Farm Collector, March-April 1999, "This steam engine is an Emerson-Brantingham Peerless TT model, serial #17544, 50 HP, the 200th built in 1916. It was bought in 1918 by the Bolze Brothers for their threshing and sawmill operation setup at R.D. Landisburg, Perry County, Pennsylvania . . . . During the Perry County Sesquicentennial Celebration in 1970, [Frank Bolze, son and nephew of the original three Bolze brothers] formed the Bolze Steam Engine Club and toured the county with it and an old threshing machine. This was quite a sight at all the parades."

For a more recent color photo of this steam engine, see 1937 D-35 I/H & EB 17544 @ Shermans Valley Heritage Days 2003 on SmokStak.com.

For other photos from this parade, see:

Schoolchildren Posing in Front of a Blackboard, Perry County, Pa. (Detail)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 22:00:29 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

See also the full version of this photo:

Schoolchildren Posing in Front of a Blackboard, Perry County, Pa.

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 22:00:31 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A photo of children for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

An undated photo by Morrows Studio, Newport, Perry County, Pa., shows schoolchildren posing in front of a blackboard.

The expressions on the kids' faces range from angelic sweetness to stoic forbearance to utter impatience. My favorite is the girl sitting third from left in the front row (mouse over the image to see a close-up view of her and some of the other children). Her dramatically amusing appearance--with puffed-out cheeks, bulging eyes, and a hand over her stomach--either indicates that she's going to be sick or that she's ready for the photo session to be over.

Lesher's Diner, Routes 11 and 15, Liverpool, Pa.

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 21:43:38 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Printed on the back of this linen postcard: "Lesher's Diner, Routes 11 & 15, 28 miles north of Harrisburg, 28 miles south of Sunbury, Liverpool, Penna. Breakfast, luncheon, dinner. Specializing in steaks, chops, sea-food. Home-made pastries baked in our kitchen, Have your car serviced at adjoining AMOCO Station while dining in our delightful diner. 24 hour service. Photography by James E. Hess. Pub. by Mellinger Studios, Lancaster, Penna."

Bride and Groom, Children's Mock Wedding, Perry County, Pa., 1920s

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 22:02:24 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

I sense that the bride and groom may have had some second thoughts as they posed for this photo. See also the full version of this photo. From the Dente Studio, Newport, Pa.

Children's Mock Wedding, Perry County, Pa., 1920s

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 22:02:25 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Be sure to take a look at the cropped version of this photo to see the charming expressions of the bride, groom, and other cute members of the bridal party. From the Dente Studio, Newport, Pa.

Tinted Cabinet Card of Man and Woman

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:55:58 +0000

Alan Mays has posted: