Album Telephones from Alan Mays

Telephones and Stoves

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 03:05:34 +0000

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

This is a real photo postcard used as an advertisement by the Keely Stove Company of Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The card dates to 1920, and it shows a woman with a candlestick telephone. She's getting married and wants a Keely Columbian Stove just like her mother has, so she's telephoning Herr & Co. in Lancaster, Pa., to order one. In other versions of the ad that I spotted online, the same woman is phoning J. A. Best & Co. in Allentown, Pa., and Bennett & Billington in Canajoharie, N.Y.

I have another copy of this postcard that was addressed to Miss Fannie Groff, Kirkwood, Lanc. Co., Pa., R.R.#1, and mailed in New Providence, Pa., on Nov. 3, 1920. The handwritten message on that copy doesn't refer to the advertisement itself but the writer does mention "phoning" and "call[ing] . . . on the phone":

"Tue. eve. [Nov. 2]. Dear Fannie, I received your letter this morning. I guess you think I am a great one for not phoning to you, but I was so busy today. And Jacob came up to vote [Warren G. Harding won the U.S. presidential election held that day], and because it rained he is staying up so I was not at Margie's to stay all night. Fannie, I won't be down this week, but I will come next Fri. eve. as far as I know now, if it suits you. We are invited to a kitchen shower on Sat. eve. Write to let me know if it will suit. And I will write later or call you up on the phone. R.E.M."

History of this Genuine Photo

The mother of this young lady has a Columbian Stove manufactured by The Keely Stove Co., Columbia, Pa. She is about to get married and telephones to Herr & Co., 7 E. King St., Lancaster, Pa., for she wants one just like Mother's.

515. Schaefer Ross Co., Inc., Rochester, N.Y.

Calling to Wish You a Merry Christmas

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 04:57:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

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

"Merry Christmas. Sophie, Grant, and Kurt Stetzler."

A photographic Christmas card dating to the late 1950s.

Off to Europe in 1911—Are You Coming with Us?

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 04:07:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

An advertising postcard addressed on the other side to Mr. Wm. P. Breen, Fort Wayne, Ind., and postmarked New Haven, Conn., June 8, 1911.

Off to Europe

Visiting Ireland, England, Scotland, Belgium, France, Germany Switzerland.

Are you coming with us? We must know soon.

Party sails from New York, July 8. 'Phone, wire, or write for reservations. A few choice berths left.

Columbus Travel Society, New York office, 2075 Metropolitan Building. Gramercy 3438.

Prof. J. C. Monaghan, pres. Mrs. B. Ellen Burke, sec'y. D. P. Toomey, treas.

Hello, Is This Santa? Merry Christmas!

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 04 Dec 2017 04:22:34 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Hello - Merry Christmas."

An early twentieth-century postcard featuring cutting-edge candlestick telephone communications technology.

See also Hello, Merry Christmas! Operator, Can You Help Me, Help Me If You Please.

Mr. Fortune Is Wishing You Happiness!

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 18:38:56 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Wishing you a fortune in happiness! Mr. Fortune. WCBM."

Homer Todd, shown here holding a telephone handset and sitting in front of a microphone in this postcard-sized promotional photo, originated the Dialing for Dollars program on Baltimore, Maryland, radio station WCBM in 1939. As "Mr. Fortune," he would randomly call phone numbers and award cash prizes to listeners who answered the phone and could tell him the amount of money he was offering as a prize (the amount increased each time the phone went unanswered or the wrong amount was given as an answer).

Dialing for Dollars turned out to be wildly successful and was carried on many different stations as a franchised program first on radio and then on television into the 1970s. Todd--his full name was Homer Ulric Todd, Jr.--apparently continued his career as Mr. Fortune at WCBM until at least 1950. He passed away in 1967 at the age of 56.

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Econo-Phone: Telephones, Accessories, Electronics

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 21:51:18 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Econo-Phone. Telephones, accessories, electronics."

What telephones used to look like. An advertising postcard for a store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

An Amishman and His Buggy at Zimmerman's Store, Intercourse, Pa. (Cropped)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 03:26:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

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

An Amishman and His Buggy at Zimmerman's Store, Intercourse, Pa.

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 03:26:06 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

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.

Sani-Phone Hygienic Telephone Discs Ad, World Almanac and Encyclopedia, 1912 (Internet Archive)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 16:21:10 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

This Sani-Phone Hygienic Telephone Discs advertisement is a screen capture from the World Almanac and Encyclopedia, 1912, p. xiv, which is available via the Internet Archive.

For an example of a disc imprinted with a hotel's name, see Hygienic Telephone Disc, Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, Philadelphia, Pa., 1906:

Hygienic Telephone Disc, Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, Philadelphia, Pa., 1906

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 16:21:12 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

The Bellevue Stratford, Phila., Pa. Talk through this disc. Hygiene Telephone Disc. A new one for each guest occupying this room.

Talk through the Hygienic Telephone Disc and protect yourself from all germ disease. Replace when soiled. U.S. Patent, June 12, 1906.

To put on, bend up small corner on line and slide on mouthpiece. Mfg. by Hygienic Telephone Disc Co., Phila., Pa.

--------

Worrying about germs and the spread of diseases is nothing new, as this early twentieth-century "Hygienic Telephone Disc" demonstrates. Guests at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia could place one of these "Sani-Phone" discs--as they were also called--over the mouthpieces of the telephones in their rooms so they wouldn't contract tuberculosis or any other nasty bug. The discs used a wax paper-like film that was sandwiched between two layers of cardboard to keep germs away while letting sound through.

For a 1912 advertisement that shows how the disc was placed on the candlestick telephones of the time, see Sani-Phone Hygienic Telephone Discs Ad, World Almanac and Encyclopedia, 1912 (Internet Archive):

Hello! Who Is This? You're the One We're After

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 20:05:26 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Hello! Who is this? You're the one we're after. Missed you last Sunday. Come to Sunday school next Sunday sure! A. B. C. No. 56. Copyright, 1917, the Standard Publishing Co., Cincinnati, O."

For other don't-forget-to-attend-Sunday-school postcards, see One Out of Our Sunday-School Class Last Sunday and Sorry You Were Sick Last Sunday.

The Boys Keep Me Busy at the Phone

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 17:03:17 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"The boys keep me busy at the phone in Jersey Shore, Pa., so excuse me for not writing sooner."

The Telephone Matches Special Safety Matches

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:14:14 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"The Telephone Matches, special safety matches. Trade mark, made in Sweden. Average contents 60 matches per box."

For some additional examples of matchbook labels, see below:

Hello, Merry Christmas! Operator, Can You Help Me, Help Me If You Please

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 23:27:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

S. Kronenberg's Sons Calendar, Carlisle, Pa., 1913

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 20:04:20 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Compliments of S. Kronenberg's Sons, clothing, 6-8 S. Hanover St., Carlisle, Pa. A bit of gossip. Copyright, 1911, R. Hill. January 1913."

Better One Girl on the Hand Than Two on the 'Phone

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 18:02:07 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Big hands, small woman, and general peculiarity for the Weird Vintage Postcards group.

Silas and Samantha at the Astorf-Waldoria, 1903 (Stereographic Card)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 16:33:10 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A comic stereoscopic card. For additional information, see Silas and Samantha at the Astorf-Waldoria, 1903.

Silas and Samantha at the Astorf-Waldoria, 1903

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 16:33:12 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A hold it photo (people holding something) for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

Caption: "By durn, Samenthy, this beats the old pump all holler. Push jest a leetle harder and she'll be here."

Sign on wall: "Hotel Astorf-Waldoria. Ring once for bell boy, twice [for] ice water, three [times for] hot water." Name on trunk: "Silas Green, Wayback, O."

Printed along the sides: "The 'Perfec' Stereograph. (Trade mark.) Patented April 14, 1903. Other patents pending. H. C. White Co., Publishers. General offices and works, North Bennington, Vt., U.S.A. Copyright 1903 by H. C. White Co. 5587 (2)."

This comic stereoscopic card (see the full card below) shows two country bumpkins who are visting the city and staying at the highfalutin Hotel Astorf-Waldoria (a thinly veiled reference, of course, to the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City).

Unfamiliar with big-city ways and new-fangled technology, Samantha (or "Samenthy," as her husband Silas pronounces it) is pushing the call button (normally used to summon hotel staff) while Silas holds a water pitcher below the mouthpiece of the wall-mounted telephone. In their naivety, Samantha and Silas have misunderstood the sign ("Ring twice for ice water") and have mistaken the phone for a pump that will provide water once the button is pushed.

In 1903, at a time when indoor plumbing and telephones were less common in rural areas, viewers of this stereographic photo could laugh at the silly antics of this foolish backwoods couple from Wayback, Ohio.

Looking at the image a hundred years later, we can catch a glimpse of the different styles of clothing, wallpaper, carpet, and furniture that were popular back then, and we can also consider how the modern technology that we take for granted today--faucets with running water and mobile phones--has made the humor here obsolete.

Phone Us for Convenient, Careful Service

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 17:42:27 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"You'll like our prompt cleaning. Phone us for convenient, careful service. Keemer Cleaner, Lincoln Highway East, phone 4-3721."