Album Working All the Live-Long Day from Alan Mays

Don't Keep the Bus Driver Waiting (Cropped)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 02:51:02 +0000

With a cigarette in his mouth and a hand on his hip, a bus driver stands impatiently at the door of his bus. A logo on the door that could identity the owner of the bus is indistinct, and it's difficult to make out any words. Does anyone recognize the outline or design of the logo?

See also the full version of this photo.

Don't Keep the Bus Driver Waiting

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 02:51:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of on the bus or off the bus.

A driver is smoking a cigarette and standing at the door of his bus as if he's waiting for additional passengers to board. A blurry logo on the door may include the name of a bus company or an organization, but it's difficult to decipher any words or identify the design.

For a closer look at the bus driver and the logo, see the cropped version of this snapshot.

Nurses and Soldiers (Full Version)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 03:44:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Nurses and soldiers pose for a photo on a sunny day.

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

Nurses and Soldiers

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 03:44:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of nurses or nuns.

Handwritten note in black ink on the other side of this photo: "This is Merritt on the end sitting down. He is pretty but he's better looking than Leo was."

Later note in blue ink on the verso: "Babe Closner's husband."

Nine nurses and five soldiers pose for a group photo on a sunny day. I like all the different expressions on their faces, some beaming with wide smiles and others with squinty eyes as they endure the bright sunlight.

I'm not sure where or when the photo was taken. Perhaps the uniforms that the nurses and soldiers are wearing would provide some clues.

See also the full version of the photo.

Workers in a Doorway (Full Version)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 03:58:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Two dirty and disheveled workmen stand in a doorway. See also a cropped version of this real photo postcard.

Workers in a Doorway

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 03:58:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of rumpled or wrinkled.

Two men, dressed in dirty and rumpled overalls, stand in the doorway of an unidentified workplace. See also the full version of this photo.

This is a divided-back real photo postcard with an Azo stamp box design (four corner triangles pointing up) on the other side. The time frame of 1907 to 1918 is usually associated with this type of stamp box.

Bill Poster — Magic Yeast Makes Perfect Bread (Satchel)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 03:58:08 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A bill poster's satchel with additional copies of the "Magic Yeast Makes Perfect Bread" sign. For more information, see the full photo.

Bill Poster — Magic Yeast Makes Perfect Bread (Hammer)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 03:58:10 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A bill poster's hammer and an advertising sign for Magic Yeast. For more information, see the full photo.

Bill Poster — Magic Yeast Makes Perfect Bread

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 03:58:12 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of Labor Day (laborers and/or the day).

This man is a bill poster or bill sticker, a worker who posts (or sticks up) advertising bills and posters on walls and other public places.

The long-handled tool he's holding (see a close-up) is a bill poster's hammer. A tool collector's site explained the hammer's function:

"These specialized hammers were used to 'post' handbills and advertising cards well above the normal reach of the user, or potential remover or defacer, making them both easier to see and less subject to vandalism or being posted over. . . . These hammers are cleverly designed with two clips. The upper clip holds the initial tack while the lower clip holds the bill, card, or poster to be tacked on to a pole, wall, or tree."

This man is also holding an advertising sign that says, "Magic Yeast Makes Perfect Bread." At his feet is a satchel containing more copies of the sign (see a close-up).

This is a real photo postcard with a divided back, and the type of Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) printed on the other side suggests a date between 1907 and 1918. The name "William Mere" is handwritten on the other side.

Women with Typewriter

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 03:38:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of outdated technology - typewriters, record players, etc.

Six women pose for a photo as they sit awkwardly on office shelves. An L. C. Smith typewriter is visible on the desk in front of them.

This is an undated snapshot with no other information about the women or the location of their office.

Potatoes and Barrels

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 14 Aug 2023 03:33:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of fields, crops, pastures.

Empty barrels line the rows of dug-up potatoes in this photo of a potato harvest. On the right-hand side, men are placing barrels full of potatoes on a horse-drawn wagon. The horses on the left may be pulling a mechanical potato digger. A man standing in the middle and other workers in the far distance are using baskets to gather the potatoes and put them in the barrels. See a cropped version of the photo for a better view of the harvest activities in the field.

This is an unused real photo postcard with no address, message, or date. The back of the card has an Azo stamp box design (with squares in all four corners) that suggests a time frame that may range from 1924 to 1949.

Although there's no indication of the location where this photo was taken, an article by Paul E. Rand details a similar process of Harvesting Potatoes in Maine. His description is part of Presque Isle: The Star City, a site on the Maine Memory Network. For a similar harvest photo that's referenced in Rand's article, see Harvesting Potatoes, Presque Isle, 1940.

Police Car

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 04:55:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of law and order.

A real photo postcard dating to the early twentieth century. The partially visible sign in the background indicates "18 Miles to Balto" (an abbreviation for Baltimore -- I identified the sign based on another photo posted online).

The same automobile and painted backdrop also appear in a photo showing Three Gents in a Car.

Working in an Office II, Dec. 24, 1947

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 03:25:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A snapshot of a man in an office. The photo is dated December 24, 1947, and the man has evidently just unwrapped a Christmas present and is examining a necktie that he received as a gift. Another photo of the same man shows him holding a gift box.

Working in an Office, Dec. 24, 1947

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 03:25:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of working in an office.

A snapshot of a man sitting at a desk in an office. The photo is dated December 24, 1947, on the other side, and the clock on the windowsill behind him shows that it's ten minutes before 1:00 p.m. The larger of the two advertising calendars on the wall came from J. R. Kauffman of Shartlesville, Pennsylvania, who sold "A Full Line of Equipment for Every Farmer," including Allis-Chalmers tractors.

The man appears to be holding paperwork or perhaps a book. Could it be an invoice or some sort of business report? Nope, as a second photo reveals, the man is opening Christmas presents, and that's evidently a gift box that he's holding in this photo.

Automobile in Flooded Street, Warren, Pennsylvania, March 1913

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 30 Jun 2019 15:58:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A cars and trucks photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

This is a real photo postcard addressed on the other side to Mr. Sam Ekey, Warren, Pa., R.D. #4, and postmarked in Warren, Pa., on March 31, 1913.

Handwritten message: "Warren, Pa., 3/30, 1913. Dear Brother, Wm. Kopf would like to have his posts Saturday. If you need the money take it, 12½¢ each. Frank needs about 10 7 fts. Maybe we can give Henderson his and give Frank Henderson's from last year [meaning, as far as I can understand, that "Henderson" is going to get the fence posts originally intended for "Frank," and Frank is going to receive his ten seven-foot fence posts from among the ones that they prepared for Henderson last year]. Everything OK. Norman has the mumps. He is at home on the farm. E.E."

It's likely that "E.E." was Emil Ekey (1886-1976), who was writing to older brother, Sam Ekey (1881-1965). "Frank" may have been Frank A. Ekey (1868-1959), another brother. A quick search didn't yield any information regarding the other individuals--William Kopf, Henderson, and Norman--that Emil mentions.

The flooded street was the result of the Great Flood of 1913, which "occurred between March 23 and March 26, after major rivers in the central and eastern United States flooded from runoff and several days of heavy rain." I assume that the photo shows a street in Warren, which is located in northeastern Pennsylvania at the confluence of the Allegheny River and Conewango Creek.

The license plate on the car in the photo is no. "23801, Penna., 1913," and the man in the driver's seat is looking back at the photographer. Beyond the automobile there are three people--one of them only visible through the vehicle's windshield--wading through the floodwaters. To the left of the threesome is a mailbox stranded by the water, and to its left are two individuals standing in the doorway of a building.

A mailman wearing waders and holding a mailbag is standing in the water on the right-hand side of the photo. Perhaps he was headed over to the mailbox to collect the mail.

Emil didn't mention the flood in the note he wrote to his brother. I wonder if either of them knew any of the people in the photo. It would also be interesting to know who the photographer was.

Bringing in the Corn

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 16 Oct 2017 03:35:42 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A photo of horses, carriages, or wagons for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

Handwritten note on the back: "I think [this was] taken at Guthrie farm." The AZO stamp box on the other side suggests a possible date as early as 1904 to 1918.

This young fellow has placed his jacket on the ground to strike a jaunty pose in front of a wagon containing a bumper load of corn.

Working on the Railroad All the Live-Long Day

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 16:05:07 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A tools photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

A real photo postcard showing a group of men working on railroad track maintenance (workers like these were sometimes called "gandy dancers").

The man on the left is using a track jack to adjust the height of a rail. The man next to him is posing with another tool, probably a sledge hammer. The boy in the middle is carrying a bucket. The fellow on the right is sitting on some sort of long bar—maybe a claw bar for pulling spikes—that appears to be wedged under one of the cross ties.

Electrical Department, Luna Park, 1910 (Cropped)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 20:41:07 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

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

Electrical Department, Luna Park, 1910

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 20:41:09 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

The caption on this photo tells us that these fellows worked in the Electrical Department at Luna Park in 1910. But was it the original Luna Park at Coney Island?

And what location in the park did they choose for their photo? Looks like they may be sitting on a flume or water-chute, and there's a water wheel behind them, so perhaps it's some kind of water ride.

Mouse over the image above for a closer view of the men.

Sailors and Nurses with Masks in a Hospital Ward, San Diego, California, 1919

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 06 Jun 2021 15:46:32 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

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

Handwritten message on the back of this real photo postcard: "Most of the sailors in the picture are from Texas. Do they look it? Dotty from Carrall, 1919, San Diego, Calif."

Written on the front of the photo: "Yours truly," with an arrow pointing to the grinning sailor seated in the middle of the front row.

Ten sailors, who I assume were patients in this hospital ward, and four nurses posed for this photo, which was taken during the Spanish flu pandemic that lasted from February 1918 to April 1920.

To prevent the spread of flu, most of the sailors and nurses are wearing masks over their faces or have them draped around their necks. Three of the sailors are sitting in front of sewing machines, and I suspect that they used them to sew masks.

A century later, sewing and wearing masks once again became a familiar sight, unfortunately, during the COVID-19 pandemic.