Album Trees and Plants in Vintage Photos from Alan Mays

Girl with a Spinning Wheel and Dogs with a Cart

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 04 May 2026 03:40:21 +0000

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of a dog and a tree.

In this photo, a little girl sits in front of a spinning wheel next to two large dogs who are hitched to a cart. A tree is visible behind the girl, and there's also a fence and smaller trees or bushes in the background.

This is a divided-back real photo postcard with "Made in Canada" printed on the other side. There's no message, address, or stamp on the verso, but the type of Velox stamp box design on the back may indicate that this card dates to between 1923 and 1939.

In a different photo, the same girl, spinning wheel, dogs, and cart appear, but there's also a boy sitting in the cart and the dogs are adorned with hats, glasses, and pipes (see Spinning a Tale of Dogs in Glasses).

I have to do some more checking, but I believe that these photos may have originated in Quebec, Canada, where spinning wheels were manufactured and dog carts were used in rural areas.

Vina and Her Flowers (Cropped)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 03:54:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Vina stands next to the flowering plants on the railing of her porch. For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard.

Vina and Her Flowers

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 03:54:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of flowers or trees.

Vina is posing next to six containers of flowering plants arranged on the railing of her porch. The message she wrote along the left-hand side says, "Will write soon. Love to all. Vina."

This is a real photo postcard addressed on the other side to Miss Libbie Betallach, Walkerville, Montana. The card has an undivided back, which suggests a date before 1907. It bears a stamp, but there's no postmark.

See also a cropped version of the photo for a better view of Vina and her flowers.

Two Girls and One Doll (Detail)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 27 May 2024 03:34:00 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

This detail from a real photo postcard by photographer C. C. Kuhn shows a doll and the way Kuhn added his name and a number to the photo.

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

Two Girls and One Doll (Cropped)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 27 May 2024 03:34:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A real photo postcard of two girls and a doll taken by photographer C. C. Kuhn.

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

Two Girls and One Doll

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 27 May 2024 03:34:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of holding a doll.

Notation on photo: "C. C. Kuhn. Photo.#716."

A photo of two girls -- one standing and one seated -- posed on a piece of carpet among some shrubbery and potted plants. C. C. Kuhn (Carl C. Kuhn, 1888-1948) was a well-known photographer who lived in Cashtown, Adams County, Pennsylvania, at the time he took this photo.

This is an unused real photo postcard with an Azo stamp box design (four corner triangles pointing up) on the other side, which suggests a date that may be as early as 1904 to 1918.

For a closer view of the girls and the doll, see a cropped version of the photo. For a close-up of the doll and Kuhn's name on the photo, see an even smaller detail.

Stump Jump

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 01:50:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of strange, unexplainable gestures.

A photo of two young women who are striking funny poses -- with crossed legs, curious hand gestures, and bright smiles -- after jumping up on top of a tree stump.

I'll Eat Oranges for You in Los Angeles — You Throw Snowballs for Me

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 00:53:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of tree (in a studio photo).

Caption: "I'll Eat Oranges for You — You Throw Snow Balls for Me."

This is a real photo postcard sent sometime after Thanksgiving in 1922 from "Aunt Orpha" in California to "Master George Myers" in Burbank, Ohio.

Printed on the other side: "Orange Grove Souvenir. Novelty Studios, 520 S. Broadway & 414 W. 7th, Los Angeles, Cal."

Handwritten message: "My dear George. This man is a male nurse. He was in training when I was. We had a turkey dinner [on] Thanksgiving. What did you have? Aunt Ella was with us and your Uncle Tom's niece. By-by. Your Aunt Orpha."

The "eat oranges" / "throw snowballs" caption appeared on souvenir photo postcards like this one that tourists in sunny California could send to relatives enduring winter weather back home. For another example, see I'll Eat Oranges for You—You Throw Snowballs for Me.

I'll Eat Oranges for You—You Throw Snowballs for Me (Full Version)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 16:07:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"I'll eat oranges for you—you throw snowballs for me."

Embossed studio name and address: "Flag Studio, 25 E. Colo. St., Pasadena."

See also a cropped version of this real photo postcard:

I'll Eat Oranges for You—You Throw Snowballs for Me

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 16:07:06 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"I'll eat oranges for you—you throw snowballs for me."

Embossed studio name and address: "Flag Studio, 25 E. Colo. St., Pasadena."

Vacationing in sunny California during the winter? You could rub it in by sending a souvenir real photo postcard like this one to your friends and family in colder climes back home.

Here's the full version of this real photo postcard:

Peek-a-Boo!

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 15 Jan 2023 05:50:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of peek-a-boo.

This is a snapshot of an unidentified woman peeking out from behind a bush.

For more peeking, see Peculiar Peek-a-Boo, July 3, 1908.

The Bess Way to Climb a Tree

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 04:57:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

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.

Picking Coconuts, Miami Beach, Florida, March 1946

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 04:57:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of palm trees.

Caption: "Miami Beach, Florida, March 1946."

A woman pretends to pick coconuts as she stands in front of a painted backdrop featuring a coconut palm tree.

For some similar souvenir photos, see Man and Dog with Alligators on the Beach and Man with Alligators and Coconut Tree, Miami, Florida, 1922.

Girls and Women on a Rustic Bridge

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 03:58:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

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

Eight girls and two women pose for a photo on a rustic wooden bridge. There's an Azo stamp box (with four corner triangles pointing up) on the other side of this unused real photo postcard that suggests a date that may be as early as 1904 to 1918.

World Famous Tree House (Cropped)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 03:56:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

The "World Famous Tree House" in Piercy, California. For more information see the full version of this photo.

World Famous Tree House

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 03:56:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A tall photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

Signs: "World Famous Tree House. Believe It or Not. Fraternal Monarch." "Visitors Welcome. Entrance."

Caption: "#721 Lilley Redwood Park, Redwood Highway."

A tall photo of a tall tree. This photo is twice the usual length of a real photo postcard (although this isn't a postcard--the back is blank), and the tree itself is over 250 feet tall. Named the "Fraternal Monarch," the redwood tree has a hollow base big enough to contain a gift shop. After Robert Ripley featured it in his nationally syndicated Believe It or Not! cartoon in 1933, the unique tree was billed as the "World Famous Tree House."

For more informtion, see the Roadside America article about the World Famous Tree House, Piercy, California.

See also a cropped version of the photo for a better view of the base of the tree.

Lithia Spring Park, Temple, New Hampshire

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 13 Sep 2020 22:01:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Caption on the front of this real photo postcard: "Lithia Spring Park, Temple, [New Hampshire]."

Sign on larger, nearer building: "Pack Monadnock, Lithia Spring, Bottling House."

Sign on far building: "Pack Monadnock, Lithia Spring, Temple, N.H."

Two men and two women pose for a photo in front of the bottling house at Lithia Spring Park, which was located on Pack Monadnock Mountain near the town of Temple, New Hampshire. During the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century, visitors to the park could partake of the lithia water that was available from the spring. The lithium salts in the water were thought to have medicinal benefits.

A book by authors Michael G. Dell'Orto, Priscilla A. Weston, and Jessie Salisbury about the New Hampshire towns of Wilton, Temple, and Lyndeborough (Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia, 2003) explains what eventually happened to the park:

"People flocked to Pack Monadnock Lithia Springs, which operated from 1891 until 1911, to enjoy picnics and slides and teeters free of charge and to take the therapeutic waters. 'Contains more Lithium than any other Lithia Spring known,' claimed proprietor Sydney Scammon. 'Best Remedy for Kidney Trouble and Indigestion.' The popular (and profitable) enterprise went out of business abruptly when Scammon was observed adding bottled lithium to the 'natural' spring water."

Young Woman with Gnarly Tree

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 02:32:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of curious photographer props (huge urns or plants, strange objects, taxidermy animals, etc.).

"Shadle & Busser, 20 S. George Street, York, Pa."

A young woman poses next to a gnarly tree in the photo studio of James Monroe Shadle and Oscar W. Busser in York, Pennsylvania. Shadle & Busser operated their studio at 20 South George Street from 1887 to 1902 before moving to a different location.

For other curious studio props, see Women in Ladder CDV and Rasputin and the Amorphous Enigma.

New Year Mushrooms and Snails—Viel Glück im Neuen Jahr

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 02 Jan 2020 04:46:06 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Viel Glück im neuen Jahre."

"Good luck in the New Year" is the message on this early twentieth-century German postcard featuring a snail chauffeur with two mushroom passengers.

Cigar Factory Workers (Cropped)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 04:57:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Sixteen men pose in front of a house that served as a cigar factory. Note the two fellows who are perched precariously in the tree.

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