Album Vintage Photos of Buildings from Alan Mays

Corner Grocery Store (Full Version)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 31 May 2026 06:10:02 +0000

This real photo postcard shows three men standing outside of a corner grocery store (location unknown, unfortunately). The store itself is located in a separate building, but a number of row houses extend down the street just beyond the store.

A close-up view of the men and the storefront (mouse over the image above) reveals a bicycle propped up against the store building at left, a number of bushel baskets containing fruits or vegetables situated on the sidewalk, and several market baskets with handles hanging in the store window at right.

Corner Grocery Store

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 31 May 2026 06:10:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of windows and windshields (photos through or of).

This cropped version of a real photo postcard shows a close-up of three men standing outside of a corner grocery store (location unknown, unfortunately). A bicycle is propped up against the building at left, a number of bushel baskets containing fruits or vegetables are situated on the sidewalk, and several market baskets with handles are visible in the store window at right.

The full version of this postcard reveals that the grocery store itself is located in a separate building, but a number of row houses extend down the street just beyond the store.

Deturk's School House, ca. 1913

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 02:37:34 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of schoolhouses and/or schoolchildren.

Caption: "Deturk's School House."

Handwritten note on the other side (no address, stamp, or postmark): "Stanley E. Romich [1905-1985]. Spend his first School days at this school. Age 8. Dec. 31, 1913."

This one-room schoolhouse is still standing along Limekiln Road near Douglassville, Berks County, Pennsylvania. The building is now a private residence with a room added to the front. The stucco covering has been removed, and the underlying stone construction is now visible.

This is a divided-back real photo postcard with a Cyko stamp box ("Cyko - Place Postage Stamp Here") printed on the back. This stamp box design was in use between 1907 and the 1920s.

Cat on a Roof — Not Tin and Not Hot

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:29:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of up on the rooftop or any view of a roof.

A snapshot of a solitary feline sitting patiently on top of a building. The sun is shining brightly enough to cast distinct shadows but the roof isn't made of tin and hasn't warmed up enough to make the cat uncomfortable. The "grocery" sign that's partially visible on the far edge of the roof indicates that the building may be a store.

This photo and another kitty cat photo I purchased at the same time — see Cat in a Basket — have identical processing numbers ("087" on the verso), suggesting that they were probably taken by the same person and developed at the same time. Both of the photos are somewhat discolored, and there’s no indication of a date or location on either of them.

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.

Hailstorm Damage, Office Building, Emerson-Brantingham Company (Geiser Works) , Waynesboro, Pa., June 6, 1917

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 03:47:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of damaged or broken down (buildings, vehicles, machines, and whatnot).

Caption: "Hailstorm, June 6, 1917, Waynesboro, Penn."

Sign at the front entrance of the building: "Office of Emerson-Brantingham Co., Geiser Works."

A hailstorm with baseball-sized hailstones hit the town of Waynesboro, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, on June 6, 1917. The storm caused widespread damage with flooded streets and thousands of broken windows. Almost all of the windows in this office building sustained damage.

For additional photos, see the Hail Storm of June 6, 1917, section of the Luty Collection: Waynesboro Area Postcard Collection.

Couple at the Entrance to the Post Office, Bremen, Germany, July 5, 1931 (Cropped)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 03:14:06 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A man and a woman pose for a photo on the steps in front of the entrance to the "Post office in Bremen, July 5, 1931." For more info, see the original photo.

Couple at the Entrance to the Post Office, Bremen, Germany, July 5, 1931

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 03:14:08 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of mail carriers, post offices, mailboxes, etc.

The handwritten note on the other side of this small photo identifies the location as the "Post office in Bremen, July 5, 1931," but I haven't been able to determine if this is the Bremen Main Post Office Building. See a cropped version of the photo for a better view of the man and woman.

Translations:
-- Postamt (post office), on the side of the building.
-- Pakete (packages), above the doors.
-- Öffentlicher Fernsprecher (public telephone), white sign to the right of the entrance.
-- Briefe (letters), mail slot below the white sign
-- Muster (samples? patterns?), mail slot to the left of the entrance.

Easter Parade Viewed from the Traymore Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey (Cropped)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 03:56:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

An Easter Sunday crowd of rolling chairs and pedestrians on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. For more information, see the full version of this photo.

Easter Parade Viewed from the Traymore Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 03:56:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

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

The handwritten note on the other side of this photo says, "Boardwalk, Easter Sunday. From window of Rm. 515 Traymore."

In this undated photo taken from a hotel window, we see a parade of rolling chairs and pedestrians celebrating Easter as they travel along the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. For a better view of the crowd on the Boardwalk, see a cropped version of this photo.

Valentine's Day Snow Sculpture, Poultney, Vermont, 1948

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 01:48:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of Valentine's Day - hearts, cupids, arrows, love, or what have you?

This real photo postcard features a snow sculpture of Cupid standing next to a heart with an arrow through it. A building is in the background, and two cars are parked along the street in front of the building. Two women are walking near one of the trees on the left.

The card is addressed on the other side to Edith Towey, 1744 Summerfield St., Brooklyn 27, N.Y., and it was postmarked in Poultney, Vermont, on February 13, 1948. The location of the snow sculpture is listed on the verso as "Green Mountain Junior College, Poultney, VT," and a handwritten "Valentine's Greetings" appears above the name of a studio, "H. B. Rood Photo, Poultney, VT."

According to a brief biography by the Poultney Historical Society, Harry B. Rood (1871-1960) lived in Poultney his entire life. He began working in his father's photography studio in the 1890s and continued as a photographer after his father's death.

At the time Rood took this photo, Green Mountain Junior College was a two-year college for women and then became a four-year college for both men and women in 1974, when its name changed to Green Mountain College. Ames Hall, the campus building that appears in the photo, is still standing, but the college itself closed in 2019 after experiencing financial difficulties.

The Hornberger Cottage, Central Oak Heights, West Milton, Pa., ca. 1920s (Cropped)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 03:55:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A close-up view of the man and women outside the Hornberger Cottage, along with the woman with dark glasses standing by herself on the second-floor balcony. For more information, see the original version of the real photo postcard.

The Hornberger Cottage, Central Oak Heights, West Milton, Pa., ca. 1920s

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 03:55:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of distinctive houses.

Caption: "The Hornberger Cottage, Central Oak Heights, West Milton, Pa."

The Hornberger Cottage, originally called the Woodlawn Cottage when it was built in 1909, was purchased by Jerome Hornberger (1876-1936) in 1919. Central Oak Heights, located in Union County, Pennsylvania, originated in 1909 as a religious camp meeting affiliated with the United Evangelical Church but is now simply an association of cottage owners.

The Hornberger Cottage was the "grandest of 62 frame homes built at Central Oak Heights," according to Jeannette Lasansky's book, Union County River Towns (Arcadia Publishing, 2011), p. 106. The cottage is notable for its wide porch on the first floor and balconies on the second and third levels. The porch and balconies were all later enclosed, as shown in a photo published in the booklet, Central Oak Heights, 100 Years, 1909—2009: Cottage Histories (PDF, 2009), p. 18.

In this photo, we see that a man and six women are standing in front of the cottage or sitting on the porch. I found it strange that another woman is standing by herself on the second-floor balcony. A cropped version of the photo provides a closer look at the woman and reveals that she's wearing dark glasses, suggesting that she may be blind.

After checking further, I believe that the woman on the balcony is Grace Hornberger (1899-2007), who was Jerome's daughter. Grace lived to the age of 108, but she became blind at the age of 18 due to unknown causes (see Karen Blackledge, "Area Woman, Blind Since Youth, Listens to Books," an otherwise unidentified newspaper clipping from 1999 posted to Find a Grave).

The Office — Graveyard or Yard Art?

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 02:59:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

The "Office" building with a sign advertising "Burials $10.00 Up."

See also a cropped view of the yard and the full real photo postcard.

The Yard — Graveyard or Yard Art?

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 02:59:06 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A view of the yard with a pink flamingo lawn ornament, bench, rustic wooden chairs, concrete planters, trees, and plants.

See also a cropped view of the building and the full real photo postcard.

Graveyard or Yard Art?

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 02:59:08 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of birdbaths or other lawn ornaments.

This is a real photo postcard with a handwritten date of "April 19, 1953" on the other side. When I purchased this photo, I noticed that the landscaping included a pink flamingo lawn ornament, concrete planters, a small trellis, a bench, rustic wooden chairs, and various trees and plants.

The sign over the door of the small building identifies it as the "Office," and I thought that perhaps it was the office for a small motel or cabin court. But then I took a closer look at another sign on the right-hand side of the building, and I was surprised to discover that it says, "Burials $10.00 Up." The sign also lists specific hours of operation, which I couldn't decipher, and ends with "Other Times by Appointment."

Could this be a cemetery? I don't see any gravestones, and the yard art -- especially the plastic pink flamingo -- isn't typical for decoration in a graveyard.

See cropped views of the yard on the left-hand side and the building on the right.

Springwater, New York, ca. 1907

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 04:58:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of view from a hill or mountain .

This is a real photo postcard with a view of the town of Springwater, New York. It's addressed on the other side to Miss Louisa Moyer, Kylertown, Clearfield Co., Pa. The card received two postmarks, one in Springwater, N.Y., on August 30, 1907, and a second one in Kylertown, Pa., on the following day, August 31, 1907.

Message on the verso:

"Dear Cousin, will send you a picture to the town of Springwater. It was taken when the leaves were on, so it don't show the town so very much but [you] can get some idea to the town. Kate."

Caption and notes on the front of the card (spelling and punctuation updated):

Springwater, N.Y.

The arrow shows where Springwater Depot is.
The little times mark [multiplication sign, or x] in the picture is where I worked.

On the Brooklyn Bridge Looking Toward New York City (Full Version)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 03:48:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

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

On the Brooklyn Bridge Looking toward New York City

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 03:48:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of caught unaware.

A handwritten note on the other side of this photo explains the location: "On the Brooklyn Bridge looking towards N.Y. City. The World building being visible through the left hand arch."

The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883, and the New York World Building was completed in 1890. It's likely that this card-mounted photograph (a 3½-by-4½-inch photo on a 4¼-by-5¼-inch card) dates to the 1890s or 1900s.

The five pedestrians -- all men -- visible in the photo don't appear to be aware that their picture has been taken. See also the full version of this photograph.