Photos, videos and docs of Alan Mays, with the keywords: "oceans"

Ruth and Sara on Board the L-21 Submarine, August 25, 1917

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 17:44:02 +0000

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of fancy studio backdrops.

A novelty photo with two young women in sailor costumes. The elaborate painted backdrop depicts an ocean of heavy waves with two ships billowing smoke on the horizon. A biplane is barely visible in the sky above them. The painted foreground features a submarine labeled "L 21 U.S." The submarine's hatch is open, its periscope is up, and it's flying an American flag.

Submarine hull: "L 21 U.S."

Handwritten caption: "R. Dodd. Sara Miller. 8-25-1917." Writing on the back also identifies the young women as "Ruth Dodd" on the left and "Sara Miller" on the right with the date given a second time as "8/25/1917."

For a similar real photo postcard, see Daddy on the Deck of the F-6 Submarine.

Buchu-Paiba—Rescued from Kidney and Bladder Affections

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 04:37:02 +0000

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An elaborate nineteenth-century advertising trade card for Buchu-Paiba, a patent medicine that supposedly cured kidney, bladder, and urinary diseases.

Buchu-Paiba

"'Buchu-Paiba,' quick, complete cure [for] all annoying kidney diseases, $1."

Words in the water: "Rescued from kidney and bladder affections."

Flags: "Rough on Rats" and "Wells' Health Renewer."

"Mayer, Merkel & Ottmann, Lith., N.Y."

Excerpts from the ads printed on the back of the card:

"Mother Swan's Worm Syrup. For fever, restlessness, worms, constipation. Tasteless. Perfectly harmless, but the most effective worm destroyer extant."

"Rough on Rats. 15c boxes. Clears out rats, mice, roaches, flies, mosquitos, bed bugs, insects, skunk, weasel gophers, chipmunks, moles, musk rats, etc."

"Wells' Rough on Corns. Complete cure."

"'Bucha-Paiba.' Quick, complete cure, all annoying kidney and urinary diseases. $1.00 at druggists."

"E. S. Wells, manufacturer and proprietor, Jersey City, N.J. U.S.A."

Man with Alligators and Coconut Tree, Miami, Florida, 1922

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 02:38:02 +0000

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A distinguished gent in a souvenir real photo postcard from "Miami, Fla., 1922," as it says on the tree stump. Looks like the poor fellow is fending off alligators with his cane as he poses in front of a scenic backdrop of ocean, sky, and coconut tree, all of which received appropriate tinting after the photo was developed.

For an untinted photo from the same studio, see Man and Dog with Alligators on the Beach (note that the tree stump is hidden behind the dog).

Bear on a Bicycle at the Steel Pier, Atlantic City, N.J., 1957 (Cropped)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 13 May 2018 15:59:18 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

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

Bear on a Bicycle at the Steel Pier, Atlantic City, N.J., 1957

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 13 May 2018 15:59:20 +0000

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A photo of a dock or a pier for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

This is a 1957 snapshot of the Steel Pier, an amusement pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Billed as "The Show Place of the Nation," the pier hosted a variety of shows and acts, including a diving horse and a bicycle-riding bear.

When I purchased this photo, however, I didn't realize that it showed a bear and a woman riding bikes on the high platform visible on the left-hand side (mouse over the image to see an enlargement). After I spotted the bear, I still couldn't imagine that you could train an animal like that to climb a ladder and ride a bicycle. But a YouTube clip of the Bicycle-Riding Bear that's part of The Nieroslavski Family at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, N.J.--filmed during summer 1960--provides a glimpse of how the bear performed its act.

Attitudes toward animal acts have changed over the past fifty years, however, and making a bear ride a bicycle seems inhumane and dangerous by today's standards. As far as I've been able to determine, there are no longer any bicycling bears or diving horses in Atlantic City.

A Joyous Easter

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 03:56:02 +0000

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A photographic Easter greeting card with a soldier posing in front of a fake palm tree and beach.

Inman Steamship Company

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 16:38:55 +0000

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"Inman Steamship Company. The Major & Knapp Lith. Co., N.Y." Rubberstamped on front: "Chas. W. Hamilton, Brimfield, Illinois. Brimfield Bank."

A Victorian-era trade card advertising the Inman Steamship Company, a British passenger shipping company.

Travers American Hammock

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 18:45:11 +0000

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"Travers American Hammock. Trademark. Patented July 29, 1879. New style, perfect in shape, beauty & strength; brass mounted, cardinal binding. Samples by mail, $3.00, postage, 50 cents. Hellerson."

Vincent P. Travers, who was one of the officers in the company that manufactured Travers American Hammocks, held a number of hammock patents, but I haven't been able to locate one dated July 29, 1879. Perhaps the patent cited on this trade card was actually Improvement in Hammock-Supports (U.S. Patent no. 221,984), which the Patent Office approved a few months later on November 25, 1879.

Come and Join Me in a Bath, Heinz Pier, Atlantic City, N.J., 1906

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 22:33:58 +0000

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"5/1/1906. Come and join me in a bath. Bathing scene, Heinz Pier, Atlantic City, U.S.A. Seashore home of the 57 varieties."

Addressed on the back to "Miss Sue I. Barger, 1307 Flora St., Phila., Pa."

This amusing advertising postcard published by the H. J. Heinz Company features the Heinz Pier in the background and includes the food processing company's pickle logo and 57 Varieties slogan. The pier was destroyed by a hurricane in 1944.

For another Heinz card from the early twentieth century, see H. J. Heinz Company, Main Plant and General Offices, Pittsburgh, Pa.:

Danger—Keep Away from Edge of Cliff

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 23:25:52 +0000

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Sign: "Danger. Keep away from edge of cliff."

Unless you're having your picture taken, of course!

Golden Gate International Exposition Ticket, San Francisco, 1939

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 02:40:56 +0000

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"A souvenir of Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939. A Pageant of the Pacific. Leland W. Cutler, president. H. C. Bottorff, exec. secretary. M128027."

Memorial Day Greetings

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sat, 25 May 2013 17:27:39 +0000

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Love's Cable, Handed in at Cupid's Court

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 19:50:42 +0000

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"Love's Cable. Handed in at Cupid's Court. No code book is needed for these cables, true love deciphers them. St. Valentine. Bow and Arrow Avenue, Feb. 14. To my valentine, I cable to say, I am yours today, my heart is true, my love to you. If the accuracy of this message be doubted, it will gladly be confirmed on payment of twenty kisses."

This folded Valentine's Day greeting was a parody of a "cablegram" (often shortened to "cable"), which was a message transmitted over the submarine communications cables that were laid across the Atlantic Ocean and elsewhere as early as the 1850s.

So why would you need to use a code book to send a cablegram? Author Frank C. McClelland described how these worked in the following excerpt from his book, Office Training and Standards (Chicago: A. W. Shaw, 1919), p. 49:

How to use a code book. Firms with foreign connections or correspondents also find use for a cable-code book which helps greatly to cut down the expense of cable messages by shortening the number of words required to convey the message. A code book is simply a directory of code words arranged alphabetically, each word being the code for a certain phrase. For example, the word "Dardejante" may stand for "Draft has been presented for payment." and the word "Daricus" may stand for "Draft is correct; please pay." Nearly every kind of message is given in a code book.

Suppose we desired to send a cablegram to London reading "Merritt Brothers draft has been presented for payment for two hundred dollars Shall we pay for your account?" If we did not use a code book the cablegram would contain 18 words in addition to the name, address, and signature, which might bring the number of words up to 27. At 31 cents a word, the cablegram would cost $8.37. By using code words we would get this result: "(name) (address) Merritt Brothers Dardejante Morderesti Genageld (signature)," making only eight words, which would cost only $2.48, a saving of $5.89.

Guys on the Beach

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 20:35:40 +0000

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An on the beach photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

The guy on the left--with his hat and cigarette and distinctive stance--looks like he may be a bit wilder and crazier than the kid and the other fellow.

Fishing in the Atlantic, 1925

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 18 May 2017 15:30:52 +0000

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Restless Children under a Full Moon

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 06 May 2015 15:00:26 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Judging by her blurred appearance, the youngest child was squirming in her seat when the photo was taken, and her brother and sister don't look like they're having a good time either.

Use This to Keep the Mice and Rats Away

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 23:35:50 +0000

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A cyanotypes photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

"You can use this to keep the mice and rats away. Yes, I will keep the dog in and put out the key. A.S."

Addressed to: Miss Maud W. Parker, North Lubec, Maine.

Postmarked: South Lubec, ME, Oct. 18, 1906, and North Lubec, ME, Oct. 18, 1906.

The joke about a photographic portrait being so bad or ugly that it scares away rodents, insects, and burglars was evidently a common one in the early twentieth century. Another version, for instance, appeared in a 1911 letter sent to American musician and composer William D. Dawson:

"My Dear Mr. Armstrong: I duly received, welcome, and possessed myself of your portrait and am glad to have it. At the same time I am ashamed to recall that I have so long neglected to acknowledge it or to send the reciprocal photo to you. I have autographed one this evening and it will be shipped by freight tomorrow. It is warranted to scare away rats and burglars" (see W. T. Norton, William Dawson Armstrong, American Composer, New York: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1916, p 87).

For another 1906 real photo postcard with a "scare away the rats" joke, see Guaranteed to Rid Any Cellar of Rats, Roaches, or Other Creatures (below).

The Rescue (Detail)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 17:44:18 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard:

The Rescue

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 17:44:20 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A summer vacation photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

At first glance, this real photo postcard appears to show a typical summertime scene of vacationers enjoying the beach. A closer examination, however, reveals that the crowd's attention is focused on something that's happening on the left side of the image.

"The rescue" is the dramatic caption that's written across the rolling waves at the top of the photo, and, in fact, on the left-hand side there are some lifeguards who are leading a rescued swimmer away from the water (mouse over the image above to see a close-up of the lifeguards and swimmer). Many of the bystanders surrounding the group have concerned looks on their faces.

When I first purchased this photo postcard, I didn't notice the lightly written "rescue" caption and couldn't quite make out what was going on. It was only after I scanned, darkened, and enlarged the image that I was able to figure it out. Unfortunately, there's no indication of a date or location.

Pacific Tour Bus No. 14, Cliff House, San Francisco, California

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sat, 04 Aug 2018 03:44:10 +0000

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A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo of trains, planes, ships, and buses (people photographed traveling inside one of these modes of transport—preferably shot from the inside).

A souvenir real photo postcard of tourists at the Cliff House restaurant, San Francisco, Calif. They're riding in "Pacific No. 14," one of the Pacific Sightseeing Company's tour buses. Mouse over the image above for a close-up view of the passengers.

For similar photos, see the Cliff House Project's Transportation Web page (scroll down to the Tour Buses section).