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

Three Gals on a Glider Swing

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 20:40:36 +0000

For a similar real photo postcard, see Three Guys on a Glider Swing.

Two Girls and One Doll (Cropped)

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

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.

Quirky Costumed Couple

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 01:15:10 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park monthly topic of costumes and uniforms—Halloween, theatrical, and other kinds of costumes, or uniforms from medical, military, and other settings (submit a photo on this topic each week in addition to—or instead of—a photo for the weekly topic).

Is it a ghostly apparition or just some out-of-focus Halloweeners? Sometimes it's hard to tell.

A red-border "Kodachrome Transparency," circa 1955.

Children with Their Dog and Toys

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 03:56:15 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo of backyard sports (e.g., croquet, badminton, horseshoe pitching, bocce ball, etc.).

A tinted French real photo postcard from the early twentieth century showing children with a dog and toys, including a hoop and stick, doll, badminton racquet and shuttlecock, jump rope, and rings.

Woman Standing in an Elaborate Border

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 24 Sep 2017 04:44:03 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A woman standing among the shrubbery is surrounded by the stylized scrolls and flowers of the decorative mask used to print this real photo postcard.

It Biteth Like a Serpent and Stingeth Like an Adder

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 20:05:18 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"At last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder. Prov. 23-32."

The verses that proceed this one in the Book of Proverbs place this quoted Bible verse in context and make it clear that this colorful Victorian-era card was intended as a temperance message: "Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder." (Proverbs 23:29-32.)

At the same time, the handwritten notation on the back of the card (see below) reveals that it also served as an attendance reward for a student who only missed a few days of instruction during the 1893-1894 school year.

Handwritten on the back of this card:

Katie Whitmyer, Mar. 22, 1894.

School Opened - 120
Days Attended - 115½
Days Missed - 4½

L. S. Sahm, teacher

Katydid Calling Card for E. L. Houghton

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 02:47:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A katydid perches on the left-hand side of a Victorian-era calling card for someone named E. L. Houghton.

Charles Smith—Ornamental Pensmanship on a Calling Card

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 20:27:20 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Chas. H. Smith. Compliments." (I'm not sure that the middle initial is H, however.)

An impressive example of ornamental penmanship on a hand-drawn and -lettered "flourished" calling card that likely dates to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Note how the bird appears to be eyeing an insect of some sort.

Here are some other similarly ornate cards:

Although it's not as ornate, this flourished card also features a bird chasing after an insect:

This one's even simpler:

The design on the following calling card is printed, but it imitates the hand-drawn and -lettered cards:

Gladiolus–The Most Showy and Brilliant of All Bulbous Plants

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 21:48:10 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A colorful print by Vredenburg & Company, Rochester, N.Y., that appeared in an advertising leaflet from W. P. Rupert & Son, a nursery that was located in Seneca, N.Y.

See Nineteenth-Century Rochester Fruit and Flower Plates, by Karl Sanford Kabelac, for more information regarding Vredenburg & Company and other printing firms that supplied illustrations to nursery businesses like W. P. Rupert & Son.

George B. Weast, Dealer in Stoves and Tinware, Newville, Pa.

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 16:27:08 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Geo. B. Weast, dealer in stoves, tinwate, &c., R.R. St., Newville, Pa."

This may be the same George B. Weast (1862-1946) who's identified as a "retired sheet metal worker" in an obituary reprinted in his Find A Grave entry.

Filene's Department Store, Lynn, Massachusetts

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 19:43:08 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Filene's, No. 18 Market Street, Lynn."

A nineteenth-century advertising trade card for one of the early Filene's department stores. This one was located in Lynn, Massachusetts.

James B. Tully, Florist, Binghamton, New York

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 20:52:10 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"James B. Tully, florist, Spring Forest Green Houses, Binghamton, N.Y. Green house and bedding plants. Fall and spring flowering bulbs. Ornamental trees and shrubbery."

James B. Tully (1840-1908) "was a florist and sexton of Spring Forest Cemetery in Binghamton, N.Y.," according to his Find A Grave entry.

The following advertisement appeared in Horticulture, May 4, 1907, p. 609, the year before Tully's death: "For Sale. Desirable greenhouse plant, directly opposite Spring Forest Cemetery, Binghamton, N.Y. Large and increasing demand for funeral designs and bedding stuff; care of cemetery plots big item in receipts. A dwelling house, 10,000 feet of glass, land comprising twenty city lots. Paying business and open chance for increase. Sold on account of advance in years. Apply to James B. Tully, 47 Spring Forest Ave., Binghamton, N.Y."

An American Florist Company's Directory for 1908 listed a different address for Tully's business, although I'm not certain whether it's actually a different location: "Spring Forest Greenhouses (James B. Tully), 48 Mygatt St., Binghamton."

It's not clear when or if Tully sold his business, but the following note appeared five years later (and four years after Tully's death) in Horticulture, March 23, 1912, p. 412: "Binghamton, N.Y.--The Spring Forest Greenhouses, Spring Forest avenue, are now owned by the Binghamton Seed Co. The seed store has been moved to 135 Court street from 161 Water street."

Charles E. Marsh, Centennial International Exhibition, Philadelphia, Pa., 1876

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 22:14:18 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Chas. E. Marsh, International Exhibition, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pa., 1876. Copyright 1876 by L. Prang & Co. Main Building, Horticultural Hall, Agricultural Hall, Art Gallery, Machinery Hall."

Printed on the back: "Centennial Card. Retail price, 30 cts. per dozen." ("30" is crossed out, and "20" is written below it.)

Since Charles E. Marsh's name also appears on a card in the holdings of the American Antiquarian Society that identifies him as a printer ("Chas. E. Marsh, card & job printer, business and address cards a specialty, Greenville, N.H."), it's likely that this was a sample card used to solicit customers for Marsh's printing business. He would have purchased blank copies of this card from lithographer Louis Prang's firm and then printed individual names on them, as he did here with "Chas. E. Marsh."

Although commonly called the Centennial Exposition today, the exhibition's full name when it was held in 1876 was the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine. "Nearly 10 million visitors attended the exhibition and thirty-seven countries participated in it," Wikipedia reports.

The five major buildings at the exhibition—the Main Building, Horticultural Hall, Agricultural Hall, the Art Gallery (also known as Memorial Hall), and Machinery Hall—are depicted on this card.

Although Charles Marsh may have attended the exhibition, it's possible that he advertised these cards elsewhere and filled orders through the mail.

Alpenblumen (Alpine Flowers)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 23:32:36 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A CDV photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

"62. Alpenblumen. 62. Nigritella angustifolia. Rhododendron hirsutum. Leontopodium alp. Aster alp."

Backmark: "F. Fridrich, K. Pr. Hofphotograph, Verleger, Prag." ["F. Fridrich, Royal Prussian Court Photographer, Publisher, Prague."]

This hand-tinted carte de visite of colorful Alpine flowers came from the studio of Czech photographer František Fridrich (1829-1892) (see Fridrich's entry in the Czech Wikipedia).

As indicated in the caption, the flowers include black vanilla orchid (Nigritella angustifolia, now classified as Gymnadenia nigra), hairy alpenrose (Rhododendron hirsutum), edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum), and Alpine aster (Aster alpinus).

He's My Little Soldier Boy

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 16:38:01 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A little girl and her military doll.

White Dress Goods, G. V. S. Quackenbush & Co., Troy, N.Y.

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 05 May 2015 21:30:16 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"White Dress Goods. French and English piques, princess lawns, linen lawns, plain and stripe nainsooks, embroidered suits, 8-4 organdie, etc., etc., at G. V. S. Quackenbush & Co.'s."

G. V. S. Quackenbush & Co. used this colorful trade card to tout all the varieties of cloth--piqués, lawns, nainsooks, organdies--that were available at its dry goods store in Troy, New York.

Walter S. Welton, Boots and Shoes, New Haven, Conn.

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 22:23:30 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Walter S. Welton, dealer in fine boots & shoes, 338 Chapel St., New Haven, Conn. Copyrighted by John Gibson, 1881."

A colorful and amusing Victorian-era advertising trade card.

Dwarf Nasturtium Seed Packet

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 21:16:46 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Nasturtium Dwarf. Price 5¢."

An early chromolithographed seed packet from the William D. Burt seed company of Dalton, N.Y.

Easter Bunny Photographer

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 20:00:03 +0000

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"Easter Greetings." Postmarked Herman, Pa., March 22, 1913, on back.