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

Grand Spelling Bee, Fair View School, Mechanicsville, Pa., March 24, 1906

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 03:09:02 +0000

Katharine Hostetter Kauffman, later known as Katharine “Katie” Kauffman Herr (1886-1986), was the teacher who organized the spelling bee advertised on this handbill.

For a similar item from a later event, see Spelling Bee, Terre Hill, Pa., April 3, 1925.

Come One! Come All! To a Grand "Spelling Bee"

To Be Held at the
Fair View School
Near Mechanicsville
along Manheim Trolley Road

Saturday Eve., March 24, '06

Classes are as follows:
Class I. Open to Pupils of 11 years and under.
Class II. Open to all Public School Children.
Class III. Arithmetical Contest, open to all.
Class IV. General Information, open to all.

16 Valuable Prizes to be Distributed
The Program will consist of Music, Phonograph and School Recitations and Dialogues

General Admission - 10 Cts.
Proceeds to be used for the School Library.

Doors Open at 7 o'clock. Exercises begin at 7:30 o'clock.

Katharine H. Kauffman, Teacher.

Should the weather prove too unfavorable the Bee will be held the first fair evening following Monday.

L. B. Herr Print, 51-53 N. Queen St., Lancaster, Pa.

The Deestrick Skule, Strasburg, Pennsylvania, ca. 1910s

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 01:59:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of when I grow up (children dressed as adults or dressed for work, e.g. as policeman, nurse, train driver, etc.). It also fits the monthly theme of group portraits.

Caption in the upper right-hand corner: "The Deestrick Skule." A penciled-in dealer's note on the other side identifies the location as "Strasburg, Pa."

This is a photo of children dressed in costumes to portray pupils, the schoolmaster, school committee members, and local citizens for a play about the funny goings-on at the old-time "Deestrick Skule" or district school -- the one-room schoolhouse of the early nineteenth century (not the school districts that resulted from the later consolidation of these small schools).

Mrs. M. H. Jaquith of Topeka, Kansas, was the author of The Deestrick Skule of Fifty Years Ago (1888) and "Exerbition" of the Deestrick Skule of Fifty Years Ago (1890). Both of these provided scripts and suggestions for producing local theatrical productions that could accommodate fifty or more participants (there are forty kids in this photo).

The Cyko stamp box (Cyko 5, variation A2.66) on the other side of this divided-back real photo postcard has an earliest known usage date of May 2, 1910, according to Brogan and Weseloh's Real Photo Postcard Guide (2006).

Miss Kline and Her Students, Rhode's School, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1913

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 03:58:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of school days.

This is a real photo postcard that's dated 1913 on the other side. The photo shows a teacher and her students at Rhode's School, a one-room schoolhouse -- now a private residence -- located along Old U.S. 22 about two miles east of Krumsville in Greenwich Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania.

A local publication reprinted this photo in 1969 with the following caption:

"The teacher in this picture was Miss Carrie W. Kline [1857-1931], a native of Richmond Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. She was a graduate of the Keystone State Normal School [now Kutztown University], class of 1877. She started teaching at the age of 19 and followed the profession for fifty years in the schools of Penna. She taught at Rhode's School from 1908 to 1915."

-- From Da Ausauga (Kempton, Pa.: Fereinicht Pennsylfawnish Deitsch Fulk, Inc.), vol. 9, no. 4 (June-July 1969), p. 1.

Vacation Bible School, St. John's Lutheran Church, Slatington, Pa., July 1, 1936 (Detail)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 07 Sep 2020 03:47:02 +0000

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A detail from a photo of the participants in a vacation Bible school at St. John's Lutheran Church in Slatington, Pennsylvania, in 1936.The children in the top half of the image look like giants compared to the ones in the lower half, which makes it obvious that this is a montage of two or more different photos.

For the full real photo postcard, see Vacation Bible School, St. John's Lutheran Church, Slatington, Pa., July 1, 1936.

Vacation Bible School, St. John's Lutheran Church, Slatington, Pa., July 1, 1936

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 07 Sep 2020 03:47:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A religious photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

"St. John's Lutheran Church, 12th Daily Vacation Bible School, 7-1-36, Slatington, Pa."

A real photo postcard of the children and adults who participated in a vacation Bible school at St. John's Lutheran Church in Slatington, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, on July 1, 1936. It wasn't until I attempted to count the number of people in the photo—there are about 215—that I realized that this is a montage combining two or more images. A close-up of part of the photo makes the montage obvious.

Savage Elementary School, Grade 3, 1964-65

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 03:53:45 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

An elementary school photo taken by a professional photographer for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

Sign: "Savage Elementary School, Mrs. Rhoads, Grade 3, 1964-65." Studio name on accompanying photo folder: "Mealey - Maryland."

Although some students undoubtedly find their school to be a savage and unforgiving place, the name of this Savage Elementary School came from its location in the town of Savage, Maryland.

The students have assembled in the library for their class photo. Some of the books on display on the top shelf behind them include Hercules: The Story of an Old-Fashioned Fire Engine (1940), A Fly Went By (1958), The Little Twin (1953), Stagecoach Sam (1940), and Caps for Sale (1940).

Many of the students are wearing red-colored clothing, but the boy standing at the end of the fourth row in the upper right-hand corner of the photo is dressed in a grey shirt and pants with a "U.S. Army" patch over one shirt pocket.

Similarly, the boy sitting on the floor at the end of the first row in the lower right-hand corner is wearing a blue uniform-like outfit with an "Air Force" patch on his shirt.

Finally, notice how the boy at the end of the third row closed his eyes and scrunched up his face as the photographer snapped the picture.

German Girl with School Cone, 1951

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 04:57:50 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of beginnings and endings (houses being built or torn down, stores opening or closing, an old year ending or a new one starting, etc.).

Date and initials at lower right: "4.9.51. F.S." Printed on the back of this photo: "Photogr. F. Schumann, Pirna."

A snapshot of a young German girl who's holding a Schultüte, or school cone, which she received as a gift on her first day of school as a way to commemorate the beginning of her formal education.

For a similar photo taken a few years later, see Girl with Schultüte, 1955. For more photos, see my Schultüten (School Cones) album.

A Halloween Masquerade Invitation! October 23, 1920

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 03:10:48 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

I'm guessing that a masquerade held near the end of the month of October in the year MCMXX (or 1920 in Arabic numerals) would have had something to do with Halloween. One of the classes—juniors, sophomores, or freshmen—at an unidentified high school or college evidently created this invitation to ask the seniors to come to a party "garbed in costumes appropriate for th' occasion."

Also, someone used a pencil on the invitation to darken the masquerader's ruffle and add lines to some of the squares in the plaid clothing design.

A Masquerade!

When? Saturday, October 25, MCMXX at 7:30 o'clock.

Where? In the Conference Rm., News Bld'g.

Hark, ye seniors: come garbed in costumes appropriate for th' occasion.

Spelling Bee Ticket, Camp Grove School, November 27, 1931

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 09 Aug 2019 03:55:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Camp Grove School was located near Bownstown in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The ticket was printed by Landis Art Press, Lancaster, Pa.

Spelling Bee

Camp Grove School, November 27, 1931.

7:30 o'clock. Admission 15c.

Boy with School Cone, Reichenbach im Vogtland, Germany, 1934

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 01 Sep 2019 05:50:08 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A photo of something beginning with S—a Schultüte or school cone—for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

Photographer's stamp on the back of this real photo postcard. "Adolf E. Weiss, Reichenbach, I.V."

Handwritten note on back: "Reichenbach, 9.4. 1934."

A photo of a young boy holding a Schultüte (school cone) on his first day of school in Reichenbach im Vogtland, Germany, in 1934.

For similar photos, see My First Day of School, April 19, 1922, Petra's First Day of School, September 4, 1965, and other photos in my Schultüten (School Cones) album.

Keystone State Normal School, Kutztown, Pennsylvania, ca. 1910s

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 31 May 2016 17:36:35 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Keystone State Normal School, Kutztown, Pa. View from the East. Infirmary. Athletic Field. West Cottage. Auditorium. Grandstand. Model School. Girls' Dorm. Chapel. Central B'ld'g. Boys Dorm. Gym."

This view of Keystone State Normal School—with handy labels that identify the buildings—probably dates to the 1910s. The school opened in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, in 1866, became Kutztown State Teacher's College in 1928, changed its name to Kutztown State College in 1960, and finally ended up as Kutztown University in 1983.

For a view of the other side of the gym, see Can You Find Me? I'm in the Crowd, Keystone State Normal School, Kutztown, Pa., May 22, 1916:

Can You Find Me? I'm in the Crowd, Keystone State Normal School, Kutztown, Pa., May 22, 1916

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 31 May 2016 17:36:37 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Can you find me? I'm in the crowd. K.S.N.S., May 22, 1916."

Students at the Keystone State Normal School, located in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, pose in front of the gymnasium more than a hundred years ago. The school became what is today Kutztown University.

For another vintage view of the campus, see Keystone State Normal School, Kutztown, Pennsylvania:

Cosmopolitan Club, Springfield College, 1926

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 03:20:02 +0000

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The Cosmopolitan Club was the precursor to the International Students Organization at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Springfield College Digital Collections contains additional Cosmopolitan Club photos from various years.

Class of 1912, Clearfield, Pennsylvania

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 04:59:22 +0000

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A real photo postcard with "McDowell Studio, Clearfield, Pa." embossed in the lower right-hand corner. "The Brown Family" is the only thing written on the other side.

Nineteen graduating seniors—seventeen young woman and two young men—posed for this photo in 1912. Given the location of the photo studio, these may be Clearfield High School graduates, but I haven't been able to confirm that (one site—Old C.H.S. Yearbooks - The "Bison Project"—reproduces yearbooks from the school but the earliest one currently available is the1915 edition).

Heads of the Class of 1915, New Castle High School, New Castle, Pa. (Detail)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 26 Apr 2018 03:01:06 +0000

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Agnes Conrad circled her high school portrait (in the lower right-hand corner), which was part of a montage of 98 photos that formed the letters "NCHS" on a real photo postcard in 1915. For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard.

Heads of the Class of 1915, New Castle High School, New Castle, Pa. (Right)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 26 Apr 2018 03:01:08 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

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

Heads of the Class of 1915, New Castle High School, New Castle, Pa. (Left)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 26 Apr 2018 03:01:10 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

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

Heads of the Class of 1915, New Castle High School, New Castle, Pa.

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 26 Apr 2018 03:01:12 +0000

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"NCHS, Class of 1915, Photo by Seavy."

The heads of 98 members of the class of 1915 at New Castle High School in New Castle, Pennsylvania, form the letters "NCHS" in this remarkable photographic montage by Edgar E. Seavy (for information about the photographer, see Seavy's Photo Studio - New Castle PA, a Lawrence County Memoirs article by Jeff Bales, Jr.).

It must have been an exacting task to cut out and assemble the 98 portraits to form the letters and then re-photograph the whole thing in order to produce a real photo postcard like this one (mouse over the image to see enlargements of the left half, right half, and letter S).

Although the card is addressed on the back to "Miss Edna Wenger, Berlin, Pa.," there's no stamp or postmark, indicating that it was sent through the mail in an envelope rather than separately as a postcard. In addition to the address, the back of the card is filled with various notes, one of which says, "Here are the pictures of the class to be graduated this year. You will find me in the letter S [see the circled face]. We are all busy now getting ready for senior parties, junior-senior banquet, commencement, and class night. Agnes."

Another note written later in a different hand identifies Agnes as "Papa's cousin, Agnes Conrad Allen. Head of state Rainbow Girls."

So it was Agnes Conrad (her marriage to Charles E. Allen took place in 1920) whose photo appears in the S and who was busy getting ready for her high school graduation in 1915. As the note also suggested, she later served for over fifty years as a leader in the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls in Pennsylvania.

After high school, Agnes graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, taught elementary school, worked as a newspaper reporter, and participated in several other organizations besides the Rainbow Girls before she passed away in 1983 at the age of 86 ("Mrs. Agnes Allen," obituary, New Castle News, Jan. 7, 1983, p. 3).

Here are the rest of the notes that Agnes wrote on the back of the card:

"I hope to see you all next year and then I suppose I will be able to tell you everything that has been going on and make up for lost time."

"Tell your mother that my mother will write to her some time again. She is so busy now with house-cleaning. She speaks of cousin Lydia so often and how much she would like to see her."

"Clara has been sick with tonsillitis but is almost well again. If I keep on writing, this will be a letter."

It Biteth Like a Serpent and Stingeth Like an Adder

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

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"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

Throwing Snowballs on the Normal School Campus (Close-up)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 14:27:50 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

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