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

Thanksgiving Feast with Phonograph, Lamp, and Wallpaper (Cropped)

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 06:59:02 +0000

Note the cylinder phonograph on the sideboard, the kerosene lamp on the right, and the wallpaper in the background, See also the full version of this photograph and a photo of a similar cylinder phonograph.

Thanksgiving Feast with Phonograph, Lamp, and Wallpaper

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 06:59:04 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the monthly topic of family gatherings for Thanksgiving or other occasions.

A family pauses for a photo before they dig in to their Thanksgiving dinner. Despite the turkey, pies, and other dishes on the table, my eye was drawn to the kerosene lamp hanging from the ceiling, the elaborate design of the wallpaper in the background, and the cylinder phonograph hidden in the shadows on the sideboard. See a cropped version of the photo for a better view of these items. For another photo with a similar phonograph, see Young Man Posing with an Edison Cylinder Phonograph.

This is a real photo postcard with a divided back (introduced in 1907) but no stamp box, address, or message.

Watching from the Window

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 03:57:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of something interesting or surprising in the background.
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At first glance, this is a typical photo of a woman sitting on a chair. In the background, however, is a girl watching from the window, which seems a little spooky.

This is a real photo postcard with a divided back. "R. B. Hunter, LisbellAw" is stamped in ink on the other side, but the card is otherwise unused. Could "LisbellAw" refer to the village of Lisbellaw in Northern Ireland?

Cornered with Wallpaper

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 18 May 2020 01:56:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A patterns photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

A young man nervously looks for an escape route as he's surrounded by the patterned designs of the wallpaper, wicker rocker, and carpet.

This is an unused real photo postcard with a divided back but no stamp box.

For similar photos with distinctive wallpaper, see Girl Cornering on a Tricycle, Harrisburg, Pa. and Girl Standing on a Chair in Front of Patterned Wallpaper.

You Have the Key That Fits My Heart

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 15:42:02 +0000

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A woman fans herself as a man encroaches on her personal space while they are both perched dangerously on top of a giant key in this amusing image from an early twentieth-century postcard.

Caption: "You have the key that fits my heart."

Light Music

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 03:56:02 +0000

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I chose musicians in order to pick a theme about people (or any other topic) for the first week of Wild Card Month—Pick Your Own Theme! in the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

The handwritten message on the front of this real photo postcard (see the left-hand side) is: "Vara Light, 928 Maple St., Lebanon, Pa. Answer soon."

There's no stamp or postmark on the other side, but Vara Light addressed the postcard to "Miss Sarah Zimmerman, Linglestown, Pa.," and also wrote a message: "This is a picture taken at Mt. Aetna last summer. The one standing is my uncle, a minister. Also the one with the violin [meaning that the violinist is also one of her uncles?]. The lady with the guitar is my aunt. Am working now in Lebanon. Tell Miles to answer my card."

This postcard back has an AZO stamp box (four corner triangles pointing up), which suggests a date as early as 1904 to 1918. Vara Katherine Light married William Hoehle Keller on September 1, 1910, and at that time her address was 330 N. 9th Street, Lebanon, Pa. It seems likely, then, that the card dates to sometime prior to their wedding.

I haven't been able to identify which of Vara's aunts and uncles might be the musicians in the photo, but they may have been siblings of her father, Harry Henry Light, who was a prominent businessman in Lebanon, Pa.

I previously posted a Small-Town Parade with Cornet Band and Church Float photo for the theme of people playing musical instruments in 2014 and another photo showing Pop Morehead's Family for the theme of musicians and musical instruments this past April. For other photos and ephemera, see my Music and Musicians album.

Smooching in the Yard

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 03:36:02 +0000

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A kissing photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park topic of knitting, fishing, and kissing (photos of people who are knitting, fishing, or kissing; post examples of all three if you have them.).

A real photo postcard of a guy and a gal hugging and kissing at an awkward angle out in the yard (is that a kid's toy wagon they're sitting on?). And judging by the tilt of the picture, the photographer evidently had a slanted view of the couple's relationship.

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

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"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:

Knitted, Pleated, and Plaid

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 16:03:02 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

A knitted photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

A real photo postcard with a mother and daughter wearing knitted tops along with plaid pleated skirts.

Man Lighting a Cigar

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 04 Mar 2018 07:10:20 +0000

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A smoking photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

I hope that match didn't burn his fingers as he waited for the photographer to take his picture!

Where Women Vote—By the New Fireside

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 19:01:54 +0000

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One in a series of humorous "Where Women Vote" postcards published in the 1910s that demonstrated the dire consequences of giving women the right to vote. It took until 1920, when the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, to ensure that all women in the United States had the right to vote.

This postcard was postmarked Broad Top, Pa., May 8, 1913, on the other side and was addressed to Mr. Ralph L. Diggins, Millersville, Lanc. Co, Pa., M.S.N.S., indicating that Diggins was a student at the Millersville State Normal School in Millersville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, at the time.

Handwritten note on the back: "Dear Brother, We are very busy. Will write you a letter on Sunday. It is very warm today. The trees are in blossom. The apple tree is white and also the cherry trees. The plums are froze. Elsie."

This postcard and others from the "Where Women Vote" series are pictured in Kenneth Florey's book, American Woman Suffrage Postcards: A Study and Catalog (McFarland, 2015), pp. 344-47.

Dear Miss, I Very Much Desire the Pleasure of Your Acquaintance

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 14:45:22 +0000

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"Dear Miss, I very much desire the pleasure of your acquaintance and your company home this evening. If agreeable please keep this card, if not kindly return it. Yours truly, ________."

See also Fair Lady, I Send You This Beautiful Chromo with My Compliments (below) and my Acquaintance Cards album for additional examples.

Fair Lady, I Send You This Beautiful Chromo with My Compliments

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 14:45:20 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Fair Lady, I send you this beautiful chromo with my compliments. If I may be the happy youth on the promenade, please retain it. If I must suffer misery on the fence, be so good as to return it. Yours truly, ________."

See also Dear Miss, I Very Much Desire the Pleasure of Your Acquaintance (below) and my Acquaintance Cards album for additional examples.

Decoration Day: The Story of the Flag

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 27 May 2016 18:40:28 +0000

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"Decoration Day. Story of the Flag. C. Bunnell."

This 1908 postcard for Decoration Day (now called Memorial Day, of course) is unusual for its humorous take on the holiday. The illustration of a couple kissing behind a flag is quite a contrast to the depictions of monuments, gravesites, and soldiers that typically appeared on Memorial Day postcards in the early twentieth century.

This Must Mean 'tis Halloween!

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 20:18:26 +0000

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"Oh! Goodness! This must mean--'tis Hallowe'en!"

Printed on the back of this postcard: "Raphael Tuck & Sons' 'Hallowe'en' Series of Post Cards, No. 188."

Have a Devilishly Happy Halloween

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 22:06:55 +0000

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Artist's initials: "HBG" (H. B. Griggs). Postmarked Oct. 31, 1912, on back.

None But Nunn-Bush Shoes for Me!

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 22:34:20 +0000

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An advertising postcard for Nunn-Bush Shoes.

None But Nunn-Bush Shoes for Me!

Nunn-Bush Ankle-Fashioned Oxfords.

Most styles, $8.50 to $11.50, a few higher.

Nunn-Bush shoes are ankle-fashioned to make their trim lines last.

The John B. Wilt Co., "The Home of Good Clothes," Elkins, W. Va.

Baby in a Basin, Photographed by Galen Piper, Bainbridge, Pa.

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 18:34:35 +0000

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Babies in wash basins seemed to be a trend in photographs and advertisements at one time. See Richard Sheaff's discussion of Baby in a Basin on his amazing Sheaff : ephemera site.

I haven't located any information regarding Galen Piper, a local photographer in Bainbridge, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In this photo, a scene with a house, fence, and tree is visible on what appears to be a hand-drawn backdrop.

The Four-Pound Monkey in the Room

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:26:23 +0000

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Better One Girl on the Hand Than Two on the 'Phone

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 18:02:07 +0000

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Big hands, small woman, and general peculiarity for the Weird Vintage Postcards group.