Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: New Hampshire

"The Museum" was the name of Skinner, Day & Co.'s store in Keene, New Hampshire. For similar cards with a red or pink background illustration, see Eugene O. Chase, Second Leading Hoseman, Danielsonville, Conn. , and Fireman Calling Card . Museum. Skinner, Day & Co., Jewelers, Dry Goods, Carpets, Fancy Goods and Everything Keene, N.H.

(I'm finally caught up on the Vintage Photos Theme Park postings I missed while Ipernity was offline.) A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of by the lake . "Birds Eye View, Loon Lake and Freedom , N.H. 9." This area was the setting for the intriguing story of the mysterious House on Loon Lake , profiled in an episode of This American Life radio show (take a look at the assortment of ephemera found at the house , which includes an acquaintance card similar to the ones in my album ). This is a real photo postcard addressed on the other side to Mrs. Bruce Mather, Benton, Penna., and postmarked in Kezar Falls, Maine, on August 24, 1934. Handwritten message: "Howdy Darl, Here is where we are getting all our swimming exercise. We climbed Mt. Chocorua yesterday, We made it to return on Thursday from the White Mountains. On Monday morning we leave for Boston. Will be seeing you soon. Rhoda." Printed on the other side: "Photograph Post Card from Studio of Eastern Illustrating Co., Belfast, ME."

Caption on the front of this real photo postcard: "Lithia Spring Park, Temple, [New Hampshire]." Sign on larger, nearer building: "Pack Monadnock, Lithia Spring, Bottling House." Sign on far building: "Pack Monadnock, Lithia Spring, Temple, N.H." Two men and two women pose for a photo in front of the bottling house at Lithia Spring Park, which was located on Pack Monadnock Mountain near the town of Temple , New Hampshire. During the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century, visitors to the park could partake of the lithia water that was available from the spring. The lithium salts in the water were thought to have medicinal benefits. A book by authors Michael G. Dell'Orto, Priscilla A. Weston, and Jessie Salisbury about the New Hampshire towns of Wilton, Temple, and Lyndeborough (Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia, 2003) explains what eventually happened to the park: "People flocked to Pack Monadnock Lithia Springs, which operated from 1891 until 1911, to enjoy picnics and slides and teeters free of charge and to take the therapeutic waters. 'Contains more Lithium than any other Lithia Spring known,' claimed proprietor Sydney Scammon. 'Best Remedy for Kidney Trouble and Indigestion.' The popular (and profitable) enterprise went out of business abruptly when Scammon was observed adding bottled lithium to the 'natural' spring water."

A ticket or invitation for a "Universal Ball" held in Keene, New Hampshire, on March 5, 1852. As listed on the ticket, musician S. K. Conant played both the violin and the "Kolquearougion," an instrument he invented. Although a newspaper article in 1859 called his invention the "Kolquearougion Bells," I haven't been able to uncover any additional information about it. Universal Ball Your company, with ladies, is respectfully solicited at the Town Hall, in Keene, on Friday evening, March 5, 1852. Music by Hall & Conant's Celebrated Lowell Brass Band. D. C. Hall, cornet and bugle; S. K. Conant, violin and Kolquearougion; B. Hall, clarionett and piccolo; G. P. Kittredge, violin and prompter; W. Bennett, bass. Tickets, $1.50, to be obtained of authorized agents, and at the door. Dancing to commence at seven o'clock.

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

A hotels/motels photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "The Glen House, Pinkham Notch, White Mountains, N.H." According to Wikipedia, " Glen House was the name of a series of grand resorts, between 1852 and 1893, in Pinkham Notch very near Mount Washington in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA." This seemed puzzling to me, since the Glen House pictured on this real photo postcard certainly wasn't one of those "grand resorts" of the nineteenth century. Fortunately, I discovered Steven Caming's book, Mt. Washington Auto Road (Arcadia Publishing, 2014), which contains a chapter about the history of the Glen House. As Caming explains, there have actually been four different Glen Houses. The one shown here was built in 1925 as the fourth Glen House and "was only a mere shadow of those grand hotels that had come before." So what happened to the previous hotels? All three of them burned to the ground, with accidental fires occurring in 1884, 1893, and 1924. This view of Glen House No, 4 was intended to illustrate what a relaxing and convenient place it was (mouse over the image above to see a cropped version ). A man and women are resting on comfortable chairs in the front yard as a small child plays nearby. Another man has parked his car right in front and is carrying a suitcase up the steps toward the entrance of the hotel. Sad to say, a fourth fire in 1967 destroyed this hotel, too, and put an end to this idyllic scene. Fifty yeas later, however, a fifth Glen House is now under construction and is scheduled to open in June 2018.

"This card entitles Name: ________ to a day membership in the Mount Washington Club on the Top of New England, White Mountains, N.H. Date of ascent: Aug. 23, 1938." As Wikipedia reports, Mount Washington is the "highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288.2 ft (1,916.6 m)," which certainly qualifies it as the "Top of New England." The unnamed original owner of this card evidently visited the mountain on August 23, 1938, and may have taken a ride on the Mount Washington Cog Railway --depicted on the back of the card--to get to the top.

A ticket or invitation for an "Old Folk's Ball" held in Litchfield, New Hampshire, in 1869. "Old Folk's Ball at Town Hall, Litchfield, on Wednesday evening, March 3d, 1869. Your company, with ladies, is respectfully solicited. Floor managers: S. Kennard, S. Chase, I. N. Center, R. Frye, Isaac McQuesten, John White. Good music will be in attendance. Dancing to commence at 8 o'clock."

This comic postcard from the early twentieth century shows a woman munching on an article from Harper's Bazaar . Scattered on the table in front of her are issues of Munsey's Magazine , Scribner's Magazine , The Ocean , and Cosmopolitan .

"Thanksgiving Ball! At Town Hall, Lisbon, N.H., Thursday eve., Nov. 18, 1869. Your company is solicited. Floor managers, J. K. Atwood, J. W. Coburn. Music furnished by the orchestra of the Lisbon Cornet Band. Ticket for dancing, $1.00."

"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.

"Spoffords Lake in the Future, New Hampshire. Submarine No. 13." Postmarked: "Brattleboro, Vt., Aug. 1, 1910." Addressed to: "Mrs. Bell Brown, Elm St., Montpelier, Vermont." Message: "Hello old (?) sport, How goes it anyway. Am still alive and hope this will find you the same. H.A.K." This early twentieth-century postcard bears a mundane message on the back, but the front depicts an exciting futuristic scene of submarines, flying fish, battleships, whales, buoys, airships, sea serpents, sailboats, hot air balloons, lighthouses, and other figments of the imagination at Spofford Lake in southwestern New Hampshire.

The woman here is pretending to shiver in the cold as she stands next to the North Pole and igloo at Santa's Village in Jefferson, New Hampshire, during the summer of 1969. This is one of a number of vacation photos I purchased recently (in 2013). For another example from this set, see Home of 1000 Animals, Lake Placid, N.Y., 1969 . For another Christmas theme park with its own North Pole, see Santa's Workshop, North Pole, New York .

"The Weary Farmer (Up to Date), designed & pub. by Frank W. Swallow, Exeter, N.H." I'm not sure why Frank W. Swallow of Exeter, New Hampshire, published this early twentieth-century postcard, which ridicules the "Weary Farmer," his family, and the hired help for living a life of luxury. One clue might be the well-off real estate dealer, who's standing in front of his office, where the sign says, "No deserted farms left. Fair farms, $5,000.00 to $50,000.00." Was there an economic downturn at some point that caused families to abandon their farms? Did Swallow feel that some farmers and real estate agents were profiting from the misfortune of others? I haven't solved this mystery yet, but in the meantime here's the cast of characters portrayed on the card: The Farmer is fanning himself while lying on a hammock and sipping sweet cider from a straw. The Hired Man is sitting beneath a tree as he smokes a cigarette and reads a dime novel ( Diamond Dick ) with his unused shovel and hoe by his side. The Son is out on the golf course. The Real Estate Dealer is wearing expensive clothing, including a diamond ring. An automobile is parked in front of his real estate office, where there's a sign that says, "No deserted farms left. Fair farms, $5,000.00 to $50,000.00." The Hired Girl is sitting in a rocking chair as she dries the dishes. The Wife and Daughter are dressed in fine clothes as they sip their tea. The Cow , however, is toiling away on a treadmill, supplying the power and the raw material--milk--for the butter and cheese machines, which apparently provide enough income to allow everyone else besides the cow to live a life of leisure.

"Holiday Greetings of E. R. Barry, the Hanover St. Confectioner. Bufford." Although this advertising trade card likely dates to the 1880s or 1890s, E. R. Barry continued in business into the twentieth century, as evidenced by the text of an advertisement in The Manchester [New Hampshire] Directory, 1908 (Boston: Sampson and Murdock, 1907): "E. R. Barry Co., confectioners, caterers, and bakers, ice cream, etc. Dinner served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 35 cents. Odd Fellows' Block, 81 and 89 Hanover Street, Manchester, N.H." See below for some other Victorian trade cards that feature Santa Claus:

"Grand Social Banquet at the Central House, City of Nashua, N.H., on Thursday, March 15, 1860. Cards of admission, two dollars. Tickets, $2.00. 18155."

"1. Set arrow to city nearest starting point. 2. Read mileage in window of destination. 3. Principal highways are shown in red."

"Dover, Somersworth & Rochester Street Railway Co. Newspaper stamp, 2c. Franklin Woodman, gen'l m'g'r."