Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: Atlantic City

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of one sitting, one standing . A man and a woman -- single at the time but later married -- pose in swimsuits for a souvenir photo at a studio in Atlantic City, New Jersey, sometime in the early twentieth century. The painted backdrop shows waves breaking on a beach. The woman is sitting awkwardly on a small table, with one foot underneath her and her other foot resting on the bottom shelf of the table. The man is standing next to her and also has one foot on the shelf. They're leaning in toward one other, and they each have one hand on the table top and the other hand on a hip. Handwritten note on the other side: "Daddy & Mother when Single." Printed on the verso: "Albert Studio, Ark Ave., and Beach, Atlantic City, N.J." The Cyko stamp box ("Cyko - Place Postage Stamp Here") on the back of this divided-back real photo postcard indicates that it may date to sometime between 1907 and the 1920s.

Printed on the back of this unused real photo postcard: "Atlantic City Souvenir. Myers-Cope Co., 1635 & 1521 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, N.J." On the other side of the card is an Azo stamp box (squares in each of the four corners) that suggests a date sometime in the 1920s, 1930s, or 1940s. The little girl in this mirror photo (or "photo-multigraph") is posing with her right hand against one of the mirrors, which makes it look like she's holding hands with her other multiple selves. The real girl, of course, is facing away from the camera, and the remaining four images are mirror reflections. For another photo with a similar subject, see Mirror Photograph of Girl with Bow, Pittsburgh, Pa. For more examples, see my album of Mirror Photos .

"Greetings from the Philco Convention, Atlantic City." An undated real photo postcard. As far as I can determine, the convention took place in 1953.

"The Way We Catch Them. Souvenir Post Card Co., N.Y." Postmarked Ocean City, N.J., Sept. 6, 1919.

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

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.

Printed on the back: "The Dittrich Studio, 1107 Boardwalk, Atlantic City." For more like this, see my Mirror Photos album.

"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. :

"Central Studios. 369P. With 'Pete,' Our Gang Dog, Steel Pier, Atlantic City." Our Gang was "a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures" that first appeared in movie theaters as early as the 1920s. The films were later released on television beginning in the 1950s under the original Our Gang name or as The Little Rascals . Pete the Pup , also known as Pete the Dog With the Ring Around His Eye, was a fixture in the comedies, and he (or his successor, whose ring was painted on) posed with children for souvenir photos like this one at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the 1930s. The boy in this photo, who doesn't seem to be enjoying his time with Pete, is the same kid who's playing with his toys in Sonny, Bunny, and Dummy and A Pedal Car for Christmas .

"Atlantic City Hot Wiener Lunch, 6th & Broad Streets, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Telephone Bell 9221. Save this blotter for your check book. Going to the dogs. Coney Island lunch counter." For a similar blotter/business card, see Swails Restaurant, Best Coffee in the City, Harrisburg, Pa.

"The Manhattan, A. J. Meloney, prop. South Carolina Avenue, Atlantic City, N.J. Near the beach." The proprietor of the Manhattan Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, used an illustration of a Native American on his business card. See below for a selection of other late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century hotel business cards. For additional examples, see my Hotels and Motels album.

Handwritten on the back of the photo: "Bob has his mouth 'opened' as usual. 3/27/38" Stamped on back: "Ritz-y Printz, Mar 28, 1938, 1112 G St., Washington, 16 W. Lexington St., Baltimore, 707 Boardwalk, Atlantic City."

"A barrel of fun at the Steeplechase Pier, Atlantic City."

"Central Avenue Hotel, No. 831 Market Street, Philadelphia. O. H. Dash, proprietor. Terms, two dollars per day. Also, proprietor of Surf House, Atlantic City, N.J."

Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "Flett, 1517 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, N.J." This seaside souvenir studio photo was originally very light, and I wasn't entirely successful in sprucing it up. But I hope it's dark enough to make out the characteristics--amazing hats, deer-in-the-headlights facial expressions, and comical foreground illustration (signed by "Flett")--that I found so amusing.

"Enjoying ourselves on a box of Fralinger's at Atlantic City, N.J. Fralinger's Salt Water Taffy, Atlantic City, N.J. Fine selections."

A menu from an elaborate meal at the Irvington Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Independence Day, 1893. -------- "The Irvington, July 4, 1893, Dinner. Oysters on shell, snapper, consommé royal, Kennebec salmon, Hollandaise sauce, pommes à la Russe, cucumbers, capon, oyster sauce, prime ribs of beef, young duck, apple sauce, lamb, mint sauce, sweet bread patties, à la reine, braised tenderloin, with mushrooms, queen fritters, glace au rum, mashed potatoes, Bermuda potatoes, peas, tomatoes, cauliflower, cream sauce, rice queen olives, Worcestershire sauce, chow chow, cole slaw, lettuce mayonnaise, gherkins, lemon meringue pie, English plum pudding, brandy sauce, queen of puddings, vanilla ice cream, raspberry water ice, assorted cake, apricots, plums, bananas, figs, almonds, English walnuts, raisins, crackers, cheese, black coffee, milk. Wine list may be obtained from head waiter."

Printed on back of this real photo postcard: "Myers Cope Co., 1521 & 1635 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, N.J." Handwritten on back: "Aunt Sara Gongaware."