Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: midnight

A Halloween postcard addressed on the other side to "Miss Bertha Duncan, Cresson, Penna.," and postmarked in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on October 24, 1912. Handwritten message: "This card is a little soon for Halloween but I will send it anyhow. Aquilla." Printed on the back: "Printed in Saxony 0624." In a candlelit room at midnight on Halloween, a young woman gazes into a mirror through the steam from a cauldron so she can catch a glimpse of her future husband. For other Halloween postcards with a mirror-gazing theme, see: -- Halloween Greeting—I Gaze in the Mirror My Future There to See -- Halloween Greetings—Look Out for Ghosts -- Wishing You a Lucky Halloween

Postcard addressed on the back to Earl Elliot, Douglassville, Pa., and postmarked at Douglassville, Pa., Oct. 31, 1906. The handwritten message on the front is "Greetings for the day," and the initials "L.U."--presumably those of the sender--appear in a number of places on the front, including on the wall next to the fireplace. The clock strikes midnight on Halloween as a woman gazes into a fire and children bob for apples in a wash tub and on a string. Jack-o'-lanterns form a border around the scene, and ghostly figures hover in the message box at the bottom. The woman in front of the fireplace may actually be playing a fortune-telling game involving three nuts, which she has named after three of her suitors. After placing the three nuts in the fire (I think the nuts are visible here on the top of the grate at the front of the fireplace), she watches to see how they burn. The following poem, which appeared in 1900 in The Jolly Hallowe'en Book , by Dorothy M. Shipman, p. 68, describes the practice. The Test of the Nuts I've named three nuts and placed them Side by side on the grate, The one which cracks is unfaithful, The lover I know I should hate. The one which blazes with brilliant fire, Tells of high regard, 'tis said, But the one which burns with a steady flame Names the man whom I shall wed.

Sent to Mrs. Nell Frishour, Dayton, Oreg., and postmarked Portland, Ore., Oct. 31, 1909, with the message: "Look out for ghosts tomorrow night. E.W."

Postmarked: Hagerstown, Md., Oct. 30, 1908. Sent to: Mr. J. D. Payne, Box 816, Martinsburg, W.Va. Handwritten message: "Compliment of the season. You have a fine appetite, so [ac]cept a slice of cake at 12 p.m. on Halloween eve and have pleasant dreams."