Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: repairing

The Lancaster City Directory for 1903 listed John B. Martin (1875-1906) as a bicycle repairer and gave his address as 421 N. Prince Street, so it seems likely that this business card with the same information dates to about the same time. I haven't uncovered any information regarding Martin's career as a trick rider, nor have I found any reference to the athletic grounds and banked bicycle track that he operated on Prince Street. Martin died on March 19, 1906. He was only 30 years old and left behind three young daughters. David Bachman Landis of Pluck Art Printery printed Martin's business card. J. B. Martin, Wheels to Hire Martin the Trick Rider. First-Class Bicycle Repairing. Athletic Grounds in the Rear. Come and see the new banked Bicycle Track. 421 N. Prince St., Lancaster, Pa. Half square north of the P.R.R. freight depot.

The business card for James D. Brinser, who was the superintendent of the Crescent Electric Company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The card was printed by D. B, Landis, Pluck Print, Lancaster, Pa. I relied on listings and ads in various publications for the approximate date of 1895. The Annual Report of the Factory Inspector for Pennsylvania in the year 1894, for instance, gives the location of the Crescent Electric Company as 117 East Chestnut in Lancaster, as printed on the card. In 1896, however, Brinser assigned an Electric-Motor Fan patent to the Marietta Manufacturing Company in Marietta, Pa., which suggests that fans were no longer manufactured in Lancaster by that time. By 1898, the ads for Crescent Electric Fans indicated that the Marietta Manufacturing Company made them. The Crescent Electric Co. Manufacturers of Electric Motors and Fans 111 to 117 East Chestnut Street, Lancaster, Pa. Electrical and general machine repairing. Armature and magnet winding a specialty. New and second-hand motors in stock. Prompt attention. Obliging service. Reasonable prices. James Brinser, superintendent. Telephone.

"W. R. Cheney, Carriage Builder. Repairing and repainting done promptly. 26 North Christian St., Lancaster, Pa." William R. Cheney (1859-1932) was a blacksmith and carriage builder in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. For similar business cards from the same job printer ( Pluck Print ), see Chas. O. Ursprung, Horse Collar Manufacturer, Lancaster, Pa. and William C. Myers, Practical Artesian Well Contractor, Salunga, Pa. For a card from another carriage maker, see Bardens Carriage Company, Horseshoers and Wagonmakers, West Orange, New Jersey .

"Bardens Carriage Co., Horse-Shoers and Wagon Makers, 41 Washington Street, West Orange, N.J. Telephone. Repairing. Painting." I haven't been able to find any trace of the Bardens Carriage Company, but I'm guessing that the company's horse of a different color on this business card had something to do with the town in which it was located. For some other farrier cards, see Lewis Kramer, Practical Blacksmithing and Horseshoeing, Pottstown, Pa. , and Fred Hollinger, Practical Horseshoer, Lancaster, Pa. For items from carriage and wagon works, see Harrisburg Carriage Repository Letterhead, Harrisburg, Pa. , and Gruber Wagon Works, Mt. Pleasant, Berks County, Pa.

"Harrisburg Carriage Repository, Edward Boyer, proprietor, 1017 Market St., Harrisburg, Pa. Manufacturer of and dealer in carriages, surreys, runabouts, Stanhope phaetons, buggies, and business wagons. Repairing and remodeling of carriages a specialty." The Hub , a trade magazine for carriage, wagon, and automobile manufacturers, provided this laudatory description of the Harrisburg Carriage Repository and its proprietor in its August 1901 issue, p. 256: "Harrisburg, Pa., has no better, more strongly established or more popular house in any branch of business than the Harrisburg Carriage Repository, of which Edward Boyer, good man, expert mechanic, and energetic business man, is proprietor. Everyone in the capital, yes, every carriage man in the State, we might say in the trade throughout the entire land, knows Boyer, the man whose word is as good as a United States bond. He handles only the best and carries a stock to meet all demands. Mr. Boyer is general agent for the Richland Vehicle Co. and numerous other manufacturers of twentieth-century vehicles of every description."

"Leap Year 1908. Be my chauffeur on the auto of life. D. P. Crane, '08." Leap Year postcards (above and below) from a 1908 series by illustrator Donn P. Crane .

"The Land of Big Corn. Copyright 1909 by Martin Post Card Co."

A nineteenth-century broadside advertisement for Theodore Trickel 's new shoe store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Opened! Theodore Trickel. New Shoe Store, 1520 South 63d Street. Unfurl the [flag] and spread the news, Theo. Trickel repairs all kinds of shoes, Men's, women's, and misses' repaired very neat At 1520 South 63d Street. Shoes repaired from the best of leather And warranted to keep out the weather, Half soleing and heeling done with care, Of your patronage he asks a share. Invisible patches put on quite neat That cannot be seen upon the feet, All the work that is done by me, Will give satisfaction I guarantee. The public all should keep in view Shoes repaired to look like new, Don't forget to give me a call Shoes repaired, large or small. Custom Work a Specialty Repairing neatly done and promptly attended to. Ready-made shoes in stock for men, women, and children at the lowest prices. Theodore Trickel 1520 South 63d Street, Philadelphia Alfred D. Smith, printer, 5841 Baynton Street, Germantown.

"Easter Compliments. Frey & Eckert, Boots and Shoes, 3 East King Street, Lanc., Pa. Your trade solicited. Boots and shoes made to order. Reparing neatly done." A Victorian-era advertising trade card.

For more information, see Don't Walk! Ride a Bicycle .

For more information, see Don't Walk! Ride a Bicycle .

"Don't walk! Ride a bicycle. Horses are high, but bicycles are low. Good second-hand bicycles from $1.75 to $8.00....Special: new bicycles, $12.75....Geo. H. Muhlenberg, the experienced jeweler. Closed on Sundays. Phone 105. Box 8, Morgantown, Pa." Mouse over the image to see enlargements of the spot illustrations depicting a Brownie riding a bicycle and a Brownie standing beside a "Look" sign . For another example of an advertisement that uses Brownies, see What Have You Found Now, Christopher Columbus? . For more on these creatures, see Wikipedia's articles on The Brownies and their creator Palmer Cox (1840–1924).

"The Modern Cycle Co., general repairing, brazing, vulcanizing. Wm. Deubel, proprietor. 1317 Montgomery St., rear. Allied Printing Trades Council, Union Label, St. Louis, 32. The Modern Way. The Old Way." The Modern Cycle Company was a bicycle repair shop that may have been located in St. Louis, Missouri (that's where this business card was printed), but I haven't been able to uncover any additional information about the company or its proprietor, William Deubel. In the illustration on the back of the card, the "modern way" and the "old way" both portray men who are working on bicycles, and the main difference between the two of them seems to be that the modern man is using a longer tire lever (or similar tool) on his bike. I'm not sure whether this was intended to show that the Modern Cycle Company used better tools, repaired bikes more efficiently, or something else.