Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: interesting

A haunted house photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. There's no question that the house in this undated real photo postcard was haunted. We can see that an ectoplasmic substance was flowing down from the roof of the house and drifting toward the men and women below. I don't want to think about what happened to the unsuspecting group when the ectoplasm reached them. In addition, the radiating beams of energy visible in the lower right-hand corner could only have emanated from a ghostly orb just out of camera range. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the orb drifted right through the front door of the haunted house, startling the photographer and causing the photo to be off-kilter. Of course, some investigators are likely to dismiss this clear-cut evidence of haunting as a light leak or some other imperfection in the photo, but I think that the malevolent nature of these paranormal manifestations is obvious. I'm sad to report that I don't have any further information regarding the fate of the photographer or the individuals in the photograph.

For information about Sykes Ranch, see the full version of this photo:

For an enlarged view of the structure , mouse over the image above. I didn't quite know what to make of this snapshot when I purchased it. The photo is dated July 1956 and shows a haphazardly constructed structure of some sort, with discarded tires, odd lengths of wood, and unidentifiable pieces of metal. A strangely shaped homemade bench stands on one side of what looks like an entrance, and a couple of steer skulls stand guard on the other side. I thought that it might be the entrance to a junkyard. A number of handmade signs appear on the structure. One sign warns, "Posted, Keep Out," and right below it is another that says, "Welcome." I spotted yet another sign with a religious message--"Do You Believe in Jesus, Thank You"--and then I noticed a pair of signs that simply say, "Sykes Ranch." Could that be the name of the junkyard? After numerous Google searches, I found a March 3, 2011, blog posting by Vance Lauderdale that described " Stephen Sykes and His 'In-Curiosity' House ." It turns our that the owner of Sykes Ranch was "a remarkable fellow named Stephen Sykes, who constructed an absolutely amazing folk-art house / junk pile / art creation outside Aberdeen, Mississippi, in the 1950s that he called 'In-Curiosity.'" Despite the Sykes Ranch signs in the photo, the structure was referred to as "In-Curiosity" by Sykes or sometimes just "Curiosity" by others, as Lauderdale recounts in his blog posting and in a Very Curious column that he wrote for Memphis Magazine , February 2011. Lauderdale also located an earlier article, " Do It Yourself 'Skyscraper' ," in Ebony magazine, March 1963, pp. 75-78, that described Stephen Sykes as "a 69-year-old bachelor with a driving amibition to rise above his fellow man." Sykes, an African-American veteran of World War I, began building In-Curiosity, which he used as a residence, in the early 1950s on family-owned land located along U.S. Route 45 near Aberdeen, Mississippi. Lauderdale heard that Stephen Sykes passed away sometime in the 1960s, and he assumed that all traces of In-Curiosity vanished when Route 45 was later widened. "But Sykes and his amazing creation," Lauderdale fittingly said, "live on in the memories of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of travelers in this area, and in grainy home movies and snapshots tucked away in boxes and scrapbooks." -------- For additional views of In-Curiosity, photos of Stephen Sykes, and further information regarding the maker and his house, check out Vance Laureldale's writings and the Ebony article: Vance Lauderdale. Very Curious column. Memphis Magazine , February 2011. Vance Lauderdale. " Stephen Sykes and His 'In-Curiosity' House ." Ask Vance , March 3, 2011. " Do It Yourself 'Skyscraper' ." Ebony , March 1963, pp. 75-78.

A farm photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. When I first noticed this real photo postcard in a dealer's booth at an antique mall in York County, Pennsylvania, it was obvious that the photo wasn't in very good shape (and it did require a bit of touch-up to make it presentable for posting here), but I found the farm scene to be quite interesting. The sturdy stone house, windmill, large barn, and well-maintained outbuildings, along with the two dozen Holstein cows grazing in the pasture, make it evident that a prosperous farmer and his family lived here. The forebay--the overhang that extends from the front of the barn--and the corresponding banked entrance to the second level on the other side (it's not visible in the photo) identify this as a type of bank barn known as a Pennsylvania barn due to its popularity in the state during the nineteenth century. Taking a closer look at the scene, I realized that a man--the farmer, perhaps?--and two boys and a girl--his children?--were also out standing in their field (the man is standing in front of the cows just right of center, the two boys are on the left, and the white dress of the girl is visible near the building on the right). Later, when I viewed the photo under magnification, I discovered that the little white and brown dots located between the cows are actually chickens. As I debated whether to purchase the photo--its condition wasn't the best, and the price was a little more than I wanted to pay--I looked for any information on the postcard that might help identify the farm's location or maybe even the family. Unfortunately, there was nothing written on the back nor was the postcard sent through the mail, so there wasn't any postmark. But then I saw the dealer's tag, which said "Cowson Farm." That clinched it! With some research and a little luck, I might be able to determine where the Cowsons lived (probably somewhere in Pennsylvania and maybe even in York County). If I could identify the farm, then perhaps I could even take a photo of its current condition to compare with this earlier one. I took the real photo postcard to the main counter at the antique mall in order to pay for it. Since the cashier was removing the dealer's tag from the postcard, I wanted to be certain that I had noted the name of the farm correctly, and I asked to see the tag before she put it away. The cashier took a glance at the tag and then told me, "Well, the only thing it says is 'Cows on Farm.'" Doggonit! Even though I misread the tag and won't be tracking down any information on the Cowson family, I still have a decent photo of cows--and they're on a farm! 8-)

A real photo postcard, probably from Iowa, circa 1910s. There are newspaper pages underneath the ears of corn that the guy is holding, and details from the top corners of two pages are barely visible under enlargement. The headline of an article on one page begins with "Iowa M," and "[In]heritance" seems to be part of a section header on another page. At the top of the Inheritance page, the partial newspaper name and date looks like: "and Leader, Sunday Morning, November 14, 1910" (Leader, Sunday, Morning, and November are the only words that I'm reasonably sure about; another problem is that November 14 in 1910 wasn't a Sunday). If "Iowa" is a clue about the newspaper's origin, then perhaps the paper was the Davenport Democrat and Leader or the Des Moines Register and Leader .

See also the full version of this real photo postcard.

"Brown Village" is the caption on this real photo postcard signed by "Frazer," but I haven't been able to figure out who constructed this miniature village, where it was located, and whether the buildings in it correspond to those in an actual town somewhere in the United States. Mouse over the image to see a close-up of part of the village . The buildings, some of which are labeled, include a "Cudahy Packing Co., U.S.A." plant, water mill, church, "General Store," "Hotel," "Village School," and "Black Smith" shop. The initials "TVB" appear on a water tank above the Cudahy Packing Company, and a small sign next to the plant says, "Please Do Not Touch." Unfortunately, I haven't been able to determine what TVB stands for, nor have I been able to match the miniature Cudahy company building with a specific location (according to Wikipedia, the Cudahy Packing Company operated in over 97 U.S. cities by 1922). So until additional information comes to light, Brown Village will have to remain hidden somewhere in the twilight of some unknown zone.

An obstructed view for the Incredibly Boring Postcards group . "H-13. View of Underpass and First Methodist Church, Henderson, N.C." A linen postcard postmarked in Henderson, N.C., Jan. 6, 1958. Perhaps the underpass was intended to be the focus of this postcard, but it seems odd how it blocks the view of the church. Check out this recent Google Maps Street View of the same scene: Underpass and Church, Henderson, N.C. . For an unobstructed view of the church, see this image on Panoramio: First United Methodist Church, Henderson, NC .