Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: cameras

"Look pleasant" is what the horse/photographer is saying as a donkey and boy pose for a photo. This is a postcard addressed on the other side to Mrs. Emma Cranford, Lisbon, Ohio, R.F.D. No. 2, and postmarked Wilson, Pa., June 27, 1910. Handwritten message: "Sun. eve., just closing. All well and have been busy all day. Will write you a letter tomorrow. Got cherries and were fine and many thanks till better paid [I'm not sure of the meaning of this run-on sentence]. Love, Alice & Jno.

"Admira. Kamera náročných. Meopta. Solo Lipnik." A Czechoslovakian matchbox label advertising the Admira movie camera manufactured by Meopta . Check out the illustrated list of movie cameras on the Meopta Virtual Museum site.

A Halloween window display at a camera store. I believe that the sign that's partially visible above "Your Friendly Kodak Dealer" is "Service Photo Supply Co." Does anyone recognize the camera or other equipment? Is this a photo store scene from the 1960s or 1970s? For a close-up of the pumpkin, see Halloween Kodak-O'-Lantern .

One more Halloween photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park ( post as many photos as you want--no limit!--that relate directly or indirectly to Halloween ). A jack-o'-lantern in a Halloween window display at a Kodak camera store. For a better view of the display and the inside of the store, see Halloween at Your Friendly Kodak Dealer .

"Easter Greetings." Postmarked Herman, Pa., March 22, 1913, on back.

An Erie Railroad car appears on the front of this exaggeration postcard, and the description on the back of the card (see below) mentions the railroad company twice. It seems likely that the Erie Railroad sponsored the card, but there's no indication of a publisher's name on the other side. Addressed to: Traffic Dept., Kalamazoo Tank and Silo Co., Kalamazoo, Mich. Postmarked: Detroit, Mich., Aug. 2, 1913. Printed on the back: Incandescent Lamps. The present yearly production of incandescent lamps in this country amounts to about 114,000,000--ranging from ¼ to 500 candle power. The largest factory is located in Harrison, N.J. (on the Erie Railroad); other important important points of manufacture are: New York City, Chicago, Cleveland, Youngstown, O., and Warren, O. (all of which are located on the Erie Railroad). A carload shipment of incandescent lamps contains 40,000 lamps of ordinary size--more than three times the number required to equip a modern skyscraper office building accommodating 7500 people.

See the Kodak maiden, See the silly chap; He has lots of money So she has "a snap!" Published by A. S. Meeker, New York, in 1908, this comic postcard was part of an "'Embossed Comics' Series." Postmarked Lincoln, Nebraska, May 7, 1909, on the back.

In this real photo postcard, the hostess for the local WGAL-TV version of the Romper Room children's show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is standing in front of the station's "Color Television" camera (the show was broadcast in color beginning in 1957). The unnamed hostess is holding a drawing of the show's logo, which featured a jack-in-the-box . Behind the hostess is a board with illustrations of "Don't Bee" and "Do Bee." The message on the right-hand side of the board is "Don't be toy selfish," and although we can't see the left side, the sentiment there was probably "Do be toy sharing." Wikipedia's Romper Room article mentions the Bees in its description of a typical episode : "A recurring character was Mr. Do-Bee, an oversized bumblebee who came to teach the children proper deportment; he was noted for always starting his sentence with 'Do Bee', as in the imperative 'Do be'; for example, 'Do Bee good boys and girls for your parents!' There was also a 'Mr. Don't Bee' to show children exactly what they should not do." Perhaps the most interesting and perplexing Romper Room prop--not visible in this photo postcard, unfortunately--was the magic mirror, whose appearance on the screen was always accompanied by a psychedelic mass of swirling colors (see the 1980 Romper Room Magic Mirror Clip on YouTube for an example). As Wikipedia explains, "At the end of each broadcast, the hostess would look through a 'magic mirror'--actually an open hoop with a handle, the size and shape of a hand mirror--recite the rhyme, 'Romper, bomper, stomper boo. Tell me, tell me, tell me, do. Magic Mirror, tell me today, have all my friends had fun at play?' She would then name the children she saw in 'televisionland,' saying, for example, 'I can see Kathleen and Owen and Julie and Jimmy and Kelly and Tommy and Bobby and Jennifer and Martin' and so on. Kids were encouraged to mail in their names, which would be read on the air--first names only." I'm not sure how long Romper Room continued on WGAL-TV, but the show apparently lasted into the 1990s in some areas. For another Romper Room-ination on Ipernity, take a look at arts enthusiast's Romper Room Exercise Book .

A postcard used to promote the Crosley automobile during the 1939 New York World's Fair . Also on display at the fair were various other products, including refrigerators, washing machines, stoves, and radios, that were designed and manufactured by Powel Crosley, Jr. , and the Crosley Corporation. -------- Front: The Car of Tomorrow at the World of Tomorrow. As shown at the Crosley Building at the N.Y. World's Fair. Also the amazing Freezorcold Shelvador Refrigerator, Feather Touch Electric Magnetune Radios. See the newest of the new in home appliances at popular prices. Crosley Reado, facsimile radio printing. Crosley Camera, Press Jr. model, Gas and electric ranges. Electric and gas engine washers. Electric ironers. At Crosley Dealers everywhere. Back (printed not handwritten): My feet are no longer tired after what I've seen at the Crosley Building.

A 1970s photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. In the original scan of this photo, the Pennsylvania license plate on the back of the truck looks like it has a "74" or "75" sticker in one corner, so I'm reasonably sure that it dates to the 1970s.

Detail from Reflections on a RCA Victor Super Color Television, 1962 , showing the TV screen with its reflected image of the photographer and his camera. The photographer appears to be kneeling or sitting in front of the television in order to take a photo of what may have been his brand new TV set. The bright flash from the camera stands out at the top of the reflected image, the photographer's illuminated fingers are visible at both sides of the camera, and his disembodied pant legs (from the knees down) eerily appear by themselves at the bottom of the TV screen.

A television photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. For another interesting television photo, see Don't Give Your Televison the Boot . A Kodachrome slide dated August 1962. If you look closely, you can see the reflections of the photographer and his camera on the TV screen (mouse over the photo above for an enlarged view of the reflected image ). The photographer appears to be kneeling or sitting in front of the television in order to take a photo of what may have been his brand new TV set. The bright flash from the camera stands out at the top of the reflected image, the photographer's illuminated fingers are visible at both sides of the camera, and his disembodied pant legs (from the knees down) eerily appear by themselves at the bottom of the TV screen.

"I shall be candid with you, Valentine. You're so snappy. Hope you develop a liking for me." A mechanical valentine. Moving the boy's head alternately displays "Valentine," "You're so snappy," and a girl's face in the lens of the camera, and the final position also reveals a heart with the message, "Hope you develop a liking for me." I suspect that this card dates to the 1960s, when the television show Candid Camera was at the height of its popularity.

"Save the day with snap shots. Thanksgiving, the day of the year which brings most families together, is a splendid opportunity to take snap-shots of the entire family, both singly and as a group. Next year may be too late. Have your camera and a few extra film ready. Master Photo Finishers of America." After I posted this previously on that other site , it was mentioned on PetaPixel and featured by Xeni Jardin on Boing Boing : "Get a load of this print ad from the Master Photo Finishers of America, 1926. . . . Scanned . . . by Alan Mays, whose photo stream is full of wonderful vintage weirdness."

"J. A. Pfeifer & Co., photographic artists, 262, 264, & 266 S. High Street, Columbus, Ohio. Pfeifer, Smith, Mulligan Bros."