Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: American West

"Conestoga Coffee Blend, one pound net, Lancaster Wholesale Grocery Co., distributors, Lancaster, Penna." Although the landscape surrounding the Conestoga wagon in this illustration from the front of a paper coffee bag depicts the rugged terrain of the American West, early settlers actually used a different type of covered wagon (often just a simple farm wagon enclosed in canvas) to travel westward. The Conestoga wagon originated in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania , and its name may have come from the county's Conestoga Township or Conestoga River ("Conestoga" originally referred to a Native American group now more commonly known as the Susquehannocks ). It was a sturdy vehicle capable of handling large loads over the undeveloped dirt roads in Pennsylvania and surrounding states during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Given the local origin of the Conestoga wagon, it's not surprising that the Lancaster Wholesale Grocery Company chose the name for its coffee. And it's certainly more dramatic--through not accurate--to see the wagon traveling through a mountainous Western landscape rather than slogging through the muddy roads in the eastern United States. See also Howard C. Frey, Refurbisher of Conestoga Wagons .

This could be a scene from a movie —a photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. I know it's only a novelty photo, but the guys in this real photo postcard are so elaborately outfitted—cowboy hats, revolvers, chaps, gun belts, wrist cuffs, vests, and bandanas—that I could imagine them stepping away from the cartoonish saloon backdrop and heading right onto a Western movie set. These kinds of cowboy getups must have been popular. Take a look at these fellows in Shootout at Dead Man's Gulch Saloon (below), which I previously submitted to the Theme Park as a Wild Wild West photo.

A photo of hands on hips for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. (For an entire group devoted to this theme, see Just Put Your Hands On Your Hips .) This novelty photo features such detailed cowboy costumes--including hats, vests, bandanas, chaps, wrist cuffs, gun belts, and revolvers--that it must have taken these fellows a good while to suit up. The signs in the background of this real photo postcard are difficult to read. Two of them are: "Leave your horse outside, also the bull." "Safety first?"

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of hold it (people holding something) . These three guys are holding guns and a baton as they pose in cowboy and police costumes. Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "Metropolitan Photo Studio, 645 Sixth Ave., N.Y." The signs in the background are difficult to read. Two of them are: "Brother Jones' Gin Mill." "We use the best chemicals in our distillery."

A Kodachrome slide dated July 1959. After a hard day at the Big Rocks shootout, this diminutive Dale Evans has holstered her gun and is shielding her eyes as she heads toward the sun with Buttermilk (if she had waited until evening, she could have avoided the bright light and followed the conventional Western gunslinger practice of riding off into the sunset ). See also Gunfight at Big Rocks and Holding Down the Fort .

A Kodachrome slide dated July 1959. Still grasping her toy gun, this Dale Evans wannabe--with Buttermilk and Lassie by her side--stands ready to defend Big Rocks against the bad guys. See also Gunfight at Big Rocks and Riding Toward the Sun .

A Kodachrome slide dated July 1959. This little gunfighter is wearing a Dale Evans cowgirl hat as she holds her toy gun and prepares to take aim at the bad guys. Perhaps she's pretending that her toy horse is Buttermilk , Dale's trusty steed on TV's The Roy Rogers Show (1951-57), and her pet collie is Lassie , the canine star of the popular and long-lasting television show (1954-73). See also Holding Down the Fort and Riding Toward the Sun .

A Wild Wild West photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Printed on the back of this real photo postcard: "Western Photo Gallery, 215 Smithfield St., Pittsburgh, Pa." Note the signs painted on the backdrop: "No trust, no bust," "Dead Man's Gulch Saloon," "Reward, dead or alive, Bad Dick, $5000.00, Sheriff," and "Poker." Ironically, the Western Photo Gallery, which provided the dramatic photo of these gun-toting dudes in their cowboy outfits, was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania--almost as far east in the U.S. as you can get!