Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: poles

For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard.

"The March, May 1914." A real photo postcard of a May Day march. A couple of guys with drums are leading the way, and a group of children are carrying a maypole rather than dancing around it. For a better view of the maypole marchers, mouse over the image above to see a cropped version .

"Harpel 16." Handwritten note on the back of this photo: "May Court, L.V.C., 1934. Queen - Minna Wolfskiel. Maid of Honor - Gem Gemmill." The May Day celebration at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, in 1934. For more information, see May Day, Lebanon Valley College, Annville, Pa., 1934 (below). For other celebrations, see my <a href=" May Day " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">May Day album.

"Harpel 15." Handwritten note on the back of this photo: "May Day, L.V.C., 1934. Wendell and I danced around the May Pole." May Day festivities at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, in 1934. Writing on the back of another photo (see below) identifies Minna Wolfskiel as the May Queen and Gem Gemmill as the Maid of Honor in the "May Court" that year. Luther G. Harpel or some other photographer from his well-known studio in Lebanon, Pa., captured the images of the event (evidently there were 16 or more photos, judging by the numbering on the photos). For another collegiate May Day celebration held in Pennsylvania in 1934, see May Queen and Her Court, Bucknell University, May 12, 1934 (below). For even more photos, see my May Day album.

A fairground or amusement/theme park photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Or more concisely, a theme park photo for the Theme Park! Santa Claus poses with some of his friends at Santa's Workshop , an amusement park located in North Pole, New York . The group is gathered around an imitation North Pole--the white base of the pole is visible to the left of Santa's boots, and the "North Pole" sign at the top is partially hidden behind Santa's cap. For another Christmas theme park with its own North Pole, see Shivering at the North Pole, Santa's Village, Jefferson, N.H., 1969 .

The woman here is pretending to shiver in the cold as she stands next to the North Pole and igloo at Santa's Village in Jefferson, New Hampshire, during the summer of 1969. This is one of a number of vacation photos I purchased recently (in 2013). For another example from this set, see Home of 1000 Animals, Lake Placid, N.Y., 1969 . For another Christmas theme park with its own North Pole, see Santa's Workshop, North Pole, New York .

Wikipedia's text messaging article provides a detailed history of texting. Although there were antecedents-- telex in 1933, ALOHAnet in 1971, and even wireless telegraphy in the nineteenth century--it wasn't until 1995 that Sprint Spectrum introduced the first modern text messaging service (SMS, or Short Messaging Service) in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland. I think that this chronology will have to be revised, however, since I'm pretty sure that this old photo shows a kid texting away on his phone while his brother and mother wait for him to finish. Unfortunately, the picture isn't dated, but since the boys are wearing knickerbockers . I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it was taken as early as the 1910s or 1920s. I wonder if any other texting photos from the early twentieth century have survived.

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A 1950s photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. This 1956 photo shows a diner on "Brookline Avenue," as indicated by the pole-mounted street sign that's visible in the center of the photo (mouse over the image above for a close-up view of the diner and the sign). The letters on top of the diner's roof spell out the words "GOOD FOOD," and the name "Federal Diner" is barely legible on a circular sign situated above the entrance at the middle of the building. Four or five men are standing around the cars near the front door of the diner, and they appear to be looking in the direction of the photographer, perhaps waiting for him while he takes the photo. Or maybe they're watching the woman wearing a dress and high heels who's walking past on the sidewalk. This eatery was the "Good Food Federal Diner," formerly located at 410 Brookline Avenue in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. For another 1950s view of this diner, see Good Food Back in the Day on Boston's Universal Hub site.

Printed on the back of this sample cigar box label: "Geo. S. Harris & Sons, Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago. No. 4505. Prof. Morse, trade mark. $6.00 per 1000. 70 cts. per 100. Also furnished blank." For two additional cigar box labels printed by the same lithographic firm, see First Rate and Prime .

For more information, see the full version of this photo .

For more information, see the full version of this photo .

A real photo postcard showing a group of men dancing 'round the maypole.

Maypoles on May Day for the ABC Group (4/24/2017). Mouse over the image above to see close-ups of the maypole on the left and the maypole on the right . This real photo postcard shows the organized chaos of May Day festivities at a playground or schoolyard--location and date unknown, unfortunately--where two groups of students are dancing around two maypoles as other students and adults view the proceedings. Could this be a maypole dance competition between two classes or schools? Are the two groups racing to see who will be the first to finish weaving their ribbons around their maypole? It's not clear whether this is a competition, but it's interesting to note that older boys are holding up each maypole while girls wearing dark-colored skirts dance around one of them and girls in light-colored skirts dance around the other. Also, many of the boys standing in the background beyond the maypoles are wearing shirts emblazoned with the letter E, so I suppose it's possible that the clothes are athletic uniforms reflecting different classes or schools. In any case, even if we can't tell exactly what's going on, the image provides an intriguing glimpse at a May Day celebration from days gone by.

A real photo postcard consisting of a trick photo that uses a double exposure to show a woman simultaneously pulling and riding a wagon. Notice the ghost shafts at the front of the wagon that fade and disappear (they're located behind the woman and below the shafts she's holding). The doppelgänger riding the wagon is pretending to hold the reins (with what looks like a stick with attached string in her right hand). Not to be confused with A Man Pushing Himself on a Wheelbarrow . 8-) For another similar trick photo, see A Man Simultaneously Pushing and Riding a Wheelbarrow .

One of the dealers at a local antique mall sells a variety of old photos, and I usually find a few interesting images each time I visit. I noticed that the dealer occasionally adds pithy comments--ranging from clever and witty to sarcastic and dark--to the back of some of the photos, and I began watching for these "precaptioned" pics when I looked through the piles of hundreds of unsorted snapshots at his stand. I can't resist the captions that turn out to be interesting or amusing (and sometimes quirky or strange), and I often end up buying the photos, even if they're bent, torn, or taped. I don't know anything about the dealer who conjures up these captions, but perhaps he, too, appreciates a good Far Side or Charles Addams cartoon.