Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: packaging

I spotted this store display of Punxsutawney Phil groundhogs rendered in solid milk chocolate at a Gardners Candies store in State College, Pennsylvania, last year. I'm pleased to report today on Groundhog Day , February 2, 2019, that the esteemed rodent has predicted an early spring this year. Despite CNN's cynicism—see Groundhog predicts an early spring. Don't get too excited, he's usually wrong —I'm optimistic that the long national nightmare of last week's polar vortex is finally over.

Sparkler box with unique typefaces for Fourth of July merriment.

Cracker Jack Riddle cards like this one were issued in sets of twenty in 1906. They included well-worn humorous riddles that circulated widely in books and newspapers at the time. A book of Conundrums, Riddles, and Puzzles by Dean Rivers that appeared in 1903, for instance, contained all the riddles on this card and probably most or all of the ones on the other nineteen cards. Cracker Jack It is not often one can find A candy good for body and mind, But our old doctor says it's true That "Cracker Jack" is good for you. This famous confection is manufactured from choice, wholesome materials and blended together in a scientific manner. Cracker Jack is a combination of candy, popcorn, and peanuts, and it is very nutritious as well as palatable. It is more easily digested and assimilated than richly made candies. It is good alike for young and old. The more you eat The more you want. Manufactured by Rueckheim Bros. & Eckstein, Chicago, U.S.A. See riddles on other side. "Cracker Jack" Riddles What relation is a door mat to a door step? A step farther. What is the difference between one yard and two yards? A fence. How do we know that Noah had a pig in the ark? Because he had Ham. When is money damp? When it is due in the morning and missed at night. What is the cheapest way to buy a fiddle? Buy a little medicine and get a vial in? How may book-keeping be taught in a lesson of three words? Never lend them. Why are records brittle things? Because they cannot be lowered without breaking. When did George Washington first take a carriage? When he took a hack at the cherry tree. What is the difference between forms and ceremonies? You sit upon one and stand on the other. Why do girls kiss each other and men not? Because girls have nothing better to kiss, and men have. Why were the brokers in the panic of 1873 like Pharaoh's daughter? They saved a little prophet from the rushes on the banks. Send name and address with 2c stamp and receive a full set (20 different kinds) of our famous "Cracker Jack" Riddle Cards.

"Astro Bow. Get in orbit. Go-go-go. 39¢. Buser Century, Inc." A black velvet hair bow shaped like a space capsule ! "Get in Orbit" and "Go Go Go" with "Astro Bow" is what the printed card is telling us. What Space Age gal could resist something like this?

"Leave It to Beaver Rocket to the Moon Space Game. Thrills with Beaver on a race to the moon. As seen on A.B.C. television coast-to-coast." The disembodied head of Beaver Cleaver floats in space somewhere between the earth and moon on the lid of this 1958 board game tie-in with the TV show Leave It to Beaver .

Printed on the back of this postcard: "For over twenty years there has been no change in the method of cleaning type and platens on typewriters, rubber stamps, duplicators, etc. Here at last is the most modern way, the easy way, the last word in efficient ways to clean type, recondition platens, and at the same time free sticky keys or gummed parts."

"Nasturtium Dwarf. Price 5¢." An early chromolithographed seed packet from the William D. Burt seed company of Dalton, N.Y.

"Hinkle's Handy Egg Colors. Manufactured by Hinkle Drug Co., Columbia, Pa....Not for use in coloring any food except shell eggs. Contents--6 one-dram bottles." Front panel of a small box containing six small glass tubes with corks. Inside the glass tubes are the dried-out remains of the different colors of Easter egg dye.

Top panel from a small packet of Dot Razor Blades. See also Clix Thin Double-Edge Razor Blades .

Top panel from a small packet of Clix Thin Double-Edge Razor Blades. See also Dot Razor Blades .

"Spencerian Steel Pens are the best. Da locum melioribus." Cover of a folded nib card, circa 1890s. Nib pens (or dip pens ) were used for Spencerian Script and other writing styles. The metal tips, or nibs, of the pens were sold separately, and some came in small cardboard folders that had covers with elaborate designs like this.

Vintage Kiss-L-Toe packages dating to the 1950s on display at the National Christmas Center in Paradise, Lancaster County, Pa., in 2009.

"Holiday House. Fireproof Christmas Snow for decorating Christmas trees." Front panel of a cardboard box that still contained a few of the shiny fireproof Christmas snowflakes (these were mica flakes, fortunately, and not asbestos snow ).

"Radio Pineapple Delights. Contents 14 oz. avoir. Distributors, M. J. Caplan Co., Incoporated, Lawrence, Mass. MJCCo. Accepted, American Medical Assn., Council on Foods." You know about " TV dinners " and how they became popular in the 1950s, right? Well, I'm guessing that "radio pineapple" in the 1930s probably wasn't quite as successful. 8-)

"Checkers with board. Contents, 24 pieces." This is the top of a box containing a pocket-size checkerboard.

"Pocket Chess and Checkers. Always handy and a boon when traveling. Made in Hong Kong."

Given its placement on a pedestal, this patriotically packaged loaf of bread must have been the tip-top pinnacle of perfection. This advertising blotter dates to World War II and includes a calendar for the last four months of 1942. The bread wrapper packaging in the illustration also suggests, "Buy U.S. War Stamps." "Ward's Tip-Top Bread. So good to eat and so good for you. Enriched with vitamins and minerals. Fresh. Enriched. Buy U.S. War Stamps. September, October, November, December 1942."