Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: tents

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of X marks the spot (an X to indicate something or someone on the photo) . "C.M.T.C. Camp" is the label that appears below the main tent area in this photo, which is credited in the lower right-hand corner to the "Chicago Aerial Survey Co." This is a real photo postcard, and the type of Azo stamp box (with squares in all four corners) printed on the other side suggests that the card dates between 1924 and 1949. Over 400 tents are visible in the photo, and the message that's part of the image says: "Had a fine trip here, all O.K. Here is my home for a month. X marks my tent. Everything looks fine so I'm sure I will like it here. Will write a letter soon." The postcard is unused, however, and no one has added an X to indicate a tent. This C.M.T.C. Camp was located in Illinois at Fort Sheridan (now closed except for the Sheridan Reserve Center ) and was one of about fifty Citizens' Military Training Camps , which were month-long training programs held each summer from 1921 to 1940 at U.S. Army posts.

A real photo postcard from 1908. For more information, see the cropped version of the card.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of on vacation / holiday . Sign: "The Club." Life preserver: "U.S. Vol. Life Saving Corps." This is a hand-tinted real photo postcard addressed on the other side to Miss G. Manning, 331 W. 29 St., N.Y. City. It was postmarked at Midland Beach , Staten Island, N.Y., and New Dorp , N.Y., on August 25, 1908. Handwritten message (with original spelling): "Dear Grace, I'm having a splendid vacation down here. We have a bungaloe down here for the month of August & part of Sept. It's great sport. I would have written sooner but never think of writing down here. I didn't attent that millinery class in the YWCA because you didn't. Love, F. Cooper." Added to the message: "Drop me a card. My address -- name. c/o W. H. Putnam, New Dorp, St. Island, N.Y. Woodland Beach." See also the full version of this card.

A camping/tents photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Judging by the banner hanging above the tents, Camp Chicken is the name of this encampment. Three women and a child pose in front of the three tents on the right. On the other side, a man is lying in a hammock, and behind him is a boy and another man, both of whom are sitting on chairs. A breeze blowing through the woods has blurred the large American flag flying above the kitchen tent, and some of the smaller flags hanging above the openings to the other tents are also blurred. Sunlight filtering down through the trees has formed a dappled pattern in the clearing. This is an unused real photo postcard with an Azo stamp box on the other side (four corner triangles pointing up) that indicates a date that may be as early as 1904 to 1918. For similarly in-tents scenes, see Tents at Raise 'ell Camp, Cooks Mill, Pennsylvania , Bob White Camp , and The Methodist Church Choir Camp, 1908 .

Wisconsin photographer Alfred Stanley Johnson, Jr., created this fanciful scene of Boy Scouts roasting a larger-than-life potato over a campfire and published it as a postcard in 1912. This copy of the card was addressed to Mrs. Galen Groff, Kirkwood, Lanc. Co., Pa., R.F.D. #1, and was postmarked in Quarryville, Pa., on October 7, 1913. Handwritten message: "Oct. 7, 1913. Dear Aunt, As Ernest said, we were to come down for chestnuts. I thought I would write and tell you that Roy and I will be down on Sun. if it suits you and it don't rain, but if it doesn't suit you please let me know as it will be all right. Maud E."

"To Alan, Best wishes, Lorett." When I visited the sideshow at the York Fair in York, Pa., in the mid-1980s, I purchased this card from a tattooed woman, "Lorett," who also autographed it for me. Years later, I was able to identify her as Lorett Fulkerson, and I discovered how lucky I was to meet her. As Amelia Klem Osterud explains in her book, The Tattooed Lady: A History (Speck Press, 2009), p. 2, "Tattooed ladies graced sideshow and carnival stages until 1995, when the last performing tattooed lady, Lorett Fulkerson, retired from the carnival circuit at age eighty." Lorett Fulkerson was at least seventy years old when I met her at the York Fair. Sadly, she died in 2007 at the age of ninety-two. When I posted this over on Flickr , one of Lorett's grandchildren added a comment, and another person even provided some more recent color photos of Lorett.

Handwritten message on the back of this real photo postcard: "To yous all. This is a view of our tents. Rhoads and two of the clerks came down one night. Hunter." The seven Raise 'ell campers are sitting in front of their tents. What appears to be a quilt or coverlet is visible in the first open tent, and the man seated in front of that tent is still holding the shotgun he posed with in the first photo . Charles R. Rhoads was a pharmacist in the nearby town of Hyndman , Pa., in the 1900s and 1910s. Could he have been the Rhoads who--along with two of the clerks in his pharmacy--visited the camp? And how ironic is it--considering the guns that are visible in the photos and the hunting that presumably took place during the camping trip--that the writer's name is "Hunter"!

Handwritten message on the back of this real photo postcard: "This is the table where we had a many good meal those ten days. The lady at the end was a visitor. She brought 1 gal. of ice cream along." The seven Raise 'ell campers and a visitor are seated around the table where they had "a many good meal" during their stay. Perhaps they're eating the ice cream that the woman at right brought with her. Next to her are two milk cans, which were probably used to store water. The stream that's visible In the background is Wills Creek , which is still a popular fly-fishing destination today. Is that a Buster Brown outfit that the boy is wearing in this photo and the previous one ?

Handwritten message on the back of this real photo postcard: "This was the name of our camp at Cooks Mill where we was the last ten days of August." These seven campers have enough firepower--a couple of shotguns and a rifle--to "raise hell," as their sign suggests, but it's more likely they used their guns and rods for hunting and fishing (I'm not sure why the one woman is holding a tin horn, though). Their camping trip, which took place during August sometime in the 1900s or 1910s, is documented in these three photos (the one above and two more below). The location--Cooks Mill--was a small settlement in rural Bedford County, Pennsylvania, that was described in 1900 as having one store, a grist mill, and ten dwellings.

Caption on the front: "Nicollet Bay Camp Ground, Peninsula State Park , Wis. E-764." Postmarked: "Fish Creek, Wis., Sep 7, 1949." Addressed to: "Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Potter, Woodhull, Ill." Message on the back: "Labor Day. Dear folks: This is where we located--lovely weather, fine time. Everyone swell. Bye, Hilda & M."

A camping/tents photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. There wasn't any message or other information on this real photo postcard to indicate the date or location of Bob White Camp, unfortunately.

For the original photo, see American Beauties .

For the original photo, see American Beauties .

Although it's difficult to make out, the soldier at front middle is holding up a piece of cloth that looks like a pillowcase. Printed or embroidered on the cloth is an American flag along with the words "American Beauties." Notice, too, the soldier--perhaps a sergeant or other officer--at top middle who's standing head and shoulders above the rest. Rather than facing the camera like the others, he seems to be peering off in the distance at something out of the frame of the photo. Mouse over the image to see close-up views of sarge looking sideways and the pillowcase hold-up.

"The Great Carlisle Fair, Carlisle, Pa., September 23, 24, 25, 26, 1913." See also Hello, Neighbor! I Will See You at the Fair, Carlisle, Pa., Sept. 1905 :

A photo of tents, including wigwams, yurts, etc. for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A photo from the early days of automobile camping.

On maneuvers and "in the army" with the Vintage Photos Theme Park group. A real photo postcard of a camp scene, probably dating to World War I. Soldiers are standing in line as they wait to get their chow at the ramshackle building at left. A young boy, who appears to be talking with some of the soldiers, is visible in the center of the photo. Situated along the fence to the right of the boy are some wooden baskets and a box from which the soldiers are evidently getting the plates and cups that many of them are holding. In the background are wall and pyramidal tents typical of those used in the First World War. Unfortunately, I don't have any information regarding the specific date and location of the photo.

"Oscar G. Frederick" is written on the back of this real photo postcard. For a similar postcard, see World War I Soldier with Flag .