Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: courts

"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.

"Old South Manor Motor Court & Restaurant on U.S. 17, 4½ mi. S., Savannah, Ga." Signs: "Old South Manor Hotel Tourist Court. Restaurant. AAA." Inset: "Reading lounge and lobby." Printed on the back of this linen postcard: "Old South Manor Motor Court and Restaurant on U.S. 17, 4½ mi. S., Savannah, Ga. Very attractive court on beautiful landscaped grounds. 40 unusually inviting accommodations beautifully furnished....Attractive reading lounge with television for our guests....Well known for a variety of good food, served in atmosphere of southern courtesy at moderate prices."

"Lewis Motor Court. One mile south of twin tubes on U.S. 41. Chattanooga, Tenn." Sign at the top of the building closest to the road: "Lewis Modern Cabins." Printed on the back of this linen postcard: "Lewis Motor Court. 28 modern cottages, each equipped for comfort and convenience, quiet and only 7 minutes from city center. Telephone 2-9286. K 4893."

"Love's Cable. Handed in at Cupid's Court. No code book is needed for these cables, true love deciphers them. St. Valentine. Bow and Arrow Avenue, Feb. 14. To my valentine, I cable to say, I am yours today, my heart is true, my love to you. If the accuracy of this message be doubted, it will gladly be confirmed on payment of twenty kisses." This folded Valentine's Day greeting was a parody of a "cablegram" (often shortened to "cable"), which was a message transmitted over the submarine communications cables that were laid across the Atlantic Ocean and elsewhere as early as the 1850s. So why would you need to use a code book to send a cablegram? Author Frank C. McClelland described how these worked in the following excerpt from his book, Office Training and Standards (Chicago: A. W. Shaw, 1919), p. 49: How to use a code book. Firms with foreign connections or correspondents also find use for a cable-code book which helps greatly to cut down the expense of cable messages by shortening the number of words required to convey the message. A code book is simply a directory of code words arranged alphabetically, each word being the code for a certain phrase. For example, the word "Dardejante" may stand for "Draft has been presented for payment." and the word "Daricus" may stand for "Draft is correct; please pay." Nearly every kind of message is given in a code book. Suppose we desired to send a cablegram to London reading "Merritt Brothers draft has been presented for payment for two hundred dollars Shall we pay for your account?" If we did not use a code book the cablegram would contain 18 words in addition to the name, address, and signature, which might bring the number of words up to 27. At 31 cents a word, the cablegram would cost $8.37. By using code words we would get this result: "(name) (address) Merritt Brothers Dardejante Morderesti Genageld (signature)," making only eight words, which would cost only $2.48, a saving of $5.89.

Mouse over the image above to see a close-up of the queen and her retinue . Although I purchased this photo at an antique mall in Lewisburg, Pa., it didn't initially occur to me that this was a photo taken at Bucknell University, which is located in the same town. Instead, it seemed likely that this was a scene from "Milton, Pa.," as noted in the lower right-hand corner of the photo. I finally deciphered "Ishiguro," whose photography studio was located in Milton, and that name, along with the "May 1934" date written on the back of the photo, finally led me to Bucknell and its L'Agenda 1936 yearbook, which identified Dorothea Millikin as the 1934 May Queen. A newspaper article that appeared prior to the 1934 May Day celebration, which was part of a Spring Festival, provides additional details about the event: "Bucknell University's first Spring Festival will be held next week-end [Friday, May 11, to Sunday, May 13, 1934] in connection with the annual May Day pageant and Mother's Day celebration. The three-day program will feature dramatic, musical, and athletic events for all students. . . . The annual May Day pageant Saturday afternoon will be preceded by a fashion show and tea for the co-eds and a varsity baseball match with Ursinus [College] for the men. Hundreds of visiting mothers will be entertained at the Mothers Banquet Saturday evening at which the men's glee club will entertain" ( "Bucknell Plans May Day Spring Festival and Mother's Day Event," Gazette and Bulletin [Williamsport, Pa.], May 5, 1934, p. 13). Notation at the lower right-hand corner of the photo: "Ishiguro, Milton, Pa., No. 2." Handwritten date on the back of the photo: "May 1934."

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