Whereaway Bull Shores Button American Eagle (?) RPPC

I confess to having no idea what or where a Whereaway is. And until I have more coffee, I am not inclined to try to find out. Someone there did have the time to make a button eagle, and the gumption to have it documented with a real photo post card.

American Eagle at Whereaway Bull Shoals Arkansas RPPC c. 1930? Collection Jim Linderman

The World's First Voice Mail and who we can Blame

I reckon this is the fellow we can blame. The world's first answering machine, now known as voice mail, but back then known as Televoice. The date? 1933. I am going to guess the first "early adopters" were stockbrokers who after laying off their secretary, were thrilled to be able to screen calls, even if the unit took up their entire office. Note the tiny little wheels. I am sure Mr. Keiser was hoping to claim it was portable. Oh...if only I had HIS number. On the reverse "When the phone rings, the machine lifts the receiver, a record advises "Mr-----is not in, but requests that you leave your message, which will be automatically recorded" Great, eh? Can you imagine Keiser lugging the thing around and setting it up in the offices of potential investors? "I'll get it set up in just a minute...It worked just the other day fine!"

Original press photo 1933 Collection Jim Linderman

David Byrne Kindle Obsessive Text and the Porter

Click to enlarge (not that it will do much good)

Ahh, Kindle. I'll give in one day soon. I do not lack for reading material, the web has loaded the content of so many things my fingers wear out far before my eyes. But I thought I would address an issue seldom discussed, but will become increasingly evident as we progress. David Byrne on his blog recently said he enjoyed his kindle as he didn't have to lug around books in his luggage. Well, neither did anyone else. Including baggage folks. No one has to deliver the book to his house either. No one has to print it. No one has to do the typesetting, the binding, the paper...Every step of production is gone or going, and all of them were good union jobs at one time. My first real job was paperboy. We don't need no paperboys. We don't need no mailman. We're not going to need no librarian, except to scan our card keeping track of which computer we're using. This analogy extends to so many once physical activities which provided jobs that it is scary. Whenever I hear a reporter claim "jobs will be back in 18 months" I cringe. There are no jobs coming back. Nothing needs to be done made, boxed, carried or delivered. So for now, I'll just say "Kindle this, Amazon"...and I hope a certain percent of the cyber-royalties are going to food distribution...and that they pass a low requiring all Barnes and Noble stores be turned into roller rinks.

Religion fanatic diatribe on postcard Obsessive script mailed from Chesterton, Maryland to Burlington, Iowa 1911 Collection Jim Linderman

At the Circus in Black and White Ray's in La Crosse and Helen Mae Hoeft, Early Woman Photographer

A circus photo (of a sideshow banner for a "midnight ramble" show) taken by, or developed by, Ray's Studio in La Crosse Wisconsin. One Edwin Hill recounts the tale of La Crosse early photographers in his Master thesis in 1978. Ray's photo was in fact Helen Mae Hoeft, who used the shop name as a pseudonym to avoid sex-discrimination in the photo field. She feared customers would not buy photographic services from a woman when she started up in 1924. The name of the business has changed since, but as of 1978 was still in operation. I do not know if Ms. Hoeft took this photo or merely developed it at the studio for another, but the stamp is here. (Click "At the circus in Black and White" to see other posts in the series)

Untitled circus photo c. 1930 La Crosse, WI collection Jim Linderman

Wendts upon Wendts! Composite Cabinet Card of a Tiny Contortionist

Frank Wendt, who I have devoted an entire site to HERE composed this cabinet card photograph made up of eight earlier photos he took of the same wiggly boy, Albert Powell Jr. A contortionist quality photo! And just when I thought I had collected them all, I now have 8 more to look for.


Albert Powell Jr. Cabinet Card by Frank Wendt, c. 1890 Collection Jim Linderman

Eating a Philly Cheesesteak in SIX SECONDS the Lenticular Way

Chewed fingernails and Lenticular Baseball Player collection Jim Linderman

It's the MAILMAN! We get Letters at Dull Tool Dim Bulb

I am frequently asked, Jim? Do you receive letters at Dull Tool Dim Bulb, and if so, do you answer them all? Of COURSE we do, and each and every letter received is not only read by the editor, he frequently sends them directly by inter-office pneumatic tube to the appropriate expert on the staff to answer. Your stamp is not wasted when it goes on a letter to DTDB! Here is but a brief sample of our mailbag.

"The Balls of your Feet" Flat Foot Feet Photo

Untitled ("Flat Feet Story") Anonymous Press Photograph, Hand Embellished 1923 Collection Jim Linderman

Horrors in Wax #13 Special Hot Wax Beauties of the 50's Edition

I haven't done a Horrors in Wax for a while. Here you go!

Wax Brigitte Bardot, propped up in front of a dressing room mirror so you can take in every angle of her splendid wax rear. Bardot has been convicted five times for "inciting racial hatred" as she doesn't like race mixing. In her book "A Scream in the Silence" she attacks "the mixing of genes" and calls homosexuals "fairground freaks". In 1966, Harry Belafonte recorded "Zombie Jamboree" which has a verse dedicated to her. She used to be hot.

Wax Marilyn, is, of course, a wax icon and as such an easy target. Wax Marilyn is really Norma Jeane Mortenson, although because of divorce, abandonment and such, her last name is really up for grabs. As a child, she grew up in foster homes and was sexually assaulted...maybe. She appeared in a movie called "Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hey! She was an alcoholic and drug addict. For a time, her address was "Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic" She broke Joltin' Joe Dimaggio's heart which alone earns her an honorary place in the wax hall of shame. Tony Curtis once said kissing her was "like kissing Hitler" While dating Arthur Miller, the press referred to the couple as "The Egghead and the Hourglass" After "meeting" President Kennedy, she repeatedly telephoned the White House so often Bobby was sent out to LA and presumably told her to cut it out. Hugh Hefner owns the crypt spot next to her, and the one spot directly above hers was sold on ebay in 2009. She used to be hot.

Gina Lollobrigida,remarkably, and despite being showered with flowers while lounging on a chaise taking calls from suitors...kept her nose clean. I have nothing scandalous to report, other than she used to be hot.

Three Wax Museum Postcards, c. 1960 Collection Jim Linderman
Click the subject heading label to see previous wax wonders.

Untitled (ghoul)

Untitled (detail) c. 1930 Collection Jim Linderman

Blue on Blue the Regenerative Cyanotype

Did you know restaurant menus NEVER use blue ink? It is because blue has been shown to decrease the appetite. Think about it. From the Waffle House all the way to the Four Seasons, every shade of bright, vibrant and fresh appears, but blue is a no-no.

in 1842 Sir John Herschel invented the cyanotype, but it was a woman named Anna Atkins who turned it into an art. In one of the most arcane activities I can imagine, and for some curious reason, Dame Atkins decided to collect algae and save them by laying each on light-sensitized paper, creating some 400 images which were published in the first book of photographs. So the very first photograph book was not only published by a woman, it was composed entirely of blue photographs of seaweed. Only 17 copies exist today.

Cyanotypes must be the least expensive photography technique, as the once ubiquitous "blueprints" used by architects and home builders were cyanotypes.

The most extraordinary property of the cyanotype is it's regenerative behavior. Like a starfish with an arm torn off, they come back! They lose their blue easily, but if a faded cyanotype photograph is stored in a dark environment, a good deal of the original color will return like magic. Maybe we should print money in blue?

Untitled (Lumber truck) cyanotype photograph c. 1915 Collection Jim Linderman

LET'S BRING BACK THE MONKEYS! (A Splendid Follow-Up Letter)

A few days ago, I received the following letter about the Monkey postcards I posted months ago in June...needless to say, I just mailed them off to her as a gift. I'm sure you'll enjoy these excerpts from her mail.

"My Name is Linda, I Would like to know more about the picture Post Cards you have of the St. Louis Zoo St. Louis, Missouri. You Pictured some of my fathers work. The reason I ask is the fact that my father designed and built all the equipment for the shows, and came in to repair cages when needed. It brought back a lot of wonderful memories to see the things my father built in color. I told my children about them. They saw B&W pictures of work in stages. Finished before painting. This gives them the chance to see them in color. My father was a very Talented man. ( design & fabrication ) He was quite a genius.

I felt bad that the blog didn't mentioned the Designer. If you had known him perhaps you would understand why I feel the way I do. He should get credit for his work. He was a wonderful and quite intelligent man. That’s why the zoo contracted him.

When I was 6 to 10 when dad would go to the zoo. He would let me go with him, if I were not in school. Mike would be there doing work with the chimps. I would get to ride the ponies with them. poncho and I were allowed to go for short walks on the zoo grounds hand in hand. It was quite an experience. NOBODY ELSE that I know got to take a chimp for a walk in the park. There was not one vehicle that I didn't get to take a ride in before they went to the zoo. I have so many fond memories of that time. You know we became good friends with Mike (The trainer, dtdb) and his family. When we would go over to their house mike always had a baby chimp in training. He kept them at home while small and raised them as part of his family. Diaper, Pants & shirt. The one's he was training were treated better than a lot of humans. They were exactly like his children. They sat in a high chair at the table to eat until they were able to set at the table and eat along with the family. Mike loved those chimps as if they were his children.

As for PETA half the time they do not know what they are talking about. Those animals were not mistreated by doing shows. They had more LOVE and ATTENTION than a lot of children get from their parents. Oh how I wish those days had not disappeared. Every one seems to find bad in everything. How much things have changed."

At the Circus in Black and White

Starring in Snows of Kilimanjaro, Featured in Africa's Splendor, Starring in King Solomon's Mine

Untitled (Circus Performer) Anonymous Snapshot, c. 1950 Collection Jim Linderman

William Bixler The World's Most Redundant Painter! 5,000 Old Swimming Hole Works

Artists often "find themselves" and repeat. Having a recognizable style is important to the career of any artist. After all, what's the use of spending money on a painting if when company comes, they don't recognize the work? "Oh THAT? That's just my VLAMINCK." A good example is Susan Rothenberg. By now she's probably done enough horses to fill Ted Turner's stable, which the last time I checked was about 1/3 of Colorado. I always admired Jasper Johns, because anytime he needed a house, he could paint an American Flag. Not to begrudge them...if you do something well, you should keep doing it.

The King of repeated work is certainly one William Allen Bixler. You've never walked into a room and seen a Bixler? Well, maybe you have but don't know it. His most prolific period was his "old swimming hole" period. Between 1912 and 1918 he painted it 5,000 times. Each was 20" x 30" That's right, 3 million square inches of it. The same painting. Over and Over and Over like a wild animal stuck in a cage too small.

Bixler was a poet and liked poetry. So when he read the James Whitcomb Riley poem "The Old Swimming Hole" he went to the spot which inspired it and painted it up. It was one of his first paintings. Why, i'm not sure, as one line in the poem reads "Whare the old divin'-log lays sunk and fergot and I stray down the banks whare the treese ust to be--" Well, you get it, but something struck a nerve in our prolific artist. A friend printed up a picture of the painting and sent it to the poet, who liked it enough to mail back a gift of his collected works to the painter.

Several years later, folks in Indiana decided to raise money to erect a statue of the Hoosier Bard but how to pay for the tribute? School children collected pennies, and for each school which raised a few dollars, Bixler came and painted the Old Swimming Hole in their school. The painting is adequate. You would NOT confuse it with the Eakins swimming hole. A stump in a pond. For each $12.50 raised, a school would receive a painting and a small bust of Riley. More than a million kids contributed.

When the depression hit, kid's pennies were now worth a meal. Bixley went on to publish several books and commenced a career as a speed-painter of sorts...a Chalk Talker! He would bring his easel anyplace which would put him and his wife up for the night. He gave lectures on the Lord and illustrated them with chalk drawings made on the spot with lightning speed. The book shown here, one of my favorite books of all time, was first published in his home state of Indiana in 1932.

Chalk Talk Made Easy by William Allen Bixler, 1932 (later edition 1948) Collection Jim Linderman

Things to Make (a CHEVY)

Paintings on the Knees (Jeez!) Fashion Stockings Lingerie Tattoo or none of the above

A fashion due for a return...The Painted Knee. Shown here is "Gina" a Moulin Rouge Dancer and one of the first to adopt the latest fad. Ornamental colored faces painted on the knees. The paintings are placed so the figures perform amusing dances or contortions when the owner walks or flexes.

Original Press Photograph Dated 1926 Collection Jim Linderman

The ARK Strange Man Strange Wagon Strange Poem

Poem printed on reverse of card, with no address or contact information


My kind friends should ever speak
Of the strangest man you know
It would be strange did you not wish
How strange he was to show
Strange pictures on strange cards I have
Telling in a way new
Where you can learn many strange things
Which are both strange and true.

From these strange cards you'll also fine
How very strange I be
And then perhaps you'll purchase some
Strange books written by me
It matters not how strange your church
Or how strange be it's Creed
In my strange teachings you will find
Strange lessons that you need.

To those who see not my strange car
Or look in my strange face
Will your dear friends tell them that I
Am strangest of our race
Then should they wish strange cards or books
My strange writings to see,
Let me know the strange ones they wish
I'll mail them C.O.D.

Cheap photo postcard, c. 1890. Collection Jim Linderman
(also posted on old time religion blog)

Susan Ward Painter of Tiny Paintings and Dog Trainer

Once frightfully close to being a Williamsburg doofus hipster (by virtue of a giant storefront rental and yard right off the bridge and a pair of high-heel red boots) Susan Ward now resides in an area less hipster and much less doofus. On a broken farm with her husband Jason, a wood craftsman, and "Yia Yia" (along with some of the most extraordinary dogs you could ever imagine) she paints teeny, tiny, meticulous vibrant paintings. Each no larger than a few postage stamps. (Zoom OUT in this case) Most are self-portraits of a sort, but wonder dogs often figure prominently. She is one of those "outsiders" who isn't. That is to say, she studied art but managed to retain obsessiveness, a God-given talent and her dignity. She is also a bit askew, but then most artists are. One thing which separates her work from the hoards of painters in her neck of the wood (stock) is their size, of course...but she often manages to cram some serious messages into the miniscule work.

Susan also watched the towers fall. It didn't scar her physically, but it scared her. Her scars come more personal but no less dramatic encounters for an individual. A serious swatch of cancer which she emerged from through good grace and strength of character, a cringing bump to the brain, an exciting family life, the early loss of parents...all character building but none which she deserved. So a bit finds its way into her work with words. "What if I were the sick passenger" Indeed.

Susan is also a top-notch professional dog trainer who has been featured on TV (Animal Precinct and the Early Show). As one of her previous jobs was to determine which San Francisco shelter dogs were salvageable, she knows hard cases. Consequently, her own personal dogs are the most difficult animals you can find and train. She'll choose to raise an uncontrollable cattle dog in Manhattan, a blind, deaf and toothless chiuanna, A former breeding machine pug set free...and they are all the happier for it.

Susan exhibits around the area frequently. She also donates her desirable little paintings to animal fund-raisers and other good causes. Her work will be shown the first week of November (alongside notables such as Laurie Anderson, Ida Applebroog, Sue Coe, William Wegman, Bruce Weber and a dozen more) at the Art for Animals benefit in Spencertown, the poster is shown below her paintings. As is the case with nearly anything Ms. Ward supports, it's good. She will be happy to answer inquiries about her paintings (and maybe sell you one) at boxingpiggens@aol.com

Sally Rand the Ostrich Dance and the Amateur Photographer

A snapshot dated 1938 on the reverse, Sally Rand doing her famous ostrich feather fan dance in Dunham, North Carolina. Sally was born Helen Beck, but Cecil B. DeMille gave her the name she made famous. She worked in silent films, but when sound came in she went out. Maybe she sounded like an ostrich too. This photo was taken five years after her famous appearance at the Chicago World's Fair in which she was arrested 4 times in a single day for indecent exposure (even though, like here, she was wearing a body stocking...maybe) Amazingly, the Chicago performance is now available on youtube! It is remarkable to think some North Carolinian actually snuck a camera inside the show to take this picture, but I am glad he did, and I'm glad I found it tucked among a thousand other photographs. My favorite Sally Rand fact is that among her four husbands was one named Thurkel. This picture is pretty good and the photographer certainly waited until exactly the proper best moment. Maybe Thurkel went out front to take it.


Anonymous Snapshot 1938 Collection Jim Linderman

Why it is called the "WORLD" Series

I looked it up. Basically, because we said so.

Anonymous snapshot, Japan 1956 Collection Jim Linderman

Carny Culture (Rules for the Fun Business)

When I was a kid, I certainly never wanted to run away and join the carnival! To me, carny workers were the scariest folks i'd ever seen. Greasers with tattoos and wallets chained to their belts, slack-skin women with loose dirty print dresses, and a sweaty fat guy who was obviously the boss wandering around making sure they didn't slip any coins into their dirty pockets. Even then, I saw through their tricks and scams, and I figured anyone who would cheat a kid out of a dime would certainly not mind giving you a shiv in the parking lot if you stayed around after closing. Every time I saw a child gypped out of a coin, I resented the local cops wandering around oblivious. They seemed much more interested in "preserving order" than in protecting allowances.

Who would guess carnies could even read, much less pay attention to rules other than "don't trip over the wires, dude." Well, they could, at least some of them, and the others could "see picturs." So here are selected pieces from "Employee's Manual for Amusement Parks" no date.

Carny Rule book, c. 1960 Collection Jim Linderman

The White Penny Year Authenticity Value Scarcity and Copper in the Hopper

Times are pretty bad now, but for a few years in the 1940's, they were much worse. So bad the pennies turned white. You don't find too many of them anymore, but I used to, and like the gentleman above, when I did, I kept them. Copper is a precious metal of sorts, but not precious enough to be worth much, so it became the penny. Penny is a misnomer, the official word for Honest Abe on a coin is "cent" not penny. If you want to be proper, this is a time to save your cents.

During WWII, copper was at a premium. It was used for wire to make radios. Electrical connections to start a truck. And if you have ever heard the expression "copper-jacket" you know what else it was needed for. So Uncle Sam turned the penny white, creating them out of steel instead of copper for one year, 1943. Actually, a few steel cents were made in 1942 and even less in 1944, but the only date you'll find on a white penny is 1943. If you find one. After the war, the white penny was history. It was the only US coin ever produced which was magnetic, but that refers to a property, not a personality, so they were unofficially withdrawn. Some were even pulled from circulation, shipped to the San Francisco mint and dumped in the Pacific Ocean. Unlike copper, they rusted, so the ones you do see now are in pretty bad shape. And unlike the proverbial "bad penny" they do NOT keep returning. Kids still hoard them like the fellow above, but now they go into a little spot in their coin collection.

Is the white penny worth more than a penny today? Barely. In 1943 more than one billion were minted, so even today coin collectors won't pay you more than a cent for one. However, in a curious twist, it was later discovered a few 1943 cents were made out of copper by mistake. In fact, 40 of them. Experts believe just enough copper remained in the hopper at the time of conversion that a few precious copper ones squeezed out. In 1958, the first one was sold for $40,000. Several years later, one sold for over $80,000. Don't get your hopes up. Some rusty old 1943 steel pennies have been coated with copper by unscrupulous folks hoping to "discover number 41" and reap profits. However, they forgot about the magnet. Even a copper coated white penny will stick to a magnet. Today the penny is zinc.

Photo: William Waylet, a bakery salesman, looks with satisfaction on the five-gallon jars of white pennies he has taken out of circulation. Original Press Photo, 1951. Collection Jim Linderman

Think YOU can be a News Reporter? Test Time!

Filler Fluff From 1952 Chevrolet Comic Giveaway (to keep the kids busy while Pop shops for wheels)
Collection Jim Linderman

Shy Shamed Secret Shadowed Hidden Where? Vernacular Erotic Photography

I am frequently asked "what happened to Shy Shamed Secret Shadowed Hidden?" Well, the short answer is "it violated terms." The longer answer is that it was shut down by the provider. It seems the web isn't ready for photographs of women in undress, unless they say nothing about the history of photography, society or culture. The collector was, and is, proud of the collection. Each was selected and purchased over the years for a specific reason and to make a specific point about humanity, sexual identity, the role and function of shame in our society, the relationship between men and women, photographer and subject, voyeur and exhibitionist, humor and tragedy, choice and coercion and much more. It was, and is, far more than dirty pictures, although it certainly did attract it's share of viewers who obviously wanted just that. At the time it was shut down, the modest collection of 150 antique and vintage photographs was receiving some 40,000 hits a month. That's right. FORTY THOUSAND HITS A MONTH. For grainy, crumpled antique photographs and scratched-up polaroids from the 1960's. That in itself proves some point. The original essay, notes to the collection, selected cropped images and more is available HERE at the Shy Shamed Secret Shadowed Hidden website. Publishers and the curious are asked to contact vicminx@gmail.com

Robert D. Good At the Circus in Black and White

Circus Photographer Robert D. Good advertised his services, among other places, in the circus section of Billboard Magazine during the 1940's saying "If you raised the circus, see it in pictures" offering real photo size images. 20 cents would bring you a sample and lists of photographs he had taken in the past. He called his studio "Circus Snaps" and frequently typed captions on the reverse of work along with his stamp.

I love this photograph, and you'll have to enlarge it to see why. A simple enough shot of the Sparks Circus Sleeper becomes a group of boys admiring the Circus Strong Man.

Robert was not only a photographer, he was a well-informed fan of the circus. His letter to Life Magazine on July 19, 1954 tells readers the "last living driver of the 40 horse team pulling the famous Two Hemispheres Band Wagon" was celebrating his 91st birthday. Good passed away in May 1974. A splendid photograph of the photographer appears on the Circus Historical Society "Bandwagon" pages for the May 1964 issue

"Sparks Circus at Lehighton PA. in 1946 Bus Converted into Sleeper for Performers" Robert D. Good Photographer Collection Jim Linderman

Spencer Tunick, Arthur Mole and the Living Flag

The earliest "living flag" reference I find is a group of Los Angeles schoolgirls in the 1890's. A considerable number of them are recorded in that decade so there must be earlier examples. This one is certainly from that period, it is a primitive and ragtag posing but quite charming nonetheless. I am sure the "conductor" had greater expectations when he told the children what to wear then next day. Perhaps the origin of the living flag photograph is to be found in parades after the Civil War?

Arthur Mole had it easier...his participants were used to not squirming like schoolchildren, they being all well-trained soldiers. Several of his staggering works are shown here, they are available at the Library of Congress website.

The funniest living flag is certainly the one in Lake Wobegon, which keeps breaking up as the participants with red, white and blue baseball caps leave to climb to the third story buildings on Main Street and look down. Garrison Keillor has said his living flag was based on a 1917 photograph of several thousand army trainees arranged on a football field to form the Liberty Bell, this was certainly the photo produced by Arthur Mole shown here.

Spencer Tunick, of course, does not ask his participants to wear baseball caps or anything else. To date, the largest Spencer Tunick piece has been 18,000 folks in Mexico City. He is no Arthur Mole, and the idea is getting a bit tired by now anyway.

There was a living flag made in Portugal to celebrate the country's soccer team making the finals in the World Cup, it was comprised of 18,788 women dressed in red, green and black. That one I'd like to have seen, but not as much as a Mole.

"Living Flag" photograph Anonymous c. 1880 Collection Jim Linderman

Photo tinting Photo painting and FAKE ART. What's under YOUR painting?

How many great paintings in Museum collections actually have a photograph under them? A question art scholars do not often pursue and museums do not want to know.

So called "crayon portraits" were common in the years before color photography. The dreadful things still appear like zombies at antique malls. Hopeful offspring and relatives lug the beasts (Victorian frames and all) to experts everyday thinking they have a family masterpiece. All they have is a photograph exposed in emulsion briefly, "skillfully" covered over in charcoal to hide the faint photographic lines, and grazed with pastel to create a "lifelike" colorful dust catcher for the wall. You have certainly seen them. They always travel in pairs. The fellow has a beard and the woman looks glum. A similar practice continues today. You've seen those "Bring your family photographs back to life" ads? One of the tools at their disposal.

The 2001 book "Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth behind the Masterpieces" by Philip Steadman makes it clear at least one master's hyper-realistic paintings were based on a base of camera obscura. If I owned a Vermeer, I would be inclined to dispute the findings, but I wouldn't lean in and look too closely either. One can easily speculate his work may be the tip of an antique art fraud iceberg.

John Kane (the first major self-taught painter to be recognized by a museum, on this side of the pond anyway) was an "everyman" painting genius. That is until it was discovered he painted over discarded photographic images. Suddenly the authentic naive and common man was a common authentic fake. A wire story of June 1931 disclosed some 5 works by the artist at the Carnegie Exhibition were actually colored photographs. Kane, a genuine primitive, didn't even know artists weren't supposed to cheat like that, and apparently readily admitted the practice. His career continued, but he died as penniless as he was before being discovered.

I didn't look far to find the examples of Vermeer and Kane. The number of contemporary artists who use photographs (first projecting the image onto a canvas rather than painting over an actual exposure) is too large to count. Most don't hide it, but they don't go out of their way to share it either.

We may learn the camera has had a far larger influence on painting than thought. One day, a portable x-ray could be as common at the auction houses as a loupe and a black light. So what's under your painting?

Frank Wendt Ida Iva and Eva the Hanna Triplets

The beautiful Ida, Iva and Eva Hanna were in the business from age 10 months old. As Iva explained in 1967 from her retirement town of St. Augustine, Florida, there weren't too many triplets in those days who survived...so I guess you could call them freaks who weren't freaks. Their father had them each wear different color ribbons in their hair so he could tell them apart. They worked for Ringling brothers and the A.B. Marcus Musical Comedy group after they learned how to dance. They stopped performing at age 20 when they started getting married. Iva married a stagehand, Eva married Blumpsie, A.K.A Blumpsy the clown. I'm not sure who Ida married, but she did...and all three were happy and kicking their heels up some 60 years after these photos were taken. They regrouped briefly in 1956 to perform and celebrate their 50th birthday. These photos are also posted on WONDROUS WORLD OF FRANK WENDT my tribute and biography of the photographer.

Group of Frank Wendt Cabinet Card Photos of the Hanna Triplets, c. 1910. Collection Jim Linderman

The Good Life in STEREO

Homemade stereoscopic photographs, circa 1968 Collection Jim Linderman

Musings on the Present Current Future of Photographic Images

Archiving is a natural thing, I suppose, as is arranging, organizing and documenting. Various content sites such as flickr and a million plus blogs are growing faster than American's waistlines. There is a tendency for humans to share just as there is a tendency for birds to crow. What is usually missed, however, is that social websites have basically created an entire population of content providers, none of whom get paid one penny. In fact, some pay for the privilege. Every image loaded becomes public property of a sort, but it also becomes fodder for search engines to use, manipulate and market. As computerized digital recognition becomes more and more sophisticated, one will be able to specify any characteristic in an image and retrieve it in micro-seconds. "Let's find 50 images which look EXACTLY like Aunt Gertie!" I'm not kidding one bit. (One might also specify a search parameter to find models with their faces obliterated by too much incandescent light, as above) It should give one pause...me? I don't care as I usually retain the originals, and there will always be someone interested in physical objects (at least I think there will). I am also interested in how things age and fall apart more than how they are maintained and preserved. But if you treasure a photo, drawing, painting or doodle with unique characteristics of any kind, you might think about uploading it into the universal brain.

Untitled (Photographer) Snapshot, c. 1940 Collection Jim Linderman

Dorothy Chase the Designer, Radio Shill and her Figure Perfection 1930

In the early 1930's Dorothy Chase was stylist for a corset company, a designer, a radio personality and creator of a striking figure analysis chart shown in part here. Her chart "illustrate(s) the obstacles to figure perfection most frequently encountered by the average woman." Personally, I think they are all perfect already.

Shown:
Faulty Posture
Full Bust
Pendulous Abdomen
Prominent Lower Back
Broad Hips
Fallen Bust

Not shown:
Average Figure
Slender Hips
Round Abdomen
High Busted
Low Busted
Prominent Hip Bones
Fleshy Shoulder Blades
High Prominent Abdomen
Fleshy Through Waistline
Heavy Thigh Flesh

"Something Different, Especially for You" brochure, c. 1930 Collection Jim Linderman

Jim Linderman announces Dull Tool Dim Bulb DOT COM

DULL TOOL DIM BULB

Building for the Future, a solid chunk of cyber-cement!

Continue following blogs as usual.

The new website is a directory of all things Jim Linderman and will grow in time.
www.dulltooldimbulb.com

DULL TOOL DIM BULB

Mohave Indian Ronald Jones Murders John Lee Stokes Witch Doctor 1937. An Incomplete Story

An extraordinary story I wish I knew more about. Press photos here from 1937 show Ronald Jones, age 37, a Mohave Indian (or member of the Yuma tribe, both have roots in the area now known as Colorado) as he was awaiting his trial for murder. Typical saturday night fight on the Rez? Not quite. Mr. Jones defense claims the murdered person, John Lee Stokes, age 68, was a witch. That's right, a witch doctor. He had apparently bewitched others on the reservation near Parker, Arizona as well. I was able to locate a subsequent article in the LA Times which indicates Ronald Jones accepted a 12 year sentence. I can not find that he was released after completing his sentence, He would, of course, be over 100 years of age if he survived. Oh...the handwritten note on the reverse of the photo indicates he "hacked" his fellow tribesman to death. Shamanism was a spiritual practice of many, if not all of the original Americans but I certainly don't know the Shamanistic characteristics of the tribe here. Nor do i have any idea how the Justice system of the United States prosecuted a member of First Peoples outside of their own system of justice. Doctoral students? Here is a big plate of story for you.

Pair of small press photos, original, dated 1937 Collection Jim Linderman

NOTE: an informed reader sent the following: It does not address this particular case, which is so interesting as the murder of a presumable tribal leader was involved(?) but he covers the general rules of reservation law. Thanks!

I refer you to a U. S. Department of Justice publication, Policing on American Indian Reservations. Having grown up in New Mexico, I was taught the basics of reservation justice during my junior high school days (New Mexico History) due to the many reservations in the state. I refer you to chapter 2, page 9 (pdf page 21) of the DoJ document above. Tribal justice systems only have jurisdiction over crimes committed on tribal lands. The offender must be an American Indian (although there are exemptions). Finally, the crime can't be a serious one like murder. For major crimes, e.g. felonies, the Federal system has jurisdiction, not tribal courts or police. The laws cited include the Major Crimes Act of 1885 and the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968.

Indians in the U.S. are dual citizens, not sole citizens of a separate sovereign nation. Indeed, Chief Justice Marshall referred to Indian nations as semisovereign or "domestic dependent nations" in 1831. Members of U. S. Indian nations are U. S. citizens at their root. This is how they can, and are, appropriately, subject to the U. S. Federal justice system.

The OTHER Bob Dylan Christmas Album (!)

In the mid-1970's, around the time of Dylan's Blood on the Tracks album, tape traders and fans of bootleg records such as the Basement Tapes were frantic about a set of tracks rumored to be a Bob Dylan Christmas Album. It even had the title "Snow Over Interstate 80" and track listings. Not only that, it was rumored he also recorded "Silent Night" which was to be the single release. A good story, but alas, years later the truth came out (and so does his REAL Christmas album) New Musical Express, that Brit rag which thankfully brought us the fabulous Sex Pistols only to end up forcing the abysmal "New Romantics" fad on us a few years later are to blame. In 1975 they reportedly ran a false article, a hoax...and the full story is reprinted HERE on Searching for a Gem, the great fan-run Bob Dylan recordings site which covers his rare records. If you don't want to read the entire article, the "lyrics" to the title track follow:

"Arabella talks so sweetly
Her Chevy's broken down
As the snow piles on her windshield
Winston's back in town ... "

Doesn't sound so bad! And the new Christmas disc? Well...it's for charity. And since many songsters release a Christmas album the third or fourth year of their success, at least he waited this long. What's not to like? Except that it fails to include "Silent Night" so I'm still waiting. The REAL disc (and all the Dylan you could want) is at his official website HERE. However, Searching for a Gem probably knows more about his music than the label does. That's what fans are for, after all.

Jim Linderman
Dull Tool Dim Bulb

At the Circus in Black and White

"Pop's Midget Friends" on reverse Snapshot c. 1940 Collection Jim Linderman

See Also THE WONDROUS WORLD OF FRANK WENDT

"Real-Pen" Bible Calligraphy Salesman Sample

A "Specimen Page" from the Pen-Art book Bible Pearls of Promise published in 1887. I have also included the corresponding page from the actual book. Look close and you will see slight differences, most evident on the head of the top dove. I do not know if the sample page was enhanced with pen, or if the effect is achieved by the "new pen-ink" process being touted.

Salesman Sample Specimen Page from Bible Pearls of Wisdom Real-Pen Work Publishing Co. 1887 Collection Jim Linderman

See Also OLD TIME RELIGION blog

Peruna and the 50 Million Dollar Art Endowment

Peruna was a prohibition tonic. Otherwise known as booze. It was 28% alcohol, that's a pretty stiff drink. At one time the elixir was banned on Native American reservations by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs for that very reason. It was claimed to cure nearly everything you can find on WebMD, but all it did was make you feel warm inside and slur your words. For a dollar a bottle. Peruna was at one time the largest selling proprietary "medicine" in the United States, due largely to the innovative advertising techniques of Frederick Schumacher. I presume the "Cotton Queen" show above was one of his projects. Peruna was spending one million dollars on advertising and that's more than enough to hire as many minstrels, cowboys and tuba players you need. I believe the minstrels here are one "Hink" and "Dink" as a duo with those names toured midwestern states claiming to be WLN radio stars in the late 1930's. Like another recent post of mine, early radio plays heavily in this story...why, for god's sake, the performers dressed in blackface for a RADIO show is beyond me, but then I guess they all slicked up for the camera here.

Peruna faded away... maybe because the "kick" was reduced to 18% alcohol in response to pressure from the AMA and others. Today, it lives on only in the form of the the kicking horse mascot of Southern Methodist University, and yes, that's where they got the name. As for Schumacher? HIs swill tasted bad but he had good taste. He left a 50 MILLION DOLLAR estate to the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, now the Columbus Museum of Art. That's an awful big gift from a bootlegger, but I'm sure they would prefer the term "philanthropist" in Ohio. And they do have Renior, Matisse, Monet and Weegee!

Peruna Promotional Photograph 1935 Collection Jim Linderman

Eugene Bilbrew A Return Visit to the Studio on West 42nd Street

Of all the posts on this blog, the ones generating the most hits are the series I did on vintage sleaze illustrators of the 1960's, in particular the profile and pictures of work by Eugene Bilbrew. So much for my attempts to uplift the masses. I aim to please, ALL ARE NOW COLLECTED ON THE SITE VINTAGE SLEAZE

Bilbrew, an African-American School of Visual Arts student (!) fell into bad company and even worse habits. As he slipped into heroin addiction, his work became even more bizarre. He moved to the rear of a porno bookshop on the deuce. The mob-run publisher he worked for was busted out of business, so he sold his drawings to no less sleazy publishers such as Wizard, Satan and Chevron. Most of these are from Satan. A pall-bearer hits on the widow. An unlikely prison visitor tempts caged psychopaths. A rogue cop harasses an amorous couple out on the beach too late. A shop-class goggles wearing professor aims his student's motorcycle "headlights" into the wind. And of course, the extra-flamboyant dancer against a lime green wall "trips" and falls into the lap of his modern art loving suitor. Never mind that the text had absolutely nothing to do with the cover illustration, this is kitsch of the highest order. These all date to the late 1960's. Several have "saw-cut" slashes, which means they were returned to the distributor unsold. I can not imagine why.

To his credit, I suppose...Bilbrew was one of the few artists doing multi-racial covers at the time. (and the hair-impaired, for that matter) I don't think it helped sales.

Group of 1960's paperback cover illustrations by Eugene Bilbrew. Formerly collection Jim Linderman

Silhouette Parade (and a Shout Out to John)

Circus Parade by Flanagan, c. 1920 Collection Jim Linderman

The Art of Old Time Religion

To say the least, the use of Christian religious iconography in a sincere manner has not been the stuff of contemporary artists or art collectors. On the contrary, and in the last few decades in particular, artists have taken delight in lampooning the depiction of all things bible. You can probably name a few of them without thinking, as opportunistic politicians frequently use their work to raise funds. Whether their motivations were born of genuine artistic skill and talent, or merely a way to appear clever and attract attention is up to the viewer and critic. For my collection plate donation, the most appealing and interesting "contemporary religious art" came from studio Warhol. Sincere or not, his last supper paintings which I saw beautifully installed in NYC were striking, modern and beautiful. All the more "controversial" pieces from the era appeared lame, obvious and contrived by comparison. They do even more so today.

As I discuss in the introduction to Take Me to the Water: Immersion Baptism in Vintage Photography and Music 1890-1950 (Dust-to-Digital) there is a notion that sincere religious artists, regardless of medium, often work harder when they are depicting renditions of their faith. The gospel singer strains to reach a higher note, the mural painter uses precision when attempting to achieve God's perfection and the glazier never leaves loose leaded panes in a piece behind the pulpit. Whether these practitioners of religious craft use iconography to preach or to make a living is moot... it could be both.

The most prolific "religious" artist of this century is certainly Howard Finster, the late folk artist from Georgia, who created nearly 50,000 individually numbered works before having the brush (and Sharpie) pried from his cold fingers. It has been a common understanding that despite his seemingly sincere attempts to convert heathens though his work, a collector of his eccentric paintings who has actually been saved has not yet come forth to testify. Rather, his work has been appreciated for the most part by smug non-believers who found his work quaint rather than convincing.

I started collecting religious ephemera as an outgrowth of folk art and vernacular photography. My own beliefs don't exist beyond a rudimentary trust in the scientific method, but I do believe OTHERS believe, and that makes the material fascinating. Elaborate obsessive doodles of outsider art, shaking and sweating evangelists and tax-dodging street corner churches have always seemed a sort of performance art to me. Who determines what is saved, sacred or sane? It's all fine with me even if not fine art...and when it isn't any good, it is at the least still interesting because it was a good try. I may lean solidly towards the smug side of art appreciation, but there is always a story with each work I find. Faith or fraud, the fevered brow produces some pretty interesting product.

Running the gamut from silly to sacred, eccentric to evangelical (I could go on) there is a wealth of spiritual flotsam sitting in the shoe boxes of history, and I will present it one day at a time on old time religion. Objective reporting seems to be a disappearing along with newspapers, but I aim to be journalistic. If a preacher sullied the farmer's daughter and left town with a sack of money, so be it. Just like Jesus said, no one is perfect, and it seems particularly true in this milieu. One thing we CAN give thanks for is federal prosecution of mail fraud. Whether the material presented is pathetic or profound, it exists in great big abundance. One doesn't look far for a message of faith in this country. From rear bumper fish to door-knocking Jehovah's, we are looking at one big industry here...and big industry makes lots of things that take up space. I certainly do not need to prosthelytize. All manner of bible salesman, radio preachers and lobbyists have beat me to it. But I can dig up some cool things and probably dig up a few things folks would rather have buried too. Let's see!

Follow OLD TIME RELIGION Here

Photos from Paste Magazine Review of Take Me to the Water

Untitled (Baptism) Collection International Center of Photography, gift of Janna Rosenkranz and Jim Linderman 2007
HERE

The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together

The unfamiliar jargon and sheer multitude of options is overwhelming. Ombre, cordet, guimpe, organdy? Velvanna, nubby, sport fingering, wool-o-nyl? I can't tell where a trademark meets a technique.

Peter Pan Yarn Sample Card c.1955 Collection Jim Linderman

Ed Bortz The 4th Worst Cartoonist in History Postcards

I am proud to present the 4th installment of the worst comic artists in the world series. The horrendous two-tone fetishistic images of one Ed Bortz! Even with his unusual last name, I was unable to find anything about him. A shame. Imagine the duo-tone nightmares he must have suffered as cross-hatched beards and brick-hard bosoms danced in his head, forcing him to jot down his most recent hilarious ideas at 3:00 am. Grisaille? NO, these miniature marvels demand a full pallette of TWO colors! I turned these up in Michigan, likely sent home to the spouse by hunters and fishermen up north to drink. As Milwaukee publisher L. L. Cook (shame on you) is across the lake, maybe the cards snuck over on the ferry and multiplied like weeds in bait and ammo shops of Northern Michigan.

To see previous entries of the most putrid postcards in history, click subject heading below.

Four red and black postcards by Bortz. 1954, 1955 Collection Jim Linderman

At the Circus in Black and White

In the tradition of F. W. Glasier, Dull Tool Dim Bulb incorporates a new mini-series, "At the Circus in Black and White" I will post an amateur vernacular photograph of the sideshow weekly.

Untitled snapshot "Woman, Monkey, Man, Dog" anonymous c. 1950 Collection Jim Linderman

J. Charles Jessup, Convicted Preacher with a Triple-neck Mosrite guitar

Charles Jessup was married to a 15 year old girl while still married to his third wife. Rev. Jessup was a border radio fixture for years, sharing time on a mega-powerful station operating just across the Rio Grande (and outside of U. S. regulations) at the same time as Wolfman Jack. Robert Duvall cited him as an influence on his film The Apostle, and others have compared him to Elvis, but then Elvis was never convicted of mail fraud and using ill-gotten contributions from loyal listeners for cock-fighting.

Jessup barnstormed God's airways with mountain music, a squeaky voice and an insatiable sexual appetite. Taking in ten million dollars, he claimed was to help the Mexican people, he instead "llenarse los bolsillos" which is Spanish for "line your own pockets." And there are folks who worry about Mexicans coming here? Cars, Seaplanes, real estate...whatever supposed pleasures awaited his followers in the afterlife, he was taking full advantage of in the present.

Not to be outdone by his own brother's double-neck guitar, shown in a photo here...he ordered a custom made THREE neck guitar from the Mosrite Factory which surfaced a few years ago. I am not sure what he used to play it with, but perhaps his young wife can tell us. Amazingly, he continued to appear on other evangelist's programs after serving his sentence (at least one of which still operates in my home state) and they welcomed him as an inspiration! I include here several photos of Jessup and his posse with a scan of their 78 rpm record (which unfortunately I have not heard as God has not yet provided me with a working turntable, but he will, I believe)

A double blog post here and on "old time religion"

Photo excerpts from "Heaven and Hell" "My Life's Story" "A Stirring Message on Death" all circa 1945-1950 by J. Charles Jessup, and "Preach the Word/I'll Meet you in the Morning" by Jessup Brothers on Jessup Brothers records, 78 rpm. All Collection Jim Linderman

Things to Build

Images from The Family Fallout Shelter June 1959 Collection Jim Linderman

Look Up

Chalk Drawing by William A. Bixler 1933
See also old time religion

Time to Bring in the Big Guns (Meet the Press)

Original Glossy Press Photograph 1953 Collection Jim Linderman

Bazooka Joe and the Tijuana Bible Eight Pagers (You're kidding, right?) NOPE

Wesley Morse created Bazooka Joe. Joe and his gang started about the same year I started, and every one of the bonus fortunes came true! But, as so often happens here at Dull Tool Dim Bulb, Morse had a hidden agenda. Morse also drew those "8-pagers" or Tijuana Bibles which showed prominent figures of the day hitting on gangster molls, waitresses and starlets! I guess Mr. Morse liked to work small and let Dad have a little fun too! Some half-dozen have been identified, Morse holds the distinction of being one of only two artists working in the tiny dirty genre to have been identified.

In the 1990's after Morse passed away, Joe got "wigger" pants.

Group of Bazooka Joe comics Collection the Neighbor Kid

NOTE: KIRK TAYLOR sent the following link to his GREAT site on the artist.
http://www.taylormorsecollection.com/