Jack Savitsky the coal miner folk artist two early works from 1965

Jack Savitsky, AKA “Coal Miner Jack” (1910 - 1991) was in fact a coal miner with a 6th grade education from Pennsylvania who developed Black Lung Disease in 1960. This forced him to leave the job he followed his father into. His son Jack Savitt suggested Savitsky take up art not long after he became sick in 1960. He achieved great success for a folk artist primarily as his well-known “Train in a Coal Town” painting was featured in 1974 on the cover of Herbert Hemphill’s book “Twentieth Century American Folk Art and Artists” in 1974, A book which belongs in any art collection and which frankly remains the best source on this thing of ours. Hemphill, or “Bert” as known was preternaturally inclusive in the self-taught masters he first brought to the attention of many collectors. Now that used books are affordable, an essential purchase. I was proud to visit and call Bert a friend, and I was also proud to visit Jack Savitt and his wife Mary Lou many times at their house where they continued to sell the work by Savitsky until they both also passed. In my mind, all legends now but at one time approachable to a novice collector like myself. Hemphill passed in 1998. Unlike the familiar coal mining themes of Savitsky’s work, he was prolific in all manner of subjects as the rather strange early drawings here reveal. These are 9 x 12 or so and on paper unlike the hundreds of small drawings he did on the back of cut-up cereal boxes later in life. His work is included in a dozen prominent museums today. The photo was given to me by painter Sterling Strauser, who knew Savitsky and many notable artists from an earlier era of the appreciation of self-taught art. NOTE there are several fake works attributed to the artist but being offered on eBay currently. Don’t be misled. Pair of Jack Savitsky drawings 1965 collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb the Blog.

Large Folk Art Carving of a Standing Man Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Folk Art Carving of a Standing Man with in interesting mid-section. His likely unfinished (?) quality gives him a large sculptural presence. Nearly 20 inches tall and 5 inches wide. Dating from early 20th century. Collection Jim Linderman. /. Dull Tool Dim Bulb the Blog. #folk art. #folkartcarving. #folkartsculpture. #anonymoous. #unknownartist.

Long Nose Ring Toss Hand Painted Vintage Folk Art Dull Tool Dim Bulb Archives

Long Nose Ring Toss Hand Painted Vintage Folk Art now in a private collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb Archives

Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving from Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Books by Jim Linderman currently available from Blurb.com

I have a few books "in print" and available from BLURB.com. Paper books are expensive so opt for the downloads where possible! It's a hobby and your order won't even buy me a gallon of gas...But feel free to browse. HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Paintings by Jim Linderman 2011 - 2012

Paintings by Jim Linderman 2011 - 2012. Acryllic on paper.

Stylish Drawings from a Schoolgirl Folk Art 1935

Stylish Drawings from a Schoolgirl Folk Art 1935. A young woman amateur artist finds glamor in her pencil...I obtained nearly 50 individual drawings by the nameless and unknown artist, some mounted on scrapbook paper. Fortunately one piece has the date. Selection from a large group of 1935 amateur fashion drawings by a young woman. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Dilmus Hall Seated Devil African-American folk art sculpture Athens, Georgia c. 1980

Dilmus Hall Seated Devil African-American folk art sculpture Athens, Georgia c. 1980 Dull Tool Dim Bulb Archives.

Antique American Folk Art Sign original paint two-sided 32" x 37" on Galvanized steel with frame

Antique American Folk Art Sign original paint two-sided 32" x 37" on Galvanized steel with frame Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb.

Jack Ruby Gives Candy Barr a Puppy

JFK was shot 62 years ago today. Odd the Warren Report couldn't say how mobster Jack Ruby got into the Dallas Police basement to shoot Oswald, but they DID learn Ruby gave Candy Barr a Puppy!

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox on top of a building Original snapshot from the 1950s St. Ignace, Michigan

This appears to be a kind of ratty Paul and Babe seated on the roof of an abandoned house with primitive,made by hand identifying signs. Not only is big Paul seated, he’s surrounded by wire fence to thwart intimate encounters.Babe looks a little tipsy too. Despite working with a fuzzy amateur photograph, I’ve tracked them to Castle Rock, Michigan. Look close and you can make out the rock upper left. At some point in Babe and Paul were moved to a new place within a fence, but the shack is gone. I have found a similar photo atop the shack claiming to be from 1953…but haven’t found when he was originally built. Some sources say “in the 1950s” To see a post with lots better Pauls, see: https://dulltooldimbulb.blogspot.com/2009/04/paul-bunyan-fakelore-urban-legend-and.html Original fuzzy snapshot photo of Paul Bunyan and Babe at Castle Rock, St. Ignace MI. Circa 1950 (?) collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Vintage Polaroid photograph of Ventriloquist vents (dummies) part two

I posted a collection of ventriloquist dummys (vents) a while ago, but I have more as shown. Others are at https://dulltooldimbulb.blogspot.com/2015/09/polaroid-dummys-vintage-snapshots-of.html Original polaroid photographs of vents. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Handheld Technology! Personal Stag Film Projectors from the Golden Age of Porn. Goofy Graphics from Vintage Advertisements

A history of handheld projectors is easy to pull up, but most omit that widespread acceptance of them can be attributed to porn. These little cartoony images for mail order stag films created for the market. Like all visual technologies, illicit images of woman created the demand.These images were common in men’s magazines from 1950 to 1960 or so. Dull Tool Dim Bulb the Blog

19th c. Carved Folk Art Puppet Head with original paint.

Two views of a painted carved wooden puppet head, 19th Century. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Two Old Goats on a Float ! Original photograph of an IOOF parade float with characters.

The IOOF Interlocking rings sybolize Frendship, Love and Truth. Independent Order of Odd Fellows here celebrate with the triple rings, a goat and a somewhat grizzled participant. Original Photograph c. 1900? Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

STICK YOUR HEAD HERE ! Antique Comic Foreground original photographs collection Jim Linderman

STICK YOUR HEAD HERE ! Antique Comic Foreground original photographs collection Jim Linderman

Statue of Liberty 34" tall folk art sculpture wood carving

Statue of Liberty 34" tall folk art sculpture wood carving. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Origin of the Christian Evangelist Right. Antique Tract Literature

As I am currently in a certain social media timeout, I was unable to do a regular “It’s Sunday” post from my collection. So it goes here. Pray AI will let me back on the platform, but if not, I’ll join another one. These tracts I pick up when I find them…mostly very early 20th century and indicative of the sometimes annoying invasion of christian evangelism. Cheap printing of these 4-pagers made everyman an evangelist. “In many ways, the modern history of the movement can be traced back to the birth of fundamentalism in the first decades of the 20th century, when conservative Protestants began to organize around their rejections of liberal and “modernist” Christian responses to the rise of science, biblical criticism, and secularism. Fundamentalists lost control of most church institutions to the liberals, but they largely retained control over who would be identified as an evangelical going forward” The Pluralism Project Harvard University. Original evangelist tracts circa 1930 - 1930. Collection Jim Linderman. Dull Tool Dim Bulb the blog.

American Voodoo. Pair of original photographs c. 1990

American Voodoo. Two original 35 mm Photographs of West African influence. One South Carolina, one New York. Photographs by Jim Linderman early 1990s.

Basil Merrett Outsider Artist article

As a collector of Basil Merrett’s extraordinary little drawings, I’m always happy to come across articles about his work I haven’t seen before. Here, Tony Burton of LakeChapaleArtists.com discusses his recent find of a drawing of a house D. H. Lawrence lived in. https://lakechapalaartists.com/?p=14057 #basilmerrett. #outsiderartists. #artbrut.

Rare Handmade Peg Solitaire games homemade by one John. M. Shaw of Milwaukee circa 1940 Folk Art Game Boards

Rare Handmade Peg Solitaire games handmade by one John. M. Shaw of Milwaukee circa 1940. Solitaire is a board game for one player involving movement of pegs on a board with holes. Invented centuries ago, these elaborate challenges are complicated and involve mathematics and considerable will to solve. The game is beyond me, but these homemade game boards of cardboard with elaborate construction and obsessive detail are my kind of thing. To find, not to play. I don’t have the patience. Remarkable relics of what people went through before television and the computer. Note reverse of one board which supposedly reveals “the solution” which means nothing to me. Three handmade and homemade Peg Solitaire game “boards” of cardboard by J. M. Shaw Milwaukee 1940. Collection Jim Linderman. Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Prison Art Al Capone portrait in pencil on paper from prison

Prison Art. A wonderful little tribute of the original gangster drawn by an inmate, I presume. Al Capone (aka Scarface) was connected to Chicago so I’m going to guess it came from there. It’s drawn in pencil on an 8xll piece of paper, but the size of the drawing is the size of a folded legal size envelope, so the artist had a client. Mr. Capone is one of the most notable sufferers of syphilis and while serving a sentence, it wore him down and he was allowed to go home after eight years in the slammer. He passed away in 1947. Original anonymous prison art drawing of Al Capone c. 1990? Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb #prisonart. #unknownartist. #anonymous. #alcapone

Aunt Lindy and the Three Types of Girls Peaches, Preserves and Pickles. Original hand drawn postcard 1908 Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Apparently there are three types of girls. Peaches, preserves and pickles…at least in 1908. Aunt Lindy here was probably the advocate of the belief, although here it is attributed to “my sis.” Anyway, it looks like Aunt Lindy had her hands full. I’m going to have to admit I spent more time with Peaches. Hand drawn postcard dated 1908. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb.

Great Stone Carvings by Henry Church of Ohio Antique postcard image

Ohio’s Henry Church (1835 - 1908) was a stone carver, a painter, a musical instrument maker and a blacksmith. His father discouraged Henrys artistic inclinations but to our advantage, he persisted. This is a rare period postcard of his “The Rape of the Indians by the White Man” but the town favored a more benign name. “The Famous Squaw Rock in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Charlie was right the first time. It’s still there! Original Postcard circa 1900 collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb