Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Weegee the Technical Assistant 1956 Photographers Showplace Magazine

2012-01-27T06:28:00.000-08:00

The Weegee show "Murder is my Business" at the International Center of Photography in New York is certainly a must see, and I thought I would post a little Weegee curiosity to celebrate it. While Weegee is often thought of and portrayed as something of a lone wolf prowling the streets at night with his camera, which is certainly true, he was also a social creature active and involved with the photographic community. He participated in social camera club shoots and had friends who did the same. In addition to the crime and nightlife scenes in the ICP show, he had a successful active and creative role in the places you might not think...including this unusual gig as "technical assistant" to a most unusual photo layout in Photographers Showplace magazine in the December 1956 issue.

Photographer's Showplace was by far one of the most interesting periodicals for the photographic community at the time, it had models and nudes, but was actually serious about it, unlike the large number of "under the counter" publications claiming to be "figure studies" but which were little more than soft-core pornography skirting the law. It was also entertaining without being too technical...serious about the emerging art and craft of modern photography, but light on the jargon.

Here are bits from a painterly picture set. As you see Weegee is credited as "Technical Assistant" although his precise role is not described. Certainly he checked his light meter! Maybe he found the model (identified as Rae Chandler) The artist (the one with the brush) is Ralph Therrien, and the photographer is James Pappas. An unusual collaboration of painting and photography from a time when both arts were experimenting. The layout is extensive, no less than 12 photos are presented, several full-page and in color.

Interestingly, the same issue has a full page spread which claims to be the first published example of Weegee's unusual photographic experiments, abstractions which are referred to as the "Weegeerama Kaleidescope" which is a post for another day.

Though a big fan, I have posted only once here about Weegee, but had fun putting it together. Revisit my piece on the relationship between the photographer and the pin up girl Bettie Page HERE which I am still grateful for being allowed by the ICP to use images from their collection to illustrate.

Images from Photographers Showplace Magazine December 1956, Creative Publications. Collection Jim Linderman

Navajo Saddle Blanket Whither the Lazy Line

2012-01-26T06:44:00.000-08:00

Although this is by far not the most beautiful example, early Navajo Saddle Blankets are among the most lovely and interesting objects of art created. While most American Indian art collectors prefer the large (and remarkable) chief blankets and intricate rugs, the modest little saddle blanket with a simple, utilitarian elegance and design are not to be ignored.

Also known as "empty field" rugs because they NEEDED no design in the middle (the saddle would cover it anyway) color and more intricate weaving is confined to the edges. They have also been known as "blanks" but the empty center is hardly a void. With natural variations in the sheep wool, many actually see the landscape from which they emerged in the empty field. If you have been in the extraordinary environment where the Navajo worked, you will agree.

The textures are created by what were once known as "lazy lines" but there is movement towards eliminating the term. The lazy line, one shown at top in close-up, is a diagonal line caused by sectional lines in the weaving. (Trust, there was nothing lazy about the women who created these works of art)...and the term is itself indicative of the attitude which kept the art of native peoples confined to ethnology and natural history departments instead of fine art museums for too long.)

Saddle blankets are small (this one 28 x 30 or so, the more desirable "double" blankets are twice the size) This is also a fairly course, thick piece. A worker, not a shower. Browse the web for some much more extraordinary examples.

Navajo Saddle Blanket circa 1930 Collection Jim Linderman

The Blues had a Baby and they Called it These Doofus Racist Guys

2012-01-25T13:16:00.000-08:00

Well, what can you say? We COULD be generous and speculate the masks are green and they were going for a spaceman mystery zombie rock vibe, but who knows. Whether minstrel or mishap, it is quite a photo one must admit.

Circa 1955 anonymous snapshot collection Jim Linderman

JIM LINDERMAN BOOKS AND EBOOKS ORDER HERE

Arcane Americana Photographs from the Jim Linderman Collection

2012-01-24T14:37:00.000-08:00

I am proud the new book ARCANE AMERICANA was mentioned on Boing Boing, and also welcome any new followers here from the review.

Feel free to follow VINTAGE SLEAZE and old-time-religion as well!

Copies of the book or ebook for iPAD can be ordered HERE or by clicking the cover over on the right. 120 Pages. Thanks!

The Great Lost Original Beatnik Photograph Fake Beatnik? WHAT Beatniks?

2012-01-23T16:44:00.000-08:00

I would call these fake beatniks, but then there were less "real" ones than I could count on two hands. Burroughs, Cassady, Kerouac, Ginsberg...that's IT. Plenty tried, but nope, WAY too square. Lawrence Lipton tried, but the beret was just to hide his bald spot. One could add Gary Snyder, Gregory Corso and Lawrence Ferlinghetti to the short list of the real thing, but certainly no more. That is seven beatniks in the whole damn tribe.

You COULD make an argument to include Herbert Huncke, but then you would have to dump all the others and he would be the ONLY beatnik. Herbert makes the original seven beatniks look like poseurs. Actually, so does Neal Cassady. So let's settle on two. There were two real beatniks.

Truly, Beatnik was much, much, much ado about nothing. But boy did the media jump on it. Sheesh...it was during the post-war Eisenhower years, and ANYONE who didn't have two kids, a garage and a mortgage had something suspicious going on, so let's give them a label and put them in Life Magazine.

Untitled (Beatniks) Original 8 x 10 photograph, No Date Collection Jim Linderman

Sucrology and Sucrologists Famous American Women Sugar Packets

2012-01-23T08:22:00.000-08:00

An average of 15 calories per packet, and invented for several reasons. One, because kids in the 1960s were using the once common "cubes" to dose with LSD. (I am kidding...sorta.)

The sugar packet was invented by Benjamin Eisenstadt, who founded the company which is now known as "Sweet 'N Low. He was sick of refilling and unclogging sugar dispensers in his Brooklyn cafeteria. Sugar Packets don't spill, usually, and children don't unscrew the top and screw things up on the table.

In the old days, sugar was so valuable, it was stored in locked "sugar chests" now prized by folk art collectors. Today the average child has enough in their breakfast cereal and lunchtime soda that what appears above doesn't even matter.

The collectors of sugar packets are known as Sucrologists. I do not know what they are called in the restaurant trade, but I myself have left with a pocket full, and I don't even LIKE sugar that much.

At the time these came out, around the height of the nascent modern day women's movement, they were pretty controversial. Well, not really, but they WERE noteworthy. One was Margaret Sanger, and there are still clowns who hate her.

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Untitled (Love during Wartime) Watercolor

2012-01-22T08:10:00.001-08:00

Untitled Watercolor, 6" x 8" Irregular Anonymous circa 1918 Collection Jim Linderman

Duffy's Pool Hall Real Photo Postcard collection Jim Linderman

2012-01-21T06:07:00.001-08:00

Duffy's Pool Hall Azo back Real Photo Postcard circa 1920? Collection Jim Linderman

See also Arcane Americana the book / Ebook HERE

Rolling Stones Glitz, Glamor, Truman Capote and Authenticity

2012-01-20T07:42:00.000-08:00

I seldom write about music here, as music is personal. I've said before, there is nothing more pathetic than a fellow making an "I love you" mix tape (or whatever they call a compilation these days) for a woman who has left him. It won't work, it never does, and don't do it. You can't talk someone into loving your music, OR you.

There is a point or two here, I guess. First of all, The Rolling Stones Facebook page has been posting extraordinary footage for their followers. So join up.

Second, one of the most audacious moves in the entire 20th century was for two pale, war-torn skinny British kids to somehow decide to become the greatest blues band in history. Read Keith's autobiography and marvel. How two kids, one of whom had obtained the mail order address for Chess Records in Chicago, met and not only dreamed but DID is one of the most extraordinary accomplishments to happen during my life. Their odds would have been better had they decided to be basketball players. I need not point out the two little goofballs were white and in the wrong country.

Second, in these clips, both from 1972 I believe, what you see is what you get. 7 or 8 guys on a stage playing. No bullshit. You hear it, they played it. Someone tinkered around with it a bit later, editing and such...but this was probably one of the last times a handful of guys, including the TRUE history of rock and roll Bobby Keys on saxophone (who figures prominently in Keith's book and is today a living connection to the entire history of 20th century rock) got on stage, plugged into their amps themselves and played their songs...simple. They could create this exact sound in Mum's garage or an estate in the south of France.

Am I nostalgic or a grumpy old man? Nope. I just like authenticity. And through all the glitz and glamour of Truman Capote on the plane with them for this tour writing the story up for Jackie O, Andy Warhol and the rich folks back at Studio 54 doesn't matter anymore. These guys were a blessing.

Hollywood Censorship Isn't New (Hands OFF the Web)

2012-01-18T14:56:00.000-08:00

CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTOS

Hollywood is the primary force encouraging our increasingly record low approval body of lawmakers (many of whom wouldn't know how to even ask their congressional intern how to look something up for them) to limit what appears on the internet. My contribution to the protest is not a blank screen, It is this not at all subtle reminder that Hollywood has been censoring what we see for decades.

Here some proud hired anti-intellectual freedom goons show off the fine job they are doing at keeping us safe from what we want.

Who were the DPS? I don't know, Wiki is down today.

This picture is from 1929 (the year before Hollywood clamped down on what was shown on the screen officially) and likely represents one of the several organizations which emerged to stop miscegenation, various words, various body parts, sexuality of any kind and insisting on happy endings (no, not THAT kind...the kind where anyone breaking the law gets caught and punished at the end of the movie.) A year after this picture was taken, the Motion Picture Production Code was accepted and practiced by the entire movie industry...thus insuring what we choose to pay and see is light, harmless fare, safe for all and neutered of anything challenging or controversial.

Thanks guys...how about going after what I read next?

So this is the track record of the folks who today want a bill passed to limit content on the web and give authorities the right to control what appears on domains.

Take a minute to contact your probably rich, probably male and probably Caucasian representative and tell him to keep his hands off the internet. It is working fine, the rich are still getting richer, not to worry (by FAR) and the minute they start to regulate it they'll muck it up like everything else they touch.

They think they are unpopular now? Just wait until they get 60 million school kids mad at them.

Original Photograph "Motion Picture Censorship 1929" by P.E. Genereux, E. Lynn, MA Collection Jim Linderman

Ivan Rasputin Will Use His Bear Hug

2012-01-16T06:41:00.001-08:00

From WRESTLING the Scrapbook HERE

Primitive Stereograph Stereoview Homemade Handmade 3-D

2012-01-15T06:27:00.000-08:00

Does this primitive 3-D stereoview (or stereograph) work? Stare at your own nose and see. YEP! Even an amateur can make a 3-D image. So why does Hollywood persist in spending 100 million dollars each on horrible big screen crappers in 3-D with plots no deeper than a serial murderers's hasty, hand-dug shallow grave? Same reason any media company does anything these days. Scared of the Internet! The only thing missing is a slow-motion bullet splitting a tree.

Amateur Homemade Stereograph card. 1952 Collection Jim Linderman

Time for the Accordion Class Portrait collection Jim Linderman

2012-01-13T07:46:00.001-08:00

CLICK TO ENLARGE

"It's time for accordion class" is not a phrase heard often these days. A few years ago there was a big flap in certain circles when the Grammys eliminated polka as a category. They did it because the same performer won every damn year...his competition had dwindled to nil.

I don't play and never will, but I can guarantee the first lesson, on the very first day, went exactly like this: "All right children...let's start with how to hold the instrument."

Accordion class Portrait Original Photograph by "The Camera Shop" Grand Rapids Michigan circa 1940. Collection Jim Linderman

The Most Beautiful African-American Model of the 1950s ? Lost and Forgotten Cheesecake Pinup of Color

2012-01-11T17:03:00.000-08:00

She appears on the cover of "Tawny Models" in the early 1950s, a smut digest pretending to be "figure studies for artists" to avoid censors. She appears in 4" x 5" photo sets sold from the back of magazines...and was photographed at the same sessions which produced the most famous pinup model of all, Bettie Page.

Fifty years later, she appears on the cover of my book which could tell the story of every African-American model trying to find a place in front of the camera during the second half of the 20th century. She likely faced racism, prejudice...and as was the case for all nude models during the time, she may have faced arrest and prosecution. Today no one knows who this young African-American model and pioneer was.

"Tawny Models" though undated, was published between 1950 and 1955 with a Miami, Florida address, but that could be a mail drop or a ruse, as nearly identical booklets appear with New York addresses at the same time. Nude photographs were sold under the counter and by mail at the time, and arrests were common. "Tawny Models" was part of a large group of picture only "Art Study" booklets by a largely unknown photographer going under the pseudonym of Marno. "Marno the Photographer" actually, but he had other names too.

Likewise, the color picture here (color only because the photographer tinted the original by hand) was taken around 1955. The undated "stag picture" with the other models would have been sold as a "strip-set" of 8 depicting clothes being removed. There is no documentation available.

Light-skinned, short natural hair...the photographs, while cropped here for discretion, could have been taken then or now. Just one of the thousands of models who worked for five bucks a session, now lost, and always anonymous. Something of a rebel in a field which seldom took note of African-American beauty. This model who today would be called "a fresh face" would likely be well into her 70s, but since the racket was tough she might not be around at all.

Tawny Models Camera Digest circa 1950 Photographs by "Marno" and Hand-Tinted photograph by Rudolph Rossi circa 1955, Collection Jim Linderman

Additional, un-cropped and uncensored photographs of the model appear on the "adult only" website Camera Club Girls HERE

The Animated Chocolate Eclair and World's Smallest Perfect Woman Princess Wee Wee RPPC

2012-01-11T06:56:00.000-08:00

A previously "unposted" real photo postcard of Princess Wee-Wee, A.K.A. Princess Weenie Wee, Winnie Wee, The Animated Chocolate Eclair, The World's Smallest Perfect Woman and Harriet Elizabeth Williams. Wee Wee was weaned in Bryn Mawr, PA, born 1892. Her "Linked-in" profile would today include stints at Dreamland Circus Sideshow 1908-1917 and Barnum and Bailey, dates unknown. She also apparently toured on shows with Count Basie, Pine Top Smith and other prominent "Negro Vaudeville" routes. She appeared in one film, "The Music Goes Round" in 1936 according to one source. I haven't seen the film.

Not surprisingly, there are dozens of photographs of Ms. Wee Wee, nearly all with her standing next to a prop (either a person or a piece of furniture) which puts her wee-weeness into perspective. Whether this chair is normal-sized is unknown. There are numerous claims made as to her height and weight. I think wee suffices.

Real Photo Postcard circa 1910 Collection Jim Linderman

See Dull Tool Books and Tablet Download Catalog HERE

How To Start A Fire

2012-01-10T06:18:00.001-08:00

Snapshots circa 1950? Collection Jim Linderman

Woman Haters Club Albion Clough Royal Robertson Spanky and the Three Stooges

2012-01-07T15:14:00.000-08:00

Painter, picker and professional woman hater Albion Clough of Maine strums up some attention here in a circa 1940 real photo postcard. His stuffed friend announcing the next meeting of the Woman Haters club is "Brother Bill" and the paintings are for sale, but I can't find one today. I haven't checked Sotheby's online yet. Clough seems to be playing one of those cheap Roy Rogers type guitars, but he later obtained a lovely resonator.

In the late 1930s, Clough appeared in a newsreel or two. He claimed his woman hater club had 100 members, and apparently a championship convention was held on occasion to pick the best woman-hater, but Albion always won.

To see his brother, active 40 years later, one Royal Robertson, click HERE. I am afraid Robertson out-hated and out-painted Clough, but they certainly would have gotten along. I'd have visited Albion too, but I wasn't born yet. Albion Clough passed away in 1944. More information on the hermit appears HERE.

The famous Little Rascals episode of the Women Haters club (titled Mail and Female) appears, in part, below along with the Three Stooges short Women Haters Club (which was shot entirely in rhyme!) made in 1934. I am not sure if Clough saw either.

SEE ALSO "In Situ American Folk Art in Place" HERE

World's Champion Woman-Hater Albion L. Clough Real Photo Postcard Collection Jim Linderman

Baldy Wetzel and the World's Longest Honky Tonk collection Jim Linderman

2012-01-06T06:17:00.000-08:00

Baldy Wetzel, or Charles "Baldy" Wetzel played in speakeasies, tent shows, and for phony doctors selling snake oil. What he also did is shown here...setting the record for the longest continuous piano performance. 48 and 1/2 hours. That is one considerable piece of honky-tonk, but Baldy played for well over 50 years, so what's a few days?

As you can see, Baldy was hurting when the photo was taken. Not only do his friends place a wet compress against his neck, one helper massages his foot sore from damping the foot peddle.

Baldy started out in Pennsylvania and was playing 42nd street in the 1930s. Soon he added musical director for Ziefield Follies and George White's Scandals. Baldy was Paul Shaffer before there was a Paul Shaffer. He was proud to claim to have led the first dance band to feature a vocalist. He passed away in Toledo at the age of 79 in 1970.

Original Photograph circa 1930 (Inscribed to Fritz Savers from "Baldy" Wetzel) collection Jim Linderman
SEE JIM LINDERMAN EBOOKS AND BOOKS HERE

SLIDESHOW La Lettre de la Photographie Article on Arcane Americana Jim Linderman

2012-01-04T14:53:00.000-08:00

SEE FULL POST AND SLIDESHOW CLICK HERE
Book and eBook HERE

The Devil Rock of Contested Canada? Real Photo Postcard

2012-01-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

CLICK TO ENLARGE THE DEVIL!

Lake of the Woods has 14,552 islands, 65,000 miles of shoreline and one devil. Here he is, on a real photo postcard with no date. The United States owns part of the lake, Canada owns the rest. It is the 6th largest lake, and once in a while the two countries used to argue over ownership, but I guess things have settled down. I do not know who owns the devil today, but he is still there.

Communities which rest on the lake include Obashkaandagaang Bay, Anishnaabeg of Naongashiing, and Anishinabe of Wauzhushk Onigum. The devil is in the spelling, Google thinks I did them wrong. If you are planning on a vacation, the link is HERE.

Devil Watching Gap Lake of the Woods Real Photo Postcard, no date Collection Jim Linderman

19th Century Show Business Child Labor CDV Collection Jim Linderman

2012-01-01T17:15:00.000-08:00

Three Child Laborers CDV circa 1875 Collection Jim Linderman

The Entire "Top Ten Picks of 2011" Music List from Dull Tool Dim Bulb Boddie Recording Company

2011-12-29T09:48:00.000-08:00

No, that is not a Jamaican sound truck from Kingston in 1965, it is Cleveland, Ohio a few years later, and it is just one more reason to be shamed you wasted your youth listening to the "top ten" on the radio.

So here it is, the entire "top ten" music releases of the year list from Dull Tool Dim Bulb for 2011.

You can trust me, and the entire box will cost you less than $40.

More information is HERE

Rock and Roll Pulp

2011-12-28T18:23:00.000-08:00

I'm working on something, so no words today. Great image though. Have your ears eat THIS, iTunes.

Civil War Amputee Tintype Photograph and a Naive Dream

2011-12-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

The first amputee of the Civil War was James Edward Hanger, an unfortunate 18-year-old who promptly commenced carving his own replacement leg out of wood scraps. Three months later he was walking down the stairs on an artificial leg of his own construction which hinged at the knee.

His invention not only made him rich, the Hanger company he founded to help other amputees is still doing the work, 150 years later.

The number of American soldiers who have undergone amputation surgery in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is well over 1,000, a horrendous figure, but one which pales compared to the Associated Press estimate of more than 100,000 civilian deaths in the conflict. I resided in Manhattan during 9/11 and even the cab drivers knew Iraq had nothing to do with it. They told me.

As an optimistic youth, I fully expected war to become obsolete after we left Vietnam. I am sorry I was so wrong, and that dream seems now more elusive than ever before.

Anonymous tintype photograph, circa 1870? Amputee and friends. Collection Jim Linderman.

Vernacular Photography Linderman Style Vintage Photographs of Arcane Americana Book and ebook NOW AVAILABLE

2011-12-26T11:52:00.001-08:00

Tooting my own horn here, my book of vernacular photography turned out really well, and since I hate to waste any new material on the blog during the holidays, I'll take the opportunity to shill baby shill.

VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHS OF ARCANE AMERICANA is 120 pages of the real thing. That is, far less than pristine found photographs of what Americans do best: be really, really strange with a camera near.

If you have even the most remote interest in things unusual, and don't mind being surprised every few pages, feel free to order it up. I've kept the price as low as I can.

Paperback is $28.95 and the Ebook is $5.99. Indicate which you like on the Blurb order form HERE. There is also a free preview of the book.

While I am on the subject, all my books from Blurb, I believe, have been converted to ebook format for the iPad and iPhone. $5.99 each. See full list HERE.

Candid Press from Chicago, Blogger First Amendment Rights and Media Credentials with a Recognized News Affiliation

2011-12-25T07:52:00.001-08:00

It would be ironic and unwise for a blog named "Dull Tool Dim Bulb" to criticize any part of the "legitimate" press, but a recent court decision which found bloggers do not have the same first amendment rights or protection as journalists gives me a little pause. First, because even with my limited creds, I personally may have more journalistic experience (and I might even suggest integrity) than a good chunk of the journalists working today, and second because the so-called legitimate press is so damn questionable.

Not only that, according to David Ardia, co-director of the University of North Carolina center for media law and policy "There is no accepted definition of journalism or who is a journalist," The judge ruled against the blogger because she "failed to present evidence that she had any media credentials or affiliation with a "recognized news entity," or that she had checked her facts or tried to contact the other side to "get both sides of the story."

Hmm...Does Jimmy Breslin have a journalism degree? Did Studs Terkel or Mike Royko, both who were unfortunately based in the same town as the Candid Press above? If any of them do, they can easily prove it, which is precisely why I am phrasing it as a question rather than "reporting" it... I don't THINK they did, but they are free to sue me if they feel otherwise. Excellent reporters in every respect? Yes. In fact all three personal heroes of mine. But does the fact that they received a paycheck from a media conglomerate give them first amendment rights I as a citizen do not have?

Because Glenn Beck cashed a check from Murdoch for his chalkboard conspiracies mean he has more rights than I? (Can I say Murdoch again? I use his empire as an example because if ANY media is conglomerated-up with big time credentials, it is his, and we KNOW the journalistic standards he maintains.) I am inclined to send a few issues of the Candid Press, which enjoyed first amendment freedom, to the judge in the recent ruling.

Disgusting, ugly, sexist, offensive, putrid, obscene (to me anyway...) and gross. But fully protected by first amendment rights?

Ayup!

Chicago's Candid "Press" ran a long time and consumed plenty of forest. I might not have a degree in journalism either, but I suspect most of my pieces here would stand up pretty well if presented to a veteran fact checker at the New Yorker alongside any issue of Candid Press. I have a pile of them here. Don't take me up on my offer, I can't afford a lawyer.

Candid Press was so disgusting, I'd leave the second city over it in shame, except that I lived in Manhattan with Al Goldstein's Screw and survived. Al had first amendment rights because he was a fat, slob pig with media affiliation?

Who else has the credentials of media affiliation? Veteran journalist and not Pulitzer prize-winning beacon of truth Rush Limbaugh and George Noory, the voice of a late-night talk show I enjoy, but which "reports" on Big Foot, ghost sightings, voices from the dead and chupacabra on a nightly basis. I love Coast-to-Coast and so do many others apparently, as it airs nightly on no less than 25 radio stations in MY STATE ALONE...but does that give them any more rights than I have as a citizen? Hell, Bill O'Reilly HAS a journalism degree and he is wrong more often than a paid witness or a chiropractor.

Candid Press was a piece of pink-colored newsprint crap and completely devoid of the humor they tried so hard to provide. They claimed to be America's Largest Selling Adult Weekly. Well B.F.D. It stunk. The giant pile I have of them on the floor here still stink nearly five decades later. If they were protected any more than me simply because they dropped a pile at the corner news stand every Wednesday to stink up the hog butcher to the world, then we have a problem.

I know far more excellent journalists today who blog than I do judges. Many of them blog instead of receive a paycheck because big companies which provide "media affiliation" helped create a generation (and every future generation) who would rather watch ads on hand-held devices and flat screens than read. I can't claim to speak for our founding fathers (as judges and politicians do on a daily basis) but I think they intended first amendment rights to apply to all of us, not just those with a press pass and job re-phrasing press releases for the Huffington App.

World's Largest Gourd ? (Nice Gourds) Vegetable Folk Art Crafts

2011-12-23T16:55:00.000-08:00

CLICK TO ENLARGE THIS WOMAN'S GOURDS
I think of them as the warts of the earth, but some folks really love gourds. For example, look at the gourds THIS lady has! NICE GOURDS!

An undated snapshot which reads on the reverse "Note size of the Bottle Gourd" and I guess you should.

More information on the Wild and Wonderful World of Gourds is HERE . (For example, the full story of New Guinea Penis Sheath Gourds, Can you get high on Yerba Mate (?) and the Amazing Wild and Squirting Cucumbers.

Original Snapshot circa 1930? No Date Collection Jim Linderman

Is Zat You Santa Claus ?

2011-12-21T09:12:00.001-08:00

According to the notes on reverse, Santa is one Gene Crawford. Thanks Gene!

Christmas Party Group Photo (No date, circa 1950?) Collection Jim Linderman.

Satchmo Bonus Follows.

Michigan's Knapp Family R.I.P Real Photo Postcard collection Jim Linderman

2011-12-19T11:17:00.001-08:00

The last surviving member of Michigan's Knapp Family passed away December 7, 2011. Arlene was the bass player. Her obit, and a tribute, is HERE by Laura Misjak in the Lansing State Journal of December 9, 2011. Let's see if this post receives as many comments as my post on Rem Wall and the Green Valley Boys, another obscure and deserving Michigan band, which has so far received 29 comments.

Michigan's Knapp Family Real Photo Postcard, circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman

JIM LINDERMAN BOOKS AND DOWNLOADS FROM BLURB.COM

Vintage Photographs of Arcane Americana by Jim Linderman and Blurb Books

2011-12-17T09:13:00.000-08:00

A disparate group of demented images which share only one thing in common. All appear in the brand new Dull Tool Dim Bulb book (and Ebook for iPad) VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHS of ARCANE AMERICANA:THE JIM LINDERMAN COLLECTION which is now available. Some 200 photographs which took ten years to collect and two nights to put together into a book!

Sorry typo fans...no text!

The download, in crisp digital format is only $5.99. The less sharp physical paperback book, 150 pages, is $28.95. If THAT isn't an argument for the death of the book, I don't know what is.

ORDER HERE TODAY! (Free Preview too) Once there, click at right to order.

All Photographs collection Jim Linderman

Miniature Make-Do Folk Art Tack and Pin Box with Birds Drawn by Hand

2011-12-15T10:02:00.000-08:00

A tiny "make-do" handmade folk art box for holding tacks and pins. Only three inches wide and two inches tall, the box is constructed from cardboard, the "handles" are small brads. I presume made by a child, possibly as a gift for the parents? Circa 1920 or so. Scarlet Tanager, Baltimore Oriole and Goldfinch.

Miniature Homemade Folk Art Box collection Jim Linderman
Linderman Books and Ebook Downloads available from BLURB.COM Here

Man Plays With Himself Trick Photography Real Photo Postcard Collection Jim Linderman

2011-12-14T11:17:00.001-08:00

Wilson and Graham Birmingham, Alabama Real Photo Postcard Trick Photography circa 1920
Collection Jim Linderman

Dull Tool Dim Bulb Books and Ebook Catalog HERE

The Art of Sewing Cards (Sewing Card Set No. 48-558)

2011-12-13T06:38:00.000-08:00

Lillian Ethel Wandel (4th Grade) completed Sewing Card 1927 Collection Jim Linderman

(More Sewing Cards HERE and HERE from Dull Tool Dim Bulb)

Jolly Ollie of the 101 Circus At the Circus in Black and White #30

2011-12-11T15:23:00.001-08:00

Jolly Ollie 538 Pounds Real Photo Postcard Collection Jim Linderman

AT THE CIRCUS in BLACK and WHITE is a continuing series on Dull Tool Dim Bulb This is Entry number 30.

Joe Bonomo Interview with Jim Linderman "Conversations..."

2011-12-10T20:17:00.000-08:00

I was flattered to have been asked by author Joe Bonomo to answer a few questions on his site No Such Thing As Was. The Complete interview is HERE.

“Every passion borders on the chaotic,” writes Walter Benjamin in “Unpacking My Library,” “but the collector’s passion borders on the chaos of memories.” This observation informs the work of collector, archivist, and Americana yay-sayer Jim Linderman. At his wide-ranging, comprehensive, and lively blogs Vintage Sleaze (“The true and untold story of smut in America”), Old Time Religion (“Vernacular religious detritus”), and Dull Tool Dim Bulb (“Surface, wear, form and authenticity in art, antiques and photography”) Linderman acknowledges the obscure at the same time that he elevates it.” Continues HERE.

Joe Bonomo's books include Conversations With Greil Marcus (Literary Conversations Series, forthcoming), AC/DC’s Highway to Hell (33 1/3 Series), Jerry Lee Lewis: Lost and Found, Installations (National Poetry Series), and Sweat: The Story of The Fleshtones, America’s Garage Band. I've published numerous personal essays and prose poems.

Untitled (Longest Hair) Cabinet Card c. 1890 Collection Jim Linderman

2011-12-09T07:37:00.000-08:00

Anonymous cabinet card photograph, circa 1890 collection Jim Linderman

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Untitled (Fur) Anonymous Vernacular Photograph circa 1920 Collection Jim Linderman

2011-12-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

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Untitled (Fur) Anonymous Vernacular Photograph circa 1920 Collection Jim Linderman

Brew 102 Makes Racial History and the World's Worst Beer

2011-12-06T06:35:00.001-08:00

Brew 102 was so proud of their Miss Brew 102 contest, they hired two professional photographers to cover it. I suspect it was because they were making both racial progress and a marketing move to the hood, but both are speculation. Whatever, the press was assembled to cover the brew beauty pageant. Shown is the lovely Louise Franklin hopefully placing the deciding vote in favor of the sisters, though either are certainly pretty enough to sell beer. Either would also work better on the label than that bottle neck "coming at 'cha" or the Shemp-like mug of the owner.

I first heard of "Brew 102" when I found a trio of 8 x 10 glossy photographs, but I first read of it on a web bulletin board titled "What is the worst beer you ever tasted?" It didn't lack for contributions. I would enter "Golden Goebel" which was 89 cents a six in college. We had numerous names for it, all variations of the "taste likes piss" phrase so common among underage drinkers.

It appears Brew 102 was the Golden Goebel of Los Angeles. Reading up on it finds a good share of memories, all of them bad. The 101 highway through LA was curved to allow for their big cauldron ferment tanks. An eyesore of a big sign remembered by fathers. A beer can hunter killed through mishap while digging around the ruins of the brewery decades later. A typical day in the life Dull Tool Dim Bulb.

I find no mention of the contest. The African-American model may be named "Louise Franklin" according to a note scribbled on the reverse. I hope the sister won, because while it may be just the camera angle, the blond's head is ENORMOUS!

Original 8 x 10 glossy photographs by Art Adams and Irving C. Smith no dates Collection Jim Linderman

BIG UPDATE! Scott Warmuth looks close, finds answer!

Did you notice that the contestants for Miss 102 include a set of twins? The Peralto Twins won the contest; Bo Franklin, the African-American woman, placed second after weeks of being in the lead in the voting.

This shady contest is covered in the book The Melody Lingers On: Scenes from the Golden Years of West Coast Jazz.

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Early Nesting Set of Gullah Sweetgrass Baskets South Carolina Low Country African-American Material Culture

2011-12-04T09:52:00.001-08:00

One of the most culturally rich areas of the country is the low coastal area of South Carolina, where descendants of slaves still retain a bit of their roots and skills. One tradition surviving is the sweetgrass baskets still being made by African-American craftpersons who sell their wares along the roads (and increasingly in Charleston shops and boutiques.) It is unusual to find an early sweetgrass basket these days, as collectors prize old examples to contrast with their newer pieces. Even more unusual is to find a nesting set of them. This is the only set I have ever seen, and I have sought them for going on 20 years. I found them in an antique shop way up north. They are a bit ragged, but they are right. I show them here to illustrate genuine antiques can still be found and so can deals. The entire set cost twenty dollars.

Nesting set of early Gullah African-American baskets, circa 1940? Collection Jim Linderman

More information on the Sweetgrass basketmakers of South Carolina is HERE

The Green Ghosts of American Comics Group Ghostbusters Logos Labels and the Rules of Green Death

2011-12-04T08:15:00.000-08:00

There is a green ghost in Ghostbusters. Both the original, and presumably the next one. Hollywood has a clock hidden behind that sign on the hill telling when to cash in again.

A far more interesting green ghost to me is the one which appeared, in nearly every issue, shape and form, in the curious and highly entertaining series of comic books produced by almost-big publisher American Comics Group. Active during the Golden (and Silver) age of comic books, the publisher skirted Kefauver's censors but never really made the big time. They had a general line. Goofy characters, "funny" animals, romance for the girls... but the real stuff was their line of suspense and horror. Adventures into the Unknown. Forbidden Worlds. Unknown Worlds.

Virtually every issue had a transparent green ghost. It had to have been company policy. If it was alive once and dead now, it was green and you could see right through it.

I used to work near a news morgue. Files upon files of clippings about celebrities. Every archive has a system, and ours was when someone died, their file got a green tag. No one knew why, but it was the rule. So much so that we came to call any celeb who dropped like a dead weight "green." Every morning we would meet and say "A Gabor sister is green" or "Marlon Brando's kid is green'" then go to collecting credits for the obit.

It seems odd the color most associated with life could used for death. Even (literally) slime-covered conglomerate British Petroleum hijacked the color not long before ruining the Gulf Coast...a logo which bit them in the ass for a while, but I see they are using it still. Good for them. That logo will always mean "oil spill" to me, but if it works for them, fine. I'm not using their stations until they trick us with a "relaunch" and a new brand no matter how many times they run happy faces hiding desperation. I'll visit the Gulf, but I won't buy your gas OR your claims.

By the way Aflac? That's not Gilbert in there, and all the money you spend hoping I will forget you fired the funniest comic in America won't make me forget it. Drop the duck. The last ad they ran had THREE voices and they still didn't equal one Gilbert.

The other cute characteristic of American Comics Group was their little bylines with a tiny drawing of the writers and inkers. For example Lafcadio Lee, shown below as the proto-beatnik he probably was. Lafcadio didn't exist, but his secret identity was Richard E. Hughes, editor of the line for over 20 years. He wrote most of the stories too. He was so prolific he needed ten names: Pierre Alonzo, Ace Aquila, Brad Everson, Lafcadio, Lee Kermit Lundgren, Shane O'Shea, Bob Standish, Greg Olivetti, Kurato Osaki and Zev Zimmer.

Sadly, American Comic Group went green too...and it wasn't a pleasant death. Their last days were spent churning out industrial comic crap for Montomery Ward, Tupperware and the Air Force.

Wisconsin Paramount Records Frozen Custard and the Birth of the Blues

2011-12-01T17:55:00.001-08:00

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Join as we celebrate, well...I would say the opening of Olin's Frozen Custard Stand, but what we are really celebrating here is the American Dream. A white family in brand new "open for business" form and their Icy new Custard stand, with a most remarkable "colored" band ready to entertain the crowd when they arrive.

In one photograph showing a span of no more than 50 feet, we see enough real American history to last a lifetime.

Photographs of seemingly "rural" African-American professional musicians in 1930s are rare as can be. And professional they are, make no mistake. There is even a piano and drum set on that puny stage, and what I would give to have a listen as I try the custard. I would not be surprised one bit if a few of the stand workers broke out into a dance later, and trust that was the primary skill of the performers.

Make them dance.

As musicianers, the job would have been to play all the current hits for their audience, including standards...but I'm going to say some of them brought the blues.

Music is certainly not the only harmony here.

Now allow me some some speculation which might be of interest to record collectors, fans of the blues and more. Although frozen custard was invented in Coney Island in 1919, it really took hold in Wisconsin a decade later. That's right. Wisconsin. Soon small custard stands spread over the state. Now do I KNOW this is Wisconsin? Nope. But there is another reason besides custard I suspect as much.

Paramount Records was located there. Everyone from Blind Lemon Jefferson to Robert Johnson (with Charley Patton in between) went up to Wisconsin to make 78 records which created the earliest aural record of the Blues.

Were these musicians up north to record?

I try to be fact based, but this is too good a story not to surmise, and even if not true, it is one hell of a photograph.

Additionally, there was a connection between an "Olin" and the underground railroad. Smoke that too.

By the way, I found no record of "Olin's Custard" but someone knows, so PLEASE let me know? Likewise, if any blues scholars recognize this most remarkable band, get in touch. The Wisconsin connection is too obvious to ignore, but for all I know the scene depicted is Michigan (where the photograph was found) and the Olin name turns up in both places.

But a Custard Stand in Wisconsin with Paramount performers passing through is the stuff of legends.

Anonymous Photographer "Custard Stand with African-American Musicians" circa 1930 Original Photograph with handwritten notation on reverse. Collection Jim Linderman

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Michigan Moonshine, Sin Tax and Pleasure Boating to Canada

2011-12-01T05:23:00.000-08:00

The origin of stock car racing was the souped-up cars (and drivers) who eluded revenuers with fast and fancy driving over the hills and a trunk full of shine. That is Clem there on the left with a watchful eye on his still.

Here the state of Michigan promotes taxed liquor stores AND a stereotype of the hayseed moonshiner, rifle in hand, on a free book of matches presumably handed out at the state-sanctioned liquor store.

However, In Michigan, the rum-runners used boats! Many a fellow (and family) solved the depression blues with booze runs to Canada and back in their speedboats.

Decades later, as kids, we used to cross into Windsor still for their beer and cigarettes, both at the time superior to our own. A six-pack of Labatts was prized as the Canadians didn't use preservatives and sold it from state stores cold. Delicious. Their Players cigarettes were better too. Labatts was purchased and I presume ruined by Anheuser-Busch, and I am sure it isn't worth the drive anymore. American industry has a habit of eating upstarts and bringing their quality down to our own bland, flavorless size.

As for the smokes, If I did today, I'd roll my own. Who in their right mind would spend ten bucks for a pack of sticks? At that rate, it won't be long before folks start growing their own tobacco among the cornstalks instead of weed.

As you can see by this "public health" match book cover, moonshine was bad for you. "Clem is here...NAME YOUR POISON!" Of course, so was the "real" stuff (the kind the state took a cut from instead of organized crime) but at least it would poison you slowly. You could be fairly sure it wouldn't kill you for twenty years or so, and each fifth you consumed would help fill the state coffers.

The sin tax was good for you...how to you think those roads for Detroit's cars were created?

Other matches are HERE and HERE

Anti- Moonshine Matchbook 1935 Collection Jim Linderman

Early Native American Reenactors Windians on no Warpath

2011-11-30T06:30:00.000-08:00

Considering we spent a century trying to eliminate the Native American, it sure is odd how many organizations and imbeciles try to effect their dress. Why appropriate a culture you met with genocide? The answer is beyond me, and I really don't want to spend the time looking it up.

"Indian reenactors" are even bigger in Germany of all places. Go figure. I think it is like the Brits digging Delta Blues before we did. While we were suffering with Fabian and Pat Boone, the nascent Rolling Stones were already kicking ass and sounding better at it than Jimmy Reed, if not Muddy Waters. At least they were sincere...read Keef's autobiography. However, until I find an explanation way better than "Dancing with Wolves" I'm going to have to figure these guys as insensitive boobs.

Of course we started the trend as far back as the Boston Tea Party, when the colonists dressed up as "Mohawks" before climbing on board and dumping tea. Some scholars have tried to explain it away claiming they were using "the Mohawk image as a revolutionary symbol of liberty" and such, but I suspect they were just cowards hiding their identity. I'm not alone. Attempts to deny that the colonial costume party came about to deflect blame, hide the perps and an early example of racism are seeming somewhat lame. But again, I'm no expert, and lean toward iconoclasm as a rule. What they taught it in school, I've spent a lifetime trying to shed.

At any rate, this is one the most extravagant displays of "Windian" behavior I have seen. No less than 25 of them, and they are armed to boot!

I don't think all would fit in the sole tipi (Lakota and made of hide, often decorated with spiritual images, not tent canvas like this one), but maybe they took turns getting in. It also appears they have clogged the smoke hole with a crumpled American flag...and if you look close behind the tent, some kid and his Dad are watching the big event in street clothes. Could this be a very early film still with the tribe coming from Brooklyn?

By the way? Halloween as an "indian?" Also not cool.

Other than that? This is a pretty cool photograph.

Untitled (Early Native American Reenactors) original silver photograph, 8" x 6" (Original mount 12" x 10" circa 1890? Collection Jim Linderman

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Harlemisms from New York Confidential Mapback Book Speak like an (Urban) Native

2011-11-28T20:42:00.000-08:00

CLICK TO GET HEP, JACK

I have written about Mapbacks before, those beautiful mystery books from the 1950s which always had a map on the reverse indicating the scene of the crime and spots where certain events took place. I've collected them several times over my life, and finding them is still one of the most beautiful cheap hobbies around. There was one anomaly in the series.

Number 1534 was not a mystery, but an actual guide book to the city which never sleeps, and it was a guide book which held back little. From "Party Girls" to "Where Men Wear Lace" it was, I am sure, a well-thumbed book in 1951.

Alas, nearly everything in it is gone now. Yet it still remains one of the most valuable little documents of a world now gone, and one could do worse than bring back the wonderful "Glossary of Harlemisms" in back, Jack.

More New York City Mapbacks HERE

New York Confidential! The Big City After Dark by Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer. Dell Paperback 1951 (Mapback) Collection Jim Linderman

Things to Make SOCK MONKEY (In Time for CHRISTMAS)

2011-11-28T12:22:00.000-08:00

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Those of you who follow regularly know from time to time I post "Things to Make" and I am never kidding. It's the new reality folks.. don't think of this as a kitschy little gimmick. You can save a bundle AND give your friends a gift they will love by following these simple instructions, courtesy Nelson Red Heel Rockford Socks, the ONLY official sock of the sock monkey! You can substitute imported socks, but if so plan on the Sock Monkey lasting only a few generations.

Make the Sensational Red Heel Sock Monkey Brochure circa 1950 Collection Jim Linderman

Elmer Anderson Mike Kelley Inappropriate Appropriation, The Thing , Genuine Genius Scott Warmuth and Ghostly Afterimage

2011-11-27T11:16:00.000-08:00

There is nothing better than a slow-burning low-art mystery, and Elmer Anderson just continues to prove it. My third post on Elmer in as many years, this one prompted by a remarkable find by the brilliant Scott Warmuth. An actual ad (!) taken out by Elmer's distributor, in of all places Billboard Magazine! Maybe they thought musicians were the perfect consumers for his wacky and incomprehensible drawings. You know...the reefer.

NOW having done three posts on the artist Elmer, I should be recognized as the world's foremost Elmer Anderson scholar, though I know absolutely NOTHING about him. As such, I'll take any opportunity to exhibit Elmer. Or as I pointed out HERE, "Genuine" Elmer. Certainly one of the most infamous, if unknown, artists of Waterloo, Iowa.

I have also since learned noted contemporary artist Mike Kelley used an Elmer Anderson image, "The Thing" shown above, as the source for his painting "Ghostly Afterimage" in 1998. Now that may be appropriation, but it certainly is not appropriate. "The Thing" can stand on it's own, it being a dramatic and profound anti-alcohol piece with a sufferer choking a whiskey snake.

Here is what falutin' art magazine Frieze had to say about Kelley's piece based on "The Thing".

"Ghostly Afterimage, for example, a brutish self portrait in oils by the fictional ‘Elmer’, accompanied by a psycho-babble commentary claiming that ‘Elmer’s shaky paint is typical of those who suffer from the type of violent delirium characterised by the sweats, trembling, anxiety and frightening hallucinations’"

Brutish? FICTIONAL? Humpf. May I suggest another word starting with BR? Brilliant!

Sure enough as seen here, lower right, Kelley's painting is a perfect reversed image of Elmer's brilliant work, but appears to be painted on (the then) trendy plywood backing contemporary artists were using in the late 90s. The IRONY. Well, Elmer didn't work in irony, and I doubt he ever knew his image was shown as "kunst" in Germany. If you dig around enough, you will find the brochure, which is a German art catalog, but you'll have to use Google translate to see if the "critic" liked it!

Jim Linderman is a collector of Elmer Anderson Postcards, and author of THE HORRIBLE HANDMADE POSTCARDS OF ANONYMOUS printed by Blurb. Anonymous would have liked Elmer.

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Mars Probe Anticipated by Professor Hunt

2011-11-26T04:18:00.000-08:00

Professor Everett Hunt's homemade and handmade book, at least a few pages from it. The text consists of a newspaper article with Indiana byline. Several illustrations. Headlines inserted into slots. A bit of indecipherable text. That the article has an April 1 date is, I believe, a coincidence. Date Unknown.

A blog repost from a few years ago due to clogged holiday bandwidth and suffering a cold.

"Going To Mars 350,000,000 Miles in 5 Minutes" by Professor Everett Hunt. Handmade book. Circa 1930? Collection Jim Linderman
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Cross Written Correspondence Dull Tool Dim Bulb Greatest Hits

2011-11-25T07:59:00.000-08:00

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A 19th Century "cross written" letter. Cross writing was a technique to save paper when paper was scarce. Every scrap mattered at one time (this is dated 1823) so the writer, upon reaching the end of the page, would turn the paper 90 degrees and add a second layer of text. Once it becomes familiar, the mind adapts easily and cross written letters are surprisingly legible. Charles Darwin famously used the technique.

I have a cold, and the bandwidth is so clogged with "stay at home" shoppers, I didn't want to sit here and upload images. This is a repost from a few years ago.

Original Post from Dull Tool Dim Bulb the Daily Blog

Early 19th Century Cross Writing letter, Collection Jim Linderman

Cynthia Lugo and THE CYNEPHILE Art and Film Make Friends (Essential)

2011-11-24T11:38:00.000-08:00

Since I can no longer go see films in the Cable Building (New Yorkers will know it as the converted storage space for cable cars with real popcorn) I spend no time with moving pictures.

Fortunately I know a brilliant writer and curator who does and I would like to share her work. Cynthia Lugo is a genius. I could say a "shy" genius, but she certainly holds her own place with the written word...and the word is The Cynephile, the most interesting and thoughtful blog about the relationship between Film and Art you will find. In fact, Ms. Lugo describes her site as a place where "film and art make out"

I recently sent Cynthia an interesting little find and was rewarded with a hefty hunk of skillful, comprehensive and colorful observations. Pictures too! If you follow film, and I mean the ART of Fine Film, Cynthia Lugo's blog CYNEPHILE is not only recommended, it should be added to your sidebars.

Now I could choose any of the MANY essays Cynthia has produced, but why not let my followers hear one of my favorite songs at the same time? It may not be a typical post, but you'll thank me for the song (as I thanked her 6 months ago) and you'll love Cynthia Lugo for the rich, full history she is producing on a regular basis on The Cynephille. Take a visit and see if you do not agree.

Thanksgiving in Manila Paper Tom Turkey

2011-11-22T19:50:00.000-08:00

Child's Tom Turkey in manila paper, circa 1950

Trotters in the Trunk Last Winner's Circle and One More Bet Vernacular Photograph Collection Jim Linderman

2011-11-21T20:10:00.000-08:00

A photograph I happen to find very sad, I have collected photographs of people making folk art for many years now. It is usually a pleasant enough pursuit for subject, photographer and later collector...but for some reason this is the only one which hurts.

All photograph collectors try to fill in the details. In our haste to acquire we often browse too quickly to see. In this case, a somewhat hapless jigsaw hobbyist is not just selling creations from his trunk, there is more.

There is an 8 x 10 photograph propped up behind the wares. It depicts several gentleman (one of whom is surely the man posing with plywood products) and a prize-winning horse. Is the photo on exhibit to lend authenticity to his handmade rudimentary toys? A reminder of earlier triumphs and past glory?

There is no partner, no humor and a desperation in the photo not all of my own projection. Is he raising funds for one more bet? Is there another winner's circle? Is this the end of the track?

Anonymous photograph, no date (1950, Ohio?) Collection Jim Linderman

Mexican Circus Performers At the Circus in Black and White # 29

2011-11-20T11:09:00.000-08:00

Entry number 29 in the Dull Tool Dim Bulb AT THE CIRCUS IN BLACK AND WHITE Series is a trio of original circa 1950 snapshots of a most handsome traveling circus troupe from Mexico. México circo ambulante!

Original Photographs Collection Jim Linderman

AT THE CIRCUS in BLACK and WHITE is a continuing series on Dull Tool Dim Bulb This is Entry number 29.

Miniature Floating Flotilla Toy Boats of Wood

2011-11-18T14:26:00.000-08:00

Miniature handmade boats, largest 5 inches

Wood, Paper American Flag. circa 1950? Origin Unknown (occupied Japan?) Collection Jim Linderman

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Stonecutters Cutting Stone Sculptors Who Take Away Real Photo Postcard

2011-11-17T10:23:00.000-08:00

When it comes to sculpture, there are those that add and those that take away. Stone cutters are the latter, and perhaps in this case I should say "taketh" away.

It appears the fellows are carving a tombstone or memorial of some type, and I am going to guess for a notable. It also appears the piece was carved under a temporary tent built for the purpose? A mystery.

Enlarge the pictures to see their big whacking hammer on the ground and the equally cryptic message on the inscribed, but unmailed card.

Real Photo Postcards circa 1900? No date. Collection Jim Linderman

Michigan Fall Sand Dunes and a Tree House Revealed

2011-11-16T06:33:00.001-08:00

The leaves are gone and our topography is again revealed. Michigan's sand dunes are the best feature of the state, although yesterday was the start of deer season, so the tourism folks would rather promote gunplay than hiking. A law went into effect this year dropping the legal hunting age to 10. That is, with a "responsible" adult...which means to me just an older gun nut.

I don't mind the herd being thinned. I'm trying to grow a garden. Two weeks after buying a new car, A tiny green Ford. I hit a wild turkey and broke off the rear view mirror. A $444.00 repair. If the trees had been sparse, I'd have seen him coming and swerved, but leaves hide turkey and deer. Now they are exposed.

In the Western Michigan shoreline area, when leaves fall you are left with huge mountains of sand. Where it is stable, forest grows dense. But If the sand can move or shift, it will, and it doesn't allow ground cover. In places the slope to the lake is like a moonscape of white sand.

I can easily walk to a section of the county which had a "NO CLIMBING, BEACH GRASS RESTORATION" SIGN 30 years ago when I left, and it is still there. The trail (created by generations of kids seeking a high place to drink beer) will never fill in, and no cop will climb it. Climbing a sand dune means three steps up for every step gained. I have lost the ability and I'm not fat.

Yesterday, with the limbs empty again, I came across a monster of a tree house built while I was gone. Nailed to a Beech Tree rooted over a sheer of a dune. Some adults likely collaborated but it was for the kids. I'd live there. Beech grow here, and they grow enormous, fat trunks easy to climb and strong like ox.

These young fellows are doing just that. They are Jack Harris and Pat Kirkpatrick, it is 1930, and they are trying to break the worlds record for tree sitting. I do not know if they made it, but they seem fairly confident.

Original Press Photograph, 1930 NEA Chicago Bureau Photographer Unidentified Collection Jim Linderman

Well Rendered Drawing from the Photograph CDV Art History

2011-11-15T09:07:00.000-08:00

Practice makes perfect.

Anonymous primitive drawing based on a CDV Photograph 1884. Photograph Curtiss & Smith, Syracuse New York with Pencil sketchbook. Collection Jim Linderman

Do Men Choose Mary or Alice? Use the Bonomo Ritual and Find Out

2011-11-13T18:09:00.000-08:00

The answer, of course, is both. As often as possible. But let's say you want to grow bigger bonomos AND develop raccoon eyes.

Strongman Joe Bonomo put most of his effort into growing the bust lines of MEN.

Having been quite the gym rat in my 30s and 40s, I can assure you THIS method works. Strain your muscles to failure with repeated repetition until the muscle part you are working on is exhausted. Legs, arms, chest...doesn't matter, works for them all. Increase the weight a little bit every week. They'll grow back bigger and stronger. Supplement the program with additional lean protein (a few cans of tuna a day is enough, or drink no-sugar powdered protein in skim milk) and in a few months you'll have a chest like Joe did. On your "rest" days, go for a run. If you are out of town, do push-ups in your hotel room instead. It really is that simple, and you don't need a book for it. End of story. I am usually a bit tongue in cheek, but here? Nope.

My contribution to the billion dollar weight and fitness industry, and it took one paragraph. Not only that, I'm giving it away!

As for the female of the species? Well, the specific female chest parts Joe wants to pump up don't have too much muscle, so the tear and repair method doesn't work.

Send in Joe's coupon and you'll receive ten pages of exercise, some good advice actually...and two more pages which will turn you into an Alice when you've been suffering as a Mary.

Here it is. You don't have to "click to enlarge" (or use the Bonomo ritual) because I will tell you.

Bras.

See? Bras.

Later Joe got into Dope.

One person who combines all the best qualities of both Mary AND Alice is Miram Linna, who has written the best article about Joe you will ever find. HERE

Miriam is force...at NORTON RECORDS which is celebrating their 25th Anniversary AS I TYPE! If you do not know Norton, you must be snortin' and Joe warned you about that above.

Ad for Bonomo Culture Institute 1950

Nation of Immigrants Pilgrim Tale Told c. 1950

2011-11-11T19:48:00.000-08:00

A collaborative effort, this handmade book by elementary students well over 50 years ago. The manila paper you may remember. The story, however, you may have forgotten. A nation of immigrants which began with a boat full of religious beliefs hoping to find a place they would be left alone.

A dream I have frequently have puts me back in school, but I am an adult retaking the basics over again. Browsing this book makes me wish it was required of all. There are stories taught which should last a lifetime or more...but apparently forgetting is easy.

Circa 1940 Handmade "Our Pilgrim Book" circa 1950 by Mrs. Whipple's class, Northeastern Michigan Collection Jim Linderman

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Indian "cemetery" Holy Place Carvings F. Gowan Vancouver Real Photo Postcard collection Jim Linderman

2011-11-09T06:17:00.001-08:00

Imagine coming across this scene in 1900. Titled "Indian Cemetery" I am not quite sure that describes the scene adequately or correctly. Shrine? Holy Place?

F. Gowan Publishers was a real photo postcard and photography seller based in Vancouver, British Columbia during the very early 20th Century. Sparse documentation for a most extraordinary environment.

ADDITIONAL interesting early Canadian photography work is shown HERE HERE and HERE or you can enter "Canada" into the search box above.

"Indian Cemetery" by F. Gowan Vancouver BC Real Photo Postcard circa 1910-1920? Collection Jim Linderman

Bombs Away Comic Decal Transfer Death from the Sky World War Two Gallows Graphics

2011-11-07T06:22:00.001-08:00

One day someone will write a book on the relationship between the rudimentary graphics of World War Two and tattoo art, pin up art and the comics. Maybe I will!

Countless cartoonists, illustrators and Vintage Sleaze artists began their careers drawing for their foxhole friends, mostly for duffel bags, helmets and such. Amateur pinups for the guys in the barracks. Most of the soldiers were barely out of high school, and what should have been drawn in schoolbooks and scratched onto desks were being created as diversions for patriotic young cannon fodder.

Death became a game. It had to. We were losing the war, and encouraging a little more war fever with a clever drawn gag didn't hurt. War is ugly and the furthest thing from funny, but gallows humor thrives in the face of atrocity, and many a bomb was decorated with humorous graffiti before being dropped.

The illustrations here come from an enormous collection of circa 1940 paper decals I found this weekend. All anonymous. All are on scraps of waxy paper, and I believe they are intended to be applied to uniforms, helmets and footlockers. I cleaned up and isolated the images from the paper backing. Anyone with more information on either the artist or the use of these graphic appliques of doom are encouraged to write.

World War Two decals circa 1940 collection Jim Linderman
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Time for Your (Tintype) Profile collection Jim Linderman

2011-11-06T05:52:00.000-08:00

Post "light" today as I'm working on a project. Photographers adopted the "frontal" portrait style from traveling limners I suppose, but once in a while someone knew their better side. A nice example of a young gent who would not face the camera.

Tintype Photograph, circa 1900 Collection Jim Linderman

Homemade Postcard from a Drowning Man collection Jim Linderman

2011-11-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

Two inches of text. Dr. Stillman is near death, Paul and Paul jr. are quarantined with Scarlet Fever and a drowning man who needs mail will not be home for the holidays.

Handmade Postcard Hand-drawn with applied cutout head 1919 Collection Jim Linderman

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Little Hoofers by Frank Wendt Cabinet Cards Collection Jim Linderman

2011-11-03T06:17:00.001-07:00

Photographer Frank Wendt is best known for his sideshow photographs, but he took more than his share of little women.

Cabinet Card Photographs by Frank Wendt, circa 1890 collection Jim Linderman

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On the Cusp of Extinction Roy Carling Captures the Family Farm in Comics and Cartoons

2011-11-02T09:48:00.001-07:00

Roy Carling captured the family farm right on the cusp of extinction. Roy was born in 1918 and lived to 2009. I purchased some 100 of his original cartoon drawings recently at a flea market and am just getting around to reading them. Roy lived and worked in Howard City, Michigan.

Family farm. A term which evokes pleasant memories even if you never worked on one.

You won't see any gags by Roy about Listeria or E. coli outbreaks from somewhere affecting folks ten states over. There are no jokes about recalls or "lot numbers" to watch out for. Back when Roy was doing his farm gags, crops traveled to the market down the road, not across the country. Each cow had an affectionate name, and when she gave birth the calves got names too...(they sometimes even talked!) Property was bought and sold by the acre, not the million hectacres.

Monsanto, patent owner of the genetically modified seeds everyone has been forced into relying on today evokes no pleasant memories, nor do any of the other "agri-business" companies now holding us and our elected officials by the turnips.

In Roy's work you will see chickens strolling freely and stopping to peck at a feeder. You see they had beaks then, they weren't clipped off to prevent fights in the factory. Today, Roy's chickens would be known as "free-range" as if that is something strange.

You will see a farmer trying to figure out how to use his new combine, or getting his tractor repaired, or discussing the new "hired man". One man...who negotiates his monthly wage while the farm owner rolls in the dirt laughing.

Junior is asked to open his piggybank for the next tractor payment. A farmer marvels at his new "six-row" tools. The big day is when the "poultry buyer" drives up while the wife gathers eggs and junior receives his allowance. One farmer here brags that he has doubled his flock size from 40 to 80 birds.

Roy depicted the world he knew, and that world had neighbors loaning their barbwire stretcher to each other. The "milk tank" springs a leak and the barn cats have a feast. A local eccentric stacks his chicken cages in piles of four. FOUR. Have you seen a chicken factory of late? Chicken skyscrapers. In fact they don't WANT you to see them. Long buildings back from the road with no signs...just enormous fans to remove the smell and warnings from a distant conglomerate to keep away. I can remember an elementary school with a visit to a farm. Not anymore.

Roy didn't know he was capturing the death of the family farm. In his work you see the silos getting bigger, the owners worried about being bought out, the first experience with breeders and traveling seed salesmen and putting up a barn sign as it changes ownership. The hardworking family imagines a bright future with "atomic" powered tractors. The availability of "new crop varieties" gives the wife a chance to argue for a new hat. After all, if corn comes in varieties, why shouldn't her wardrobe?

Roy Carling numbered each cartoon and saved a few of the publications they appeared in. The newsletter of the Central Ohio Breeders Association runs Roy's gag with a farmer holding his hat out for donations while leaving the local IRS office. The New York Breeders Cooperative runs his "cow a minute" gag. Roy saved a letter from Land O Lakes asking for a turkey cartoon for the thanksgiving issue.

Farms are not funny anymore.

Original, hand-drawn gag cartoons by Roy Carling, circa 1960-1975 Collection Jim Linderman

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Let's RIDE ! Capturing Motion in Sculpture RPPC collection Jim Linderman Folk Art

2011-10-31T17:38:00.000-07:00

Click to Enlarge

The ability to capture motion in sculpture is rare, but seldom does a carver FAIL to display it so well! Let's STAND!

Real Photo Postcard "An exhibition of Hand-Carving made by Nat V. Ranney, Rochester" No date collection Jim Linderman

Lutheran Halloween

2011-10-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

Pistol Packing Pin Ups The Origin of the Armed Pin Up (INVESTIGATIVE REPORT)

2011-10-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN, AND SHE'S LOADED

In this exclusive report, we reveal the secret behind armed pin up girls. Women with weapons and very little clothing. Gals with Gats. The Texas Two-Step Double Armed.

The origin of Pin Ups with a Piece falls directly into Candy Barr's lovely holstered lap. Hailing from the wide open plains of Texas, where a gun was as natural as a spoon to a baby, the baby-faced Candy (one Juanita Slusher) grew up with a grip on the handle. Raped at age 12 and married at age 14 (before she had even bleached her hair) to a safecracker named Billie Joe Debbs. Ahh...pin up glamor.

Texas. Land of Bush and Perry, Ruby and Oswald. The state where Dick Cheney shot his friend in the face. The state where liquor stores carry ammo, and frequently sell them to the same customer. "Will you be drinking and shooting now? Or would you like a bag?"

Once Candy had survived her youth, (and in the process making what is generally considered the very first pornographic film at age 16) it appears the busty (now) blond vowed never to be a victim again. Fully armed, she adopted the stance which would influence naked women on paper for ever...fully packed and loaded!

Soon other pin up models were applying for carry permits. But not in Texas..unnecessary! The shops were practically GIVING away weapons!

So the next time you see a camaflogued cutie with her breasts wrapped in a cartridge belt, combat boots and an automatic weapon, let Candy Barr come to mind. The woman who armed the pin ups.

Their theme song? The heavy rap of Al Dexter ( Clarence Albert Poindexter) another Texan, of course, who wrote "Pistol Packin' Mama"

Don't Mess with Candy EVER AGAIN!

Shown here a bevy of pistol packing pin-ups (ALL FROM TEXAS, I CHECKED!) from the 1960 salesman sample catalog titled "Pin-Ups for Advertising" distributed in Dallas.

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We ARE DIGITAL at Dull Tool Dim Bulb (Books now $5.99 iPad Downloads)

2011-10-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

VINTAGE SLEAZE / DULL TOOL BOOKS NOW AVAILABLE AS $5.99 EBOOKS for iPad HERE

We are STILL NOT DIGITAL at Dull Tool Dim Bulb Upload THIS

2011-10-28T08:41:00.001-07:00

Here at Dull Tool Dim Bulb we still take our portraits with machines...and the only "upload' we do is into the truck with burly union helpers when finished with the shoot.

Secrets of 42nd Street and Fugitive Literature Ted Poole and The Missing Book

2011-10-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

"Legitimate" books are those for which the Library of Congress received two free copies. That is how copyright is established for a book. (It is also a smart way for the nation's library to build their collection) It is also a law, in some states anyway, that books published must show the actual publisher and location where it was printed. These laws are enforced selectively...so that, for example, a mobster printing smut could be found guilty of SOMETHING to keep the magazine racks clean, even if his product did not satisfy the nebulous requirements to be banned as obscene.

Book folk, of which I am one, refer to books not within the system of copyright and above-ground publication as "fugitive literature" when they lack any form of bibliographic control. No Library of Congress number, no ISBN, no indexing and I suppose no "accountability" though I don't think the Constitution had an ISBN number. Or Walden, Common Sense and Leaves of Grass for that matter, but they all do now.

Try to find a copy of Secrets of 42nd Street. I did for a year. I failed! And I hate to fail.

Now this could be for many reasons. Rare? Thrown away? A ruse designed to collect $1.98 from pervs who lived in Podunk? Trust all are quite possible. If any of you actually HAVE a copy, let me borrow it...I need it and my research doesn't depend on any stinking numbers!

I am starting to suspect this book may not have ever existed, nor did the apparent companion volume Secrets of Greenwich Village advertised two pages away. Unless they really were "fugitive" literature and just plain slipped into and out of the system for good.

Claimed author Ted Poole existed...sorta. In addition to the ad copy here (From a 1960 issue of MAN to MAN, a real stinker from Picture Magazines, AKA Volitant Publishing, Adrian Lopez's pulp empire) I have found TWO articles Mr. Poole was responsible for. Ready? "The Lonely Women of Lesbos Island" which ran in Sir magazine in 1959 and "My Life in an Arab Harem" in South Sea Stories 1962. For all I know Ted was their staff writer, or as the copy claims their "famous adventure writer" as Sir isn't too well indexed either. Though it did spew fiction as fact for a long time.

So having established, almost, that Ted Poole existed, even if in pseudo anonymous form...you would think I could find a copy of the books. Nope. I'm not sure how carefully MAN to MAN checked their advertisers, but we might assume they didn't at all...so maybe this mail drop was a ruse and your money order crossed the bridge into Brooklyn only in turn to be loan-sharked back to some other looser in Queens. Or maybe the book was literally one mimeographed page...just enough to satisfy the price.

Whatever. I'm intrigued by the ad copy here and I need the book for my OWN book I am writing which WILL have a LC number and an ISBN. So if you have one, let me know. I'll even go the $1.98 but I'd prefer a real address, not a PO Box. I really, really need this book to strip it for content and then make fun of it.

I already know "where you can go for a cheap drink, when you're short" (The Landmark Tavern on Tenth Avenue and 46th...they waved me away once after three bourbons) and I also know what the ladies of the night "want..and how to outwit them" but that stays with me.

Seriously, if you know of a copy, share?

Jim Linderman is writing "TIMES SQUARE SMUT" which tells the story of a few rouges who changed the world by publishing illegal soft-core digests during the 1950s.

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Ablest Exhortation of Boy Preacher Paschl Porter CDV Photograph Collection Jim Linderman

2011-10-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

Paschal Porter was born 1877 at Bee Camp (a settlement of four log cabins) on the Ohio River in Indiana. He was one of the few literate members of the community. He announced his desire to be a preacher at age five. By age eleven he was touring the country and beyond with his father and his manager Mr. Bingham. I say "beyond" as the boy preacher was a hit in Canada as well as the states.

The St. Andrews Bay Pilot March 15, 1888 reports on what much have been a typical performance. "Paschal Porter, the wonderful child revivalist, of Indiana, who is now only 11 years old, recently preached a sermon, in the Baptist Church at Williamstown, Ky., that astonished everybody who heard it. The pastor of the church says that he has read sermons on the same subject delivered by the ablest preachers, but not one of them could compare in power or in elegance of diction with the boy's exhortation."

Additionally, the Ashburton Guardian of November 24, 1888 reports "Among the coming sensations from America we to have a "pulpit tour" by a boy only 11 years of age, called the Rev. Paschal Porter. His eloquence is said to be such that thousands sit and listen to him for hours, while he preaches the most brilliant and profound sermons." The best copy on the little fellow is from the Little Falls New York Evening Times of March 21, 1888, which reports "So extraordinary are his powers that Simeon Marks the leading Hebrew of the village is so impressed the he almost believes little Paschl is the "Messiah for whom his race has so long waited."

I'm not going to argue with Mr. Marks, who was there (several times..it is said he attended many sermons) but as the Paschl trail ends in 1888, I am going to surmise he was not the second coming.

Original CDV Photograph by J.Q. Barloup, Williamstown KY with affixed newsprint and handwritten notes, 1888. Collection Jim Linderman

A post here on Dull Tool Dim Bulb AND old-time-religion.

See also Old Time Religion: Faith Healers, Miracle Men, Radio Preachers and Evangelists! Graphics of Revival, the Apocalypse and the Afterlife by Jim Linderman NOW AVAILABLE AS AN EBOOK AND IPAD DOWNLOAD for $5.99 as well as paperback and hardcover.

Deceive the Eye Trompe-l'oeil painting Art History from the Flea market

2011-10-23T06:51:00.000-07:00

Too good to let stay behind, I purchased a quite remarkable trompe-l'oeil painting by an "amateur master" (soon to be my trademarked phrase) at an antique mall yesterday and promptly posted it in the Museum of Ebay. (Trademark pending)

SEE LISTING ON EBAY HERE

An "Art Lesson from the Flea Market" (My NEXT trademarked phrase, so don't even think about it.)

The best Trompe-l'oeil paintings are the ones done during the great Depression, when hungry artists would paint their dreams.. artists so poor, they literally PAINTED money. The idea is to render an object so good, you think it is sitting right on the canvas. Reach up and pluck that bill off...and go buy soup.

Also common in Trompe l'oeil are playing cards, and that's what my Sunday painter did...but he threw in a surrealistic twist and a reflection!

Quite a painting, but not my thing, so up it went. Have a look. Tell your friends. Deceive YOUR eye!

Bid like Oprah at a Shaker Auction! (Those in the trade will know what that refers to)

Trump any other Trompe bidders HERE

Trompe -l'oiel painting looking for a home Circa 1920-1930? Currently, but not for long, Collection Jim Linderman

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Best Devil Costume! Halloween Prize Winner Graphic

2011-10-22T12:59:00.001-07:00

Best Costume! El Diablo gives it his best.

Early child's costume, circa 1950? No date of mfg. Collection Jim Linderman

Early Graffiti on a Rock for God Dull Tool Dim Bulb

2011-10-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

From the pamphlet "God's Way of Salvation Illustrated by Comparison and Contrast" No Date (Circa 1930?) Gospel Folio Press.

See also Old Time Religion the Blog

Folk Art Tintype Background and Backdrop Naive and Primitive

2011-10-19T13:07:00.000-07:00

NOTE: THE BOOK "PAINTED BACKDROP: BEHIND THE SITTER IN AMERICAN TINTYPE PHOTOGRAPHY 1860 - 1920" by JIM LINDERMAN is now AVAILBLE AS A DOWNLOAD FOR APPLE IPAD AND E-BOOKS
HERE

For me, the most beautiful tintype photographs are those which do not aspire to be something greater than they are, those with elaborate Victorian backdrops and over-decorative props. Far more beautiful, and representative of the times, are the makeshift, naive and primitive hand-painted backgrounds done by the amateurs and rudimentary early photographers. Traveling camera men who needed to control the background but enhanced a sheet of muslin, not silk.

Set of Folk Art Tintype Backdrops Collection Jim Linderman circa 1870-1880.

SEE ALSO THE BOOK THE PAINTED BACKDROP BY JIM LINDERMAN HERE

Trigger (Surface, Form, Patina) Willie Nelson

2011-10-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

Trigger
Willie Nelson's Guitar
Photographer Unknown

Snake Scarecrow Robin Shocker! Research Expenditures of General Electric

2011-10-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

So there has much in the press of late that General Electric, or GE, doesn't pay their fair share of taxes. Well I'm here to tell you the reason is the phenomenal amount of dollars they plow back into the company as research expenditures. Where do you think new products come from anyway?

GE Snake Shocker to Scare Robins Original Press Photograph, 1951 Collection Jim Linderman.

Urban Exchange East Fulton Grand Rapids Consignment Class Community and Change

2011-10-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

Big box retail is dying, long live little bags. As chain stores ruined the landscape by making every highway exit look exactly the same from coast to coast, I just quit traveling. Why go there if it looks just like here?

Greed got in the way too...the more the behemoths grew, the less they participated in the community and the more they ruined the lives of those they sold to. Stagnant with wages, reluctant with benefits...phooey on them. Gap has announced they are closing stores. Have you heard anyone say they will miss them? Well, if you do, just drive to the OTHER mall right across the exit exchange, there is a Gap there too, and they have the inventory of every one of the remaining 2,500 Gap stores.

Finally, in every urban center of the land, let the small neighborhood business thrive. Beholding to the community they serve, friendly and charming, with individual attention geared to their specific clients. Small business WILL drive the recovery, and with it hopefully bring back some community, some family, some taste and some love.

It will take some time, but it will happen. I have SEEN the recovery, and it is in hundreds of little gentrified neighborhoods like the East Fulton Business District in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A few short blocks, ethnically diverse, walking friendly, hype-free and lovely. If there is a sign or a logo there, it was made by hand and made locally. Full of beautiful, happy store clerks, beautiful, homemade things, real food from local owned restaurants in buildings which once stood vacant...but each of them with an architectural charm from the past and renewed vigor for the future. I am going to guess a few folks were employed to fix things up too.

I was so impressed with one little establishment I asked my family friend to take a picture. Urban Exchange is a perfect example of the new economy and new business model. A consignment shop, upscale but down home (and right down the street) filled with beautiful affordable things and beautiful friendly employees.

Urban Exchange is located at 926 East Fulton Street, in The East Fulton business district. Consignors may drop off pieces ANYTIME during business hours, although week day drop offs are preferred. No appointment is necessary. Urban Exchange pays 40% of the selling price for current fashion women’s clothes and accessories that are in excellent condition. They are looking for brands such as J. Crew, Banana Republic, Free People, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, H&M, BCBG, Bebe, Diesel, Nine West, Steve Madden, AND so much more! They are looking for funky tops, hip denim, every day khakis, comfy sweaters, cheeky coats, jackets, hats, shoes, jewelry, belts and handbags......and so much more! We also collect hand made fashions made from repurposed materials. They pay 40% of the selling price. Payments are available for pick up on the 1st of every month.

They will look through your items, assess the style and label, and ensure all pieces are in excellent condition. They ask only all pieces are freshly laundered and pressed, and they steam each piece before displaying. They select the items they would like to accept into their collection, enter the description into the computer and assign an item number. Unselected pieces may be picked up within 72 hours and will be donated or responsibly disposed of if not claimed. Pieces are displayed for 60 days. Any unsold items may be picked up prior or upon the 60th day. Unclaimed expired pieces will be donated or responsibly disposed of.

Okay, so I didn't write the description above. But Stephanie Johnson did, the proud business owner who hired and pays the salaries of several wonderful people...and you can see she did it with care, respect for her clients and love.

I am choosing to show the shoes only, not because I have a shoe fetish, but because every woman I know does...and the selection is lovely and colorful. The clothing here is beautiful, and both lovely women I was with tried things on and I ended up paying for one of them. The little shop was full of happy folks and no one was herded into a cattle cage to pay like the Gap checkout. In fact we had to ASK where to pay, and it was right behind us staffed by ANOTHER lovely person, who I am sure the boss knows the name off, and will likely one day know the name of her husband, should she have one, and her children too, again if that is what she chooses. Maybe one day the cashier will drive past and remember working there, and point it out to her children.

As we drove home, we passed the "occupy" folks. I agree with them, but they might start thinking a little smaller and doing a little better. Rick Danko, a gentle talented man I respected much, once said something like "We thought we could change the world, but maybe we should just try to help the neighborhood."

Urban Exchange, a business model for the recovery AND a splendid place to shop has a website HERE.

(Please note Urban Exchange did not select this "media placement" or ask for a "click-through rate" or anything like that. Nor did they ask for this endorsement. I just liked being there, and I can share.)

COOL SHOE PHOTOS BY TOM SMITH

Untitled (Staff Meeting)

2011-10-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

Pozart Portrait circa 1965 Untitled (First Shift?) Collection Jim Linderman

Incredible Cowboy Magician collection Jim Linderman

2011-10-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

I know... I hate to see watermarks on images too...but lately things I have posted have turned up as refrigerator magnets on Ebay. In enormous quantities! So much for sharing. Which is also the reason you may see my name in the title field here more often.

Anyway, as I really love this original photograph of a Cowboy Magician, I'm sharing it here but not sharing it without credit, dammit.

Untitled Photograph, circa 1920? Collection Jim Linderman

Dull Tool Dim Bulb Visual Dictionary and Reference Manual

2011-10-13T17:02:00.000-07:00

Toy Club of America products 1960

Old Folk Art Cat (Early Weathervane Fragment Folk Art Cat) Collection Jim Linderman

2011-10-12T17:21:00.000-07:00

Wood doesn't last long outside, which is why most weathervanes that remain are metal. This one was made by hand, likely using a pattern from a hobbyist magazine. Traces of the original gray paint remain. Traces of the attached mount remain as well. One can tell if a wooden folk art weathervane is authentic by the age and wear...as there are prevailing winds (and an imperfect balance) the wear should be uneven. I have seen some nearly destroyed on one side, but with plenty of paint and color on the other.

Wooden Weathervane Figure, circa 1920? Collection Jim Linderman

Surly Punk mans the Ball Toss at the Carnival Vernacular Photograph collection Jim Linderman

2011-10-11T11:33:00.000-07:00

Click to Enlarge to browse "PRIZES"

Undated photograph (Ball Toss) Collection Jim Linderman

Pin Up Pete Comic Book 1952 Pete Spins some Wartime Yarn

2011-10-10T07:12:00.000-07:00

What were they thinking? The book Commies, Cowboys and Jungle Queens calls this pre-code debacle "a blatant vehicle for sexual fantasy." Hah! Published to no acclaim in 1952, this is issue number one (of one) of Pin Up Pete. The lives of a GI Casanova!

And sure enough, there stands Pete, fresh and clean, home from the war, with jungle girls and some hot tang from the Ice Capades on his arms. Inside, Pete is in much poorer shape, as he and his friends, rendered like Bill Mauldin's Joe (bearded and sloped) pour over pin-up conquests from Pete's past. I think they are supposed to be dead, and we are supposed to think wherever they are, they are still living their pin-up dreams in heaven.

The intended audience? Sheesh. Certainly not the 8 year old sons the vets who made it home produced. Could be their younger brothers who followed the war at home and were now about of "pin-up-pounding" age? Maybe an aging vet who only read comic books and wanted to relive the glory of his paper-doll friends instead of the horror of war?

Pete was a lucky man. Not only did he survive the war, he survived with every memory of his lusty comic-book cuties intact. He had them all in his dreams...and he's willing to kiss and tell. Nary a Rosie the Riveter escaped his dogging...and in his mind they were all tough, beautiful and somewhat dominant dames, just like every cartoonist with a pervy bent drew them before Kefauver forced them into drawing REAL smut to make a living!

Whatever, There was only one issue, and from an age when anything went in comic books...just like today!

Some pages have a pin drawn in! Maybe so few of these exist today because kids tore it up and stuck them on the wall just like real pinups?

The great BookSteve has a copy and so do I. I'll post some of the pages he didn't.

Pin Up Pete: Loves of a GI Casanova! Toby Press (A Minoan Magazine) 1952 Collection Victor Minx

This is also a post on Vintage Sleaze the Blog
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Find the Drunken Duck (German Health Club)

2011-10-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

"Gesenheit Verfin" translates to "Health Club"...so this is a joke photo, unless you feel beer is good for your health, in which case it is no joke. Except for the duck.

Real Photo Postcard circa 1900 Collection Jim Linderman

DULL TOOL DIM BULB BOOK ORDERS HERE

STUMP MAN Folk Art Vernacular Snapshot Collection Jim Linderman

2011-10-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

Close relative to the Scarecrow.

Untitled Vernacular Photograph (Ephemeral Sculptural Figure) circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman

SEE ALSO IN SITU: AMERICAN FOLK ART IN PLACE the book

Doris Doesn't Bite (But Eats the Sandwich) Depression Era Dating Homemade Note collection Jim Linderman

2011-10-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

Looks like someone tried to buy a date with some food, but Doris calls the shots.

I thank you very much for the sandwich and would love to have some more. I'm very sorry but I can't meet you either evening for I have a date both nights. I would like to have your photo though for I wouldn't know you if i met you on the street. Your friend, Doris Beck

Homemade postcard/note with affixed photograph Circa 1930? Collection Jim Linderman

Wynton and Eric. There IS a God, and He Paired two Masters

2011-10-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

I'm not a big fan of Jazz, but I am a HUGE fan of Wynton Marsalis. As I have said before, if you ever have a chance to see him, you will be telling your grandchildren one day...he is that important. As for Clapton, I have always thought he was capable of solos even Coltrane couldn't imagine. So this pairing, recorded live, is a blessing.

I've seen Wynton in this same venue...he being pretty much the house band there. I was fortunate enough to be near the front when he played here with Dr. John. I know...sorry you weren't there.

If I still lived in New York City, I would have been first in line for this gig too. The CD just came out.

I won't digress on the racial elements, other than to say we have a European influenced African-American Jazz man from New Orleans playing with an African (Delta) influenced white man from England. Can they make harmony? Duh.

My nomination for a Grammy. What category? MUSIC. The clip below is but a small example. Not only that, you see Clapton talk...something he rarely does without his fingers!

Contortionist Helen Paguin of Canada RPPC Jim Linderman Collection

2011-10-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

A perfect "V" and an incredible set of real photo postcards of young Helen Paguin of Western Canada, Vaudevillian and child performer. This girl could literally compose words with her body. I have no other information on Helen Paguin or the rest of her extraordinary family, who would have been active 1910-1930 in Canada and likely across the border. Helen Paguin Child Performer

Collection of 5 real photo postcards collection Jim Linderman

Rudolph Rossi Photographs at Au Boudoir Art Space Santa Fe November 2011

2011-10-04T11:54:00.000-07:00

CLICK TO ENLARGE

CLICK TO ENLARGE

The first public showing of the original photographs of Rudolf Rossi in Santa Fe at Au Boudoir Art Space this November. Each original photograph was taken, developed and hand-tinted by the artist circa 1955. Each photograph is one of a kind and they were never shown during the artist's lifetime, nor have they been seen since. The book Camera Club Girls, available HERE, acts as the catalog to the exhibition. Camera Club Girls: Bettie Page, Her Friends and the Work of Rudolph Rossi by Jim Linderman is available from Blurb.com. 114 Pages, $37.00 softcover, with over 150 illustrations.

Good Advice from Dull Tool Dim Bulb

2011-10-02T11:44:00.001-07:00

Anonymous snapshot, circa 1930? Collection Jim Linderman

Andy Rooney and E.B White Essays a TRIBUTE

2011-10-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

Few of us are lucky enough to have worked with greatness, but I have. Way back during my hard-boiled drunk librarian days, I was fortunate enough to work near, and frequently with, Andrew Rooney at CBS News. Eight years. After all that time, the worst boss I ever had in my life fired me. Eh...everyone should get fired at least once in their life, it builds character, teaches lessons and I deserved it.

Mr. Rooney was a brilliant writer from my father's generation, and he would have liked my father. Both served with distinction during the real war, when boys truly were men. Shipped off at 18 to save the world, literally, and they did. There are very few men left from that war.

Rooney was a journalist when it mattered. I don't think he ever filed a story from a press release in his life, and If that makes any of you "journalists" left feel a bit guilty, good. Shame on you and your like. Andy found his way onto the other side of the camera, but what he really was, and is still, is a damn good writer. A serious, clever, inquisitive writer with probably ten best-sellers under his belt.

Rooney, I believe, is 92, and his last regular piece for 60 minutes will air this Sunday. I'll be watching. During my stint at CBS, I enjoyed more than anything having Andy grump his way towards me to ask for something. What he wanted was help finding a dozen pictures of Muhammad Ali, or the population of some president's hometown, or the amount of money spent on turkey sandwiches during an average year. Once a week or so, the whole 8 years I was there, Andy would come in and challenge me and the rest of the staff with odd requests.

One time Andy asked me a question about E. B. White. I asked what he wanted to know about Charlotte's Web. He stared me right in the eye, and with probably the most gruffness he could muster said "E.B. White wrote the greatest essay about New York City" and stomped away. He was right, and I gave that little book away to friends in the city as birthday presents for the next 15 years.

I remember when he showed me the desk he had made by hand. It is still in his office and I will miss seeing it on 60 Minutes. I remember his typewriter, and when he reluctantly switched to a crappy Wang computer. I remember every year he would walk in carrying a huge box of Vidalia onions to share. He did a story on them once and received a box every season.

A year or two later, I ran into Andy on West 57th Street while I was on my way to the park for a run. I took to running seriously after being fired...and was down a good 15 or 20 pounds from my CBS days. I had that emaciated look of a good runner. Andy took one look at me and said "Jim? Are you okay?" As I hadn't had to wake up in the morning for 8 months, by choice...I told him I sure was great, chatted a bit and headed up to the park.

A few months later, I realized Mr. Rooney had looked at me and feared I had acquired AIDS. At the time, my city was being ravaged by the disease, and unfortunate, withered men were a common sight on the street. Andy cared enough for me to ask.

For years after leaving CBS I always thought the last time I would see anyone from there was at Andy's funeral, which I would have done my best to attend out of my deep respect for the man, but he fooled me. He never died.

It has been some 20 years since I worked at CBS. I still have nightmares about it, but then I still have nightmares about high school. I have knocked around quite a bit since then, but few people I worked with had such an impact on me, and I would like to thank him somehow. The best thing I can do is put him here right next to a photo of E. B. White.

Originally my tribute to co-worker Andrew Rooney, now, a month later, a Tribute to his Life.

World's Tallest Cowboy ?

2011-09-30T07:10:00.000-07:00

A big man thunders along the street in Colorado, 1931. Someone hired a giant. I suspected this could be an unknown photograph of Robert Wadlow, a tall drink of depression era water who passed away in 1940 at the age of 22, but he would have only been 11 years old here. Whoever it was could have certainly delivered a pretty big "HOWDY" and the ten gallon hat could actually be that! Feel free to participate. Any giant watchers out there?

Unknown parade participant 1931 Colorado "NeverFade" photograph collection Jim Linderman