Antique Folk Art Sculpture Carnival Ring Toss Turn ofthe Century
Collection Jim Linderman
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Mugs Kissers and Drawings of Faces HUNDREDS of Them 1944 Eccentric Drawings on Crowded Cardboard
How would you like to draw literally hundreds of unique faces on one piece of cardboard, then spill your coffee on it? Well, it could be water damage or foxing, I suppose. Still, this piece is something of a cartoonist tour de force. Go ahead, count them. Each person is about an inch square. I particularly like the man in a Welder's mask, and you will see that bastard Shickelgruber here too. These were drawn by a soldier in 1944. While the figures are small, the last scan here shows the entire group.
Drawings of Faces on one piece of cardboard. Collection Jim Linderman
Prime Pulp for a DIME. Dime Novels from the Turn of the Century
I do know "The Old Sleuth" was a young guy who dressed up as an old bald guy to solve crimes, but I am not sure why. The world's first geriatric superhero! I guess at the scene of a crime, he would duck into the nearest saloon or haberdashery and paste on his wispy beard.
Group of dime novels, now a dollar each! Artists unidentified and frequently written by hacks. Collection Jim Linderman, but maybe I'll recycle them. This is prime pulp.
Antique Folk Art Sculpture Cod Fish Weathervane with Directional and Original Mount
Antique Folk Art Sculpture Cod Fish Weathervane with Directional and Original Mount circa 1930 Collection Jim Linderman
Antique Folk Art Sculpture Sewer Tile Pottery Man with a Feather in his Cap (and his boss in his hand) End of Day Work
Antique Folk Art Sculpture Sewer Tile Man with a Feather in his Cap (and what appears to be his boss's head in his hand) End of Day Work, usually items like this were produced after a long day. In this case, the worker may be taking revenge on his boss. Circa 1900 Collection Jim Linderman Dull Tool Dim Bulb
Similar piece on a Brick HERE
Mid-Century Colors in Viinyl Masland Duran Yearling Duraleather
Mid-Century Colors in Viinyl Masland Duran Yearling Duraleather circa 1960? No date shown. Salesman Sample Sheet collection Jim Linderman
Pictures of Matchstick Depression era Match Boxes
The Most Sexist Paperback Book Cover in History Avon Books Battle of the Sexes
The most sexist paperback cover in history. Battle of the Sexes. While censors were chasing down producers of soft-core pinups and underground erotica publishers. CRAP like this was churned out by major publishers (AVON) and displayed on revolving book displays in stores and anywhere paperbacks were sold. In fact, Avon books were described as "mass market" which means you didn't have to skulk into a men's bookstore to purchase it. Circa 1955.
While his name doesn't appear on my copy, the Cumulative Paperback Index 1939-1959 lists this as one of a dozen books by Charles Preston. Other "joke" books he edited include A Cartoon Guide to the Kinsey Report and Pets - Including Women (also stinkers) but not as graphic as Battle of the Sexes. Although on the cover of Pets, he does show a bloated millionaire-type treating a woman like a dog.
Battle of the Sexes looks like a serial killer's nightstand reading. Apparently Mr. Preston moved on to become cartoon editor for the Wall Street Journal. It also looks like when billionaire right winger Rupert Murdoch bought the Wall Street Journal, he bumped Preston's cartoon column to the back pages...certainly not because he has good taste. He did it to make more money.
Below are a few other clunkers attributed to Charles Preston. GOSH these gags are riotous...not. At the same time, the Humorama line published by Timely features ruled the newsstands for dirty comics. They may not have been "America's Leading cartoonists" but they sure were better.
Antique Art on Tin Tobacco Tags 19th Century Tobacco Brands
Tin Tobacco Tags late 19th Century collection Jim Linderman
Sister Gertrude Morgan God's Greatest Hits Rod McKuen and Me! Annual I am not at the Outsider Art Fair 2016 Post
God's Greatest Hits which featured a dozen or so splendid paintings by Sister Gertrude Morgan was quite popular 45 years ago when published. Some 300,000 copies were sold. Book sales like that are improbable now, I can assure you. It didn't hurt that the works illustrated were from the private collection of "middle of the road" poet Rod McKuen, or that the book was written by God. Well, whoever wrote the Bible, that is. 31 biblical quotes, the colorful "googly eyes" works by the Sister and wrapped up with a nice sleeve in a tiny format. As some of the little books were inscribed and/or even had an original work by the preacher, I've opened used copies of the book numerous times.
But what became of the McKuen collection? Read on...
I collected Sister Morgan's work heavily decades ago. At one time I had fifteen of them arranged around my New York City rent-controlled apartment. I even painted the walls and floor just like she did…it was like living in her little house / chapel. They were relatively affordable then, though I do remember spending three grand on a really big one. The ones I found most interesting were apparently among her first works. Crayon and shoe polish (white, of course) which were painted on cardboard and I presume used as Bible "flash cards" for the Lord. They were uncharacteristic, and less dense than the later work. Each depicted an obscure Bible story with a passage about each written on the reverse. They were designed to be read while aiming them towards an audience. Like all my works by the artist, they are now in a private collection. I don't think anyone will mind me sharing them here. I even owned a T-bone steak bone she had signed and used as her stylus to paint the eyes of her self-portraits. That now has an unknown owner too, and I hope it will not eventually be lost. The bone was once shown in a book on folk art, at least. The photos are a bit fuzzy and I don't even have pictures of most of them, but here you go. The ones I can't show are too blurred (or never photographed.)
Some of the works I used to have are shown in photographs of the artist in the spectacular "Tools of her Ministry" book by William Fagaly. One hangs directly over her head while she studies the Bible. The book was edited by a much respected friend Tanya Heinrich and designed by equally much respected friend John Hubbard. It remains one of the most thorough and beautiful catalogs of a self-taught artist. It is the one to buy, though there are certainly plenty of God's Greatest Hits floating around. I was immensely proud to be included in the acknowledgements but didn't loan anything to the traveling exhibition. Mine were gone!
I have seen God's Greatest Hits shoved in among religious tracts in used bookstores. Again, one should always look for any inscriptions and drawings on the title page. The good sister painted a few of her record sleeves too, but be careful if you buy the CD. One version was "funked up" by some looser hipster overdubs.
Tools Of Her Ministry oddly does not appear on the American Folk Art Museum Book ordering page, but it is available HERE and you should join the Museum too. My apartment, on the edge of Times Square, has been split in half and is now two studios, each costing as much a month as I paid for an entire year. The works shown here are all in private collections. The bone / stylus I owned was shown in the long out of print book Contemporary American Folk Artists by Elinor Landor Horwitz. It is recommended and as books are largely dead weight now, available on used book sites for pennies and postage.
OTHER EDITIONS of the "I'm not at the Outsider Art Fair" essays are HERE.
Finally, I still have some stuff left! The new book (and $9.99 ebook) ECCENTRIC FOLK ART DRAWINGS OF THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES from the Jim Linderman collection is available HERE.
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