Skippy, Scrappy and Colortone American Toy Works Art Education Vintage Paint Set

Skippy, Scrappy and Colortone American Toy Works.  A lovely art set from the 1930s, and an excuse for me to plug one of my favorite books!

Colortone was but one of the product names for the American Toy Company, child's toy and game manufacturer active from around the 1920s to the 1940s in Long Island City.  They are not well-documented, but what is shown on the web displays a particularly beautiful graphic quality to their boxes.  Many of their products were art-orientated, including this huge and impressive set.  American Toy Company had their own line of crayons which were sold separately under the "Skippy" brand, and also "Scrappy" though I am not sure how many works of art like to be called scrappy.
 
Normally price stickers and such on original boxes don't add to the value, but in this case a "DO NOT OPEN UNTIL CHRISTMAS" pair of stickers from Grandma to Donald at least adds some charm.  Donald was not artistically inclined, the set is virtually untouched though funky with age…but the enclosed stencils to allow a child to cheat were well-used.


The book I love is a modest little thing I have mentioned before.  The beautiful "Objects of American Art Education"  by Diana Korzenik, which contains numerous items such as this from her own collection.  The catalog was published in 2004 but it still shows what a dedicated collector can do with persistence and vision.  I see a few copies on Amazon.  I rate it a BUY. 

American Toy Works  Colortone Paint Set, circa 1930  Collection Jim Linderman

Browse and Purchase books and Ebooks ($5.99) by Jim Linderman HERE on Blurb.com

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

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.

Jim Linderman articles on ArtSlant

Collected articles on art by Jim Linderman on ArtSlant
HERE

Eight Painters Painting Tintype Occupational Portraits from the Past

Some turpentine tainted fellows from tintype photographs.


Occupational Tintype Photographs circa 1860-1880 Collection Jim Linderman from The Painted Backdrop

The Painted Ba...

Behind the Sitter i...

By Jim Linderman DUL...

Book Preview

AMERICA'S MOST FAMOUS ARTISTS and the 100 Million Dollar Picasso

You know, the recent record-breaking sale of Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" has me thinking about investing in art, so I did a little research to make sure I didn't plunge into anything too quickly. I found a list of America's Most Famous Artists and intend to make my purchases wisely from this list.

Famous Artists Schools from "inside cover" of Inside Detective Magazine February 1964

Objects to Paint (Do Not put Brush in the Mouth)

Painting Instruction Book 1910 Saalfield Publishing Company Collection Jim Linderman

Dull Tool Dim Bulb Discovers Andy Warhol Missing Link?

My discovery which questions whether Andy Warhol learned to draw soup cans from a small Heinz tracing book he would have had access to as a child seems to be striking a nerve. Quite possible, and I will lay out the details here as a few folks have asked.

I found a small booklet in an antique mall which was originally published by the Heinz company in Andy Warhol's home town the year before he was born. The book encouraged young children to TRACE THE IMAGES contained for "fun" when the intent was clearly to imprint impressionable young minds with the Heinz logo and brand. Tracing paper was bound into the pamphlet on top of each Heinz product. The book has a date of 1927 and was published in Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh was also Andy's home town and he was born one year later in 1928. As such, the small book, one of a series called "Heinz Kindergarten Books" would have been readily available to the young artist.

The images here come from the Heinz book number 6, so the series was well established and local Pittsburgh residents would have surely picked up the premium, which was free, for their children to play with. Although not as famous as his Campbell's images, Warhol did produce art with the Heinz logo, just like the branding experts at H. J. Heinz apparently hoped he one day would! As the similarities are quite striking, and the location and dates too much of a coincidence to ignore, I believe Mr. Warhol may have played with books from the series and remembered it some 40 years later when he began using similar (in fact, nearly identical) images in his work. I am not speculating that Mr. Warhol traced this copy, as thousands of children would have had the book, but he clearly would have had access to another copy.

Have a look, consider it yourself...and contact the art historians! Greg Allen on his blog has added some history on the book series and discusses the impact product advertising has on young minds.

The images were originally published a month ago on Dull Tool Dim Bulb, I am re-posting them along with a few additional scans. Just for the record, a Heinz Tomato Ketchup drawing by Warhol done in 1962 ( and quite similar to the very ketchup bottle shown in a tracing here from 1927) sold for over one million dollars at Christie's in 2009.