True Crime Lost in Time ? Siple RELEASED? Hex Ridden Witchcraft Murder

True Crime Lost in Time ?  Siple RELEASED?  Hex Ridden Witchcraft Murder.

Well, I'm not quite sure how one makes a mistake about a faith healer killing his family, but sure enough, read the small notation scribed by someone down at the paper.  "Siple was released"

Released? 

"Father seized in "Hex" Death"

"Howard Siple, 33 year old faith healer and head doctor, has been jailed at Clarksburg, W. VA, charged with the "witchcraft murder," of his 12-year old daughter, Helen, and the poisoning of six others of his nine children.  Siple migrated to Clarksburg from the Hex-Ridden farmland near York, PA.  Siple is shown above left standing beside a state policeman.  7/3/34"

Now here is a real mystery for you.  Why is Siple smiling if his family was murdered?  I can only think it was a mistake, maybe involving a bad furnace and carbon monoxide?  But even so, why is Siple SMILING?  What is a "Head" doctor?  For that matter, what is a "Hex Ridden Faith Healer?"

I looked around a little and found less.  Short of calling the town historian, I'm not quite sure how to figure this one out.  As you can see, they cops "collared" him…but the touch up guy at the newspaper actually drew in the collar.

Howard Siple Original Press Photograph 1934 Collection Jim Linderman

Shallow Grave Snapshot? True Crime in the Garage

Shallow Grave?  Unless these cops are digging for taters, I believe we have here the staple of murder and true crime, the shallow grave.  I am going to HOPE they are after some less gruesome  contraband.  The cops are taking a break to pose, while the grunt does the heavy work.

Click to enlarge...something looks fishy in the background.  Is that a backdrop?  A curious photograph.

Anonymous Snapshot, no date.  (Said to be Marshall, Michigan)  Collection Jim Linderman

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First Nation Huddle Tribal Event of Significance on the Great Plains Photograph

 

It is said the huddle was invented by a deaf football player, but I have lived long enough to know just about anything I have learned isn't really true.  I suspect it was the Native American, but I suppose we will not learn anything about this photo.  


Based on the beadwork, I would have guessed this was a Woodlands tribe, but immediately realized they are on the plains.  Whatever is going on is special, as the interlopers are keeping their distance. 

I really would like tribal identification, and while there isn't too much to go in, there is a feather headdress involved.  

Anonymous cabinet photograph, circa 1890 Collection Jim Linderman

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Sublime Horizontal Performance A Photograph Good Either Way! Young Woman Gymnast Collection Jim Linderman

A beautiful snapshot, undated and anonymous, of a young woman with perfect balance and skill.

Circa 1950? Original 4 x 5 snapshot Collection Jim Linderman

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Who Moved the Anvil? Blacksmith Occupational Tintype

Tintype photograph circa 1870 of a Blacksmith with his anvil, hammer and a horseshow.  What I want to know is if he moved the anvil to the photgrapher's studio, or if the cameraman moved his machine to the blacksmith?

Original Tintype Photograph circa 1870 Collection Jim Linderman

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Untitled "Head" Polaroid Instant Photograph

Anonymous Polaroid Instant Photograph No Date Collection Jim Linderman

Early Blues R&B Quartet Performs on the Street Photograph collection Jim Linderman

Original Photograph Collection Jim Linderman

Original Photograph Collection Jim Linderman

I was fortunate to find another early blues and/or R&B group performing on the street.  As before, any help out there?  Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin and String  Bass played with a bow.  No date, but I am guessing the 1940s?  Could be earlier, could be later.  Share it around folks...definitive answer wins a prize!

African-American Musicians on  the Street Performing, Anonymous.  Collection Jim Linderman

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Twig Table with Crazy Quilt Bugle and Woman Dull Tool Dim Bulb Folk Art photograph

Since I am sure this is the only post in the world which combines the phrases Twig Table and Crazy Quilt and Bugle and Woman, let's test Google's retrieval capabilities.  (And you wonder how I receive so many hits on my blogs) 

Woman with Bugle and Twig Table original photograph Anonymous, circa 1890 Collection Jim Linderman

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J.J. Cromer sends a Bell out of the Sky Art Photography and the Company Picnic

A huge bunch of Bell employees at what I presume is the annual mandatory company picnic.  It wasn't enough that you had to go (and potato sack) you also had to herd together and look up at the camera in the suburbs of Indianapolis, Indiana.   My guess, as the tiny logo at lower right reads "Indianapolis Photo Co" but who knows.  Bell Telephone?  Bell Helicopter?  I believe there was a Bell Helicopter plant in Indianapolis, and that would make sense here, right?  But then lots of these guys are wearing boaters and skimmers.  Anyone who knows for sure is welcome to write in.
 
I am doing an enlargement of each letter so you can find your relatives!

This splendid proto Spencer Tunick (in clothes) was sent by artist J.J. Cromer.  Cromer is an astounding artist, and it was kind of him to send along a few photos he thought deserved the Dull Tool Dim Bulb treatment.  Thanks J.J.!  Gift accepted!

Cromer is extraordinary..  Just two of his works are shown below. TRULY extraordinary.  I think Chelo Amezcua, Carlo Zinellli, Nellie Mae Rowe and a host of other one-of-a-kind artists, though Cromer clearly lives in a city of his own. Seldom does Horror Vacui look so good.

A Dry and Practical Matter JJ Cromer

The Steering Committee JJ Cromer

J.J. sent a few photographs, which will allow me to link to his site several times.  Not only kind of him, It will encourage folks to check out his work again.  If you like this blog, you will like his art.  There is a remarkable body of work, an impressive exhibition history and a delightful sense of line.  Check him out HERE.

"BELL" undated group photograph Indianapolis Photo Co. Gift of JJ Cromer

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The Saga of Cactus Mac (!) Rare Photographs of Canadian Hillbilly with Cactus! Hillbilly History

Cactus Mac Collection Jim Linderman

Cactus Mac Collection Jim Linderman

Cactus Mac Collection Jim Linderman

Cactus Mac tends his dusty garden!

Not all guitar players take their monikers seriously, but I have the scarce photographic proof that Cactus Mac walked the walk and grew the cactus!

Cactus Mac was an obscure performer on the CKNX Barn Dance (called "Canada's Largest Traveling Barn Dance" in an equally obscure book.  It was a radio program which broadcast out of Wingham, Ontario on Saturday nights from 1937 to 1963.  According to the North Huron Museum in Wingham, Cactus Mac was a beloved performer…and though he was on the radio, he mugged like a TV Star in the photograph they own.  Could be as Cactus Mac was a comic as well.  

The website Hillbilly Music is seeking more information on Cactus Mac…well, if they are looking, now they'll know he was a botanist!  

At least one recording is known, but since the show ran so long I am sure there are many.  The CD Saturday Night Barn Dance volume 1 contains Mac's version of Little Brown Jug.

Three original snapshot photographs of Cactus Mac circa 1950 Collection Jim Linderman

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A Scary Man in a Uniform World War One Scarecrow Collection Jim Linderman

World War One Scarecrow Collection Jim Linderman

Mabel loved a man in a uniform, so when she asked for a photo of her favorite, he of course replied, but it might have taken him a while.  Our World War One Doughboy had already turned his khakis into a scarecrow, thus protecting his sunflowers instead of his countrymen, and as far as I am concerned putting them to darn good work.  I am glad he survived the carnage. 


World War One Scarecrow snapshot, circa 1920  Collection Jim Linderman

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Biggest Folk Art Basket Trade Sign Basket Factory Stockbridge Michigan

CLICK TO ENLARGE GIANT BASKET!

W. S. Kennedy Basket Factory was located in Stockbridge, Michigan from 1895 to 1915 or so, at least as much as I have found.  Interestingly, I find a 1903 note in "Crafts and Hobbies" which says they are seeking fire insurance!  Makes good sense to me.  They made baskets out of ash wood...and that giant trade sign basket on the roof could go right up in flames!

Plenty of cultural and historical content for one photograph, despite condition.  Looks like a staff of around twenty, counting the victims of child labor laws on the steps.  Likely Old Man Kennedy's kids. 

I sure would like that big basket.  It looks like it could pretty much hold the entire staff, that is if you stuffed them in tight. 

Original Photograph, circa 1900 Collection Jim Linderman

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Champion Sword Swallower of the World Collection Jim Linderman Cabinet Card

Melle Clifford Champion Sword Swallower of the World Cabinet Card by Frank Wendt Circa 1900 Collection Jim Linderman

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Some of the Free Acts at the Iowa Fairs 1925 At the Circus in Black and White series #32

At the Circus entry number 32 is "Some of the Free Acts Season 1925 Iowa Fairs.  A snapshot and a beauty.

Collection Jim Linderman

AT THE CIRCUS IN BLACK AND WHITE is a occasional feature on Dull Tool Dim Bulb. This is number 32 in the series.

Original Snapshot 192 Collection Jim Linderman

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Here Come the Women of Rebekah #40 IOOF PARADE Collection Jim Linderman

 It's parade time and Rebekah has gone all out!  Mistletoe Rebekah Lodge Number 40

I AM A REBEKAH:
I believe in the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of man, and the Sisterhood of woman.
I believe in the watch-words of our Order - Friendship, Love and Truth.
Friendship - is like a golden chain that ties our hearts together. Love - is one of our most precious gifts, the more you give, the more you receive. Truth - is the standard by which we value people. It is the foundation of our society.
I believe that my main concern should be my God, my family and my friends. Then I should reach out to my community and the World, for in God's eyes we are all brothers and sisters.
I AM A REBEKAH!

Group of original snapshots, no date (1920?) Rebekah Independent Order of Odd Fellows Parade float  COLLECTION JIM LINDERMAN

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Vernacular Architecture Stump House Kind Two Views

Two Views (of a two room house with view!) Stump House of Washington. First pic a photo with dimensions (18 feet) and the other a Real Photo Postcard with inhabitants.
Both collection Jim Linderman

Hagenbeck Wallace At The Circus in Black and White #31 The World's Lowest Type Human

Caption on reverse "September 2, 1938 L.A Calif. Afternoon crowd now leaving the circus. Sideshow Band was playing in the midway."

Look close and you will see one of the acts was "The World's Lowest Type Human" and I hate to speculate on that one. Suzie born with the Skin of an Elephant.

If the date on the reverse of this photo is correct, you are seeing the sun go down in the afternoon and the lights go out in the evening. Hagenbeck-Wallace ceased operation the same year.

For those of you animal rights folks out there, in 1913 the circus lost 8 elephants, 21 lions and 8 performing horses in a flood in 1913. That pales in comparison to the train wreck they had five years later, in which an engineer further down the track fell asleep at the throttle and crashed his train into the rear of the Hagenbeck's. Kerosene lamps on the circus train spread fire immediately to the wooden cars, and 86 circus members died, another 127 were injured.

AT THE CIRCUS IN BLACK AND WHITE is a occasional feature on Dull Tool Dim Bulb. This is number 31 in the series.

Original Snapshot 1938 Collection Jim Linderman

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A Rare Unusual Photograph of Israel Thornstein or Charlie Chaplin or Something

Or something. A Dummy of Israel Thornstein? An Israel Thornstein Look-a-like?
(See Here)

Curious Original Photograph, circa 1920 Collection Jim Linderman


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An Unfortunate Collage Death as a Way of Life Part Two Funeral Post-Mortem Photography

An unfortunate memorial photograph, a "constructed" post-mortem if you will, with a portrait of the deceased later collaged onto an original photograph taken of her service.

Wreaths were a sacrifice to the dead and the tradition persists...but they were certainly for the living more than the departed. They were, and are, elaborate tributes the lost soul cannot see. The young woman remembered here wouldn't have seen the taxidermy dove placed among the wreaths either.
It was not uncommon for a photograph of the dead to be positioned among the wreaths for a photo, nor is it unusual to see a photo of the dead actually placed into a cased frame with a left-over arrangement from the funeral. They were allowed to dry, hang, and eventually end up in an antique mall 100 years later. However, this is the first photograph I have seen later added to a memorial photo. Not that I have looked.

Every type of photographic technique has been used to photograph the dead. A more traditional post-mortem tintype is shown here. The Stereoview is from the New York Public Library collection.


Original Floral Wreath Funeral Photograph with additional Portrait Affixed. Circa 1880? Collection Jim Linderman

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Bring the Whole Family to Mystery House Vernacular Architecture Gone Blood Mad

The whole family visits the Winchester Mystery House!

Full of ticky tacky construction...and as the first image pulled up when I search the place is a real photo postcard which reads (in shaky handwriting) " Winchester Mystery House Near San Jose BEFORE THE EARTHQUAKE" I have to assume these folks were there on a good day...it looks terra firma anyway.

The stupid place was an attempt by the crazy heir to the Winchester rifle fortune to make up for "settling the west" by spilling blood and inventing a machine which could kill three native people with one load...if you had good aim and weren't drunk.

The fantasy ramshackle pre-Disneyland hunk of balsa was the creation of Wirt Winchester's nutty bride, Sarah. Sarah inherited a good chunk of Winchester blood money when Wirt contracted tuberculosis and joined his once youthful and proud civil war friends in 1881, some twenty years after his family helped put them into early graves.

What to do with $20 million 1881 dollars? Why, take it to a seance! The spirits told Sarah to move west, buy land and commence drawing up plans for a house as nutty as she was. With no experience in architecture, Sarah began drawing up plans on paper and handing them to her builders. Obsessed with the number 13, she insisted each window have 13 panes of glass. Windex was not invented until 1933, so those corners probably got "durn dusty" even before the quake.

Eventually the Winchester fortune resulted in 160 crazy, rich widow rooms. Then came the quake. Sarah was trapped in her own insane, pre-code monstrosity.

Fortunately she survived to crazy the place up again for 15 more years before passing away in her sleep in 1922, putting an end to the madness and setting the stage for landmark status!

Today the Winchester Mystery House tricks the public into a visit by spreading myths the place is haunted. The website, complete with the sound of a rifle being cocked, is HERE, a testimonial to what happens when too much weapon dough is left to a emotionally fragile visionary of sorts. There is no indication on the site if a NRA card provides a discount.

Anonymous Snapshot, circa 1925? Collection Jim Linderman
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