The Church Army and a Puppy RPPC

Church Army Real Photo Post Card, c. 1900 Collection Jim Linderman

Whereaway Bull Shores Button American Eagle (?) RPPC

I confess to having no idea what or where a Whereaway is. And until I have more coffee, I am not inclined to try to find out. Someone there did have the time to make a button eagle, and the gumption to have it documented with a real photo post card.

American Eagle at Whereaway Bull Shoals Arkansas RPPC c. 1930? Collection Jim Linderman

Zoom Lite RPPC

Zoom: To simulate movement rapidly away from or toward a subject using a zoom lens. To cause text or other graphics in a window or frame to appear larger on the screen.

Lite: To avoid copyright problems with "Light" or to indicate a beer, food, brand or physical object with no taste, substance or significance.

Zoom Lite Real Photo Postcard c. 1950 Collection Jim Linderman

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

"Exhibit at Houghton Lake, Mich." (Real Estate Office) EKO Real Photo Postcard c. 1945 Collection Jim Linderman

A Mountain Lion Cub Captures Kid Johnson's Heart RPPC

Hand written on reverse "Kid Johnson's Mountain Lion when about 18 months old. Captured near Glacier Park Mont. March 1925. Now at Manhattan Mont. Showing a hold up stunt" and dated Feb. 11th 1926.

A powerful and rich photograph. Folks who collect pictures are often bitten and smitten briefly...an image is found, obtained, enjoyed and filed. Something about this one makes it an exception. Was there love and respect between the two, or a relationship based on something else? Cats are hard to train, and Kid Johnson seems a proud, loving trainer. On the other hand, we ourselves have been "trained" by now to believe animals belong in the wild, but who is to say here? Who captured who? I suspect life was difficult for all living creatures in Montana in 1926, be one collared or not. It was probably a "hold-up" stunt as Kid Johnson would feign a weapon and direct the performer to "stick-em-up." Did Kid take the time to lay out the canvas backdrop, or the photographer. Were they performing on a street corner for coins, or was the star performer taken out specifically for the photo shoot. Six months before this photo was taken, Manhattan, Montana was struck by an earthquake which damaged half the town's few structures. Manhattan thrived producing Malt until prohibition in 1916...I do not know how either event affected Kid and his pet, if at all. The town today has some 1500 inhabitants. Dig further and you will find the well-known "Real Food for Real People" advertising campaign was filmed there. I don't think that would surprise the folks at PETA.

Real Photo Postcard 1926. Collection Jim Linderman

BRIDGE! 1906 Embellished Real Photo Postcard RPPC

Embellished Real Photo Postcard, Battleboro, VT 1906 Collection Jim Linderman

Ernest Warther Redux, Wondrous Folk Art Wood Carver from Ohio

When we last met Ernest Warther, he was in black and white (Dull Tool Dim Bulb February 15, 2009) Well, he's back and the hinted at eccentricities may now be confirmed and then some. Here is his carving of, I kid you not, 511 pairs of miniature pliers turned into a shrub...and stuck in a handmade vitrine with a picture of the artist from 1913. It required 31,000 cuts, (so he counted each stroke) no mathematics, rulers or lines were drawn...and it was all carved from one piece of wood. The other card shows his remarkable Wall of Trains and the Steel Mill he worked in for 21 years.

Pair of postcards published by E. Warther & Son, Dover, Ohio. No Date. Collection Jim Linderman

Folk Art Sailor Whirligig Carving Mystery and the Wonder of Photograph Enlarging

Enlarging an image can have dramatic results. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) What seemed to me to be a fairly routine real photo post card of a country shop provides seldom seen documentation for an American folk art form and regional craft, while at the same time reminding that a picture does indeed tell many tales.

"Nantucket' or "Sailor" whirligigs abound to this day, but the early ones for the most part have always been anonymous. The form is common (a bowlegged, bell-bottom wearing sailor twirling his paddle arms in the wind and looking ridiculous) The whirligig supposedly has origins in strict early day religious practices which forbid play on Sunday. A Sympathetic father would whittle a toy to entertain his bored children without tainting their hands with the devil's stain...hence, a twirling motion toy which moved by wind alone! That I have never believed this tale doesn't mean anything much, but it is an interesting tidbit. Anyway, the Massachusetts or Cape Cod whirligigs are popular as craft today, and the 19th century versions, with their weathered surfaces and original paint are among the most valued folk art objects and prized by collectors.
It appears to me this gentleman in his tiny Chatham "Shavings Shop" may be the source of dozens, if not HUNDREDS of original late 19th and early 20th century whirligigs. Chatham is part of Cape Cod, and he obviously had a rousing business in the objects...at least enough to have paid to produce a real-photo post card documenting his work. Close examination reveals many folk art prizes (on the roof, several "full-bodied" whirligigs of considerable size, a fish weathervane, a large airplane whirligig and several silhouetted carvings of sailors) The porch exhibits many additional, if more standard sailor whirligigs, numerous windmill toys and a violin...perhaps our carver made fiddles as well, but at the least I am certain a visit to his shop would have been a rousing time if he felt like entertaining. That his products were called "ball bearing mills" indicates his windmills would have been state of the art. Unfortunately, the oval window sign is indistinct, it appears to read Edwards novelties. Did Mr. Edwards invent the sailor whirligig form? The card was produced by the Charles H. Smalloff Mayflower Studio in Chatham, Mass on Artura Stock of a type used around 1910 and was mailed from Massachusetts using a 1 cent stamp issued in 1912. The postmark date is obliterated, but the stamp design was superseded in 1923.
I hope this photograph reaches someone who can provide additional information on this remarkable, pipe-smoking artisan, and until I hear more I'll simply treasure the find and be happy my scanner revealed some fascinating information which contributes a bit to the history of an art form I've loved for years. I suspect Mr. Edwards was more in the habit of pushing his crafts rather than his postcards. If any others survive I would be surprised, but would love to know.

Real Photo Postcard "Shavings Shop Chatham Mass" Charles H. Smallhoff Mayflower Studio c. 1910 Collection Jim Linderman