The Chain Man was found guilty October 19,1922 for kidnapping and sentenced to life in prison. He stayed there three years.
The Chain Man earned his nickname for linking a few young women together in in a hole below his shack near Omaha, Nebraska. He had tricked them by offering a ride to a nearby amusement park. His victims were Jean Jenkins and Kathyryn McManaman. While his prisoners were chained to a cement block in the pit, Brown dug their graves nearby. When H. E. Boyd tried to rescue the women, Brown simply added him to the chains.
Chain Man was shot while being captured in Medicine Bow, Wyoming after a few days on the run. He survived to face trial.
Chain Man's trial was delayed while the court decided what to do with hoards of high school girls who came to enjoy the show. "We will continue the trial in the morning when the children are at their desks" decided the judge.
Brown didn't stay in prison long, unless you consider three years a long time. He carved this dummy gun and used it in an escape attempt, but he was killed while trying. So was a prison guard.
Several years later, the skeleton of his apparent partner in the crime, Gus Grimes, was found buried near the shack Brown had held his victims.
There is at least one other example of this real photo postcard surviving. There is no way to determine how many were developed, but the businessman who made them probably hoped to sell a few to the high school.
Rubbing a New York State bounty in the rest of the world's face, a well-stacked and stocked "Vegetable Tower" reins over the State Fair of 1918. It was harvest time, and you know all those zucchini ripen at the same time. The upstate farmers must have run out of friends to pass them off to. Click to enlarge and you'll see corn, pumpkins and who knows what else. I do not believe the vertical cornucopia caught on...I find no mention of one at the WORLD'S fair twenty years later down in the city.
I have no idea how one glues a pumpkin to a tower.
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.
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
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 HEREHERE and HERE or you can enter "Canada" into the search box above.
A genuine Human Fly! No, not the great Cramps 45 on the Vengeance label which I sold too soon ( "I've got 96 tears and 96 eyes") but the real thing. Not only that, if the date on the reverse is correct, this real-life Spiderman probably picked a very cold day to scale the local bank... "There is no bldg. to high for this Human Fly to creep up"
It is NOT cold here, so I might take a few daze off. Read old posts in the meantime, or browse my brother and sister blogs. (You can also join Dull Tool Dim Bulb, Vintage Sleaze and old time religion on Facebook now if you are so inclined)
Azo Real Photo Postcard 1915 collection Jim Linderman
"Well, Pauline, I've landed on the old homestead again. Left Portland March 20 and landed in Hayburn the following day. Did you ever see a picture of a real hay ride? This is one of myself and a hay stack on my place. I'm on top of the stack. I had 3 stacks like this last year."
Real Photo Postcard mailed from Idaho to Salt Lake City, Utah March 31, 1914 Collection Jim Linderman
I had to ask around..."What's is called, you know...when you have, like, Jumbo Shrimp?" Oxymoron. I must be getting old. It might sound like an infomercial laundry product, but it turns out to be a wider phenom than I thought. Below is merely a few of the ones starting with the A. See them all at the HOME of the OXYMORON.Buffalo, Wyoming's once Alabam's "Soup or Service" station. Slogan? Don't go hungry or run short of gas." There must be a name for that too.
A Fine Mess A just war A little big a little pregnant A new classic absolutely unsure abundant poverty Accidentally on Purpose accurate estimate accurate stereotype Act Naturally active retirement actual reenactment acute dullness adult children advanced BASIC airline schedules all alone All natural artificial flavor alone in a crowd almost candid Almost done American culture American education American English amicable divorce among the first Amtrak schedule Anarchy Rules! anticipating the unanticipated Anti-Missile Missile Auto Pilot authentic reproduction Awfully pretty
Alabam's Real Photo Postcard, circa 1955 Collection Jim Linderman
Pauldra Domke created a half-Bible, half-Dinosaur theme park on the shores of Lake Huron in Ossineke Michigan. He started in the 1930's. Known affectionately as "Uncle Paul" he delighted in painting gruesome drips of blood all over the big fellas, in particular the dropped Dino plopped on the ground as a wild dog-like creature rips his flesh above. I'm really sorry not to have color postcards! Guess what? STILL THERE.
Collection of Domke Dinosaur Real Photo Postcards, circa 1940. Collection Jim Linderman
What can we learn from a single real photo postcard? For one thing, the horror depicted here resulted from the Collinwood School fire of 1908, which killed 172 students and two teachers trapped in school just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. The event led to regulations requiring safety bar door releases in public buildings. So every time you push your way out of a public space rather than turn a knob is directly traced to this event.
However, as this is a blog about the visual...there is an even more remarkable aspect to this event. It was captured on FILM in 1908! The film was shot as the fire smoldered by twenty-three-year-old William Hubern Bullock, a moving picture operator nearby. Bullock rushed to the fire on a streetcar with his motion picture equipment. A week later he was SHOWING THE FILM in the Nickelodeon which employed him until Police, responding to complaints from grieving parents, forced him to stop. The film was discovered in the archives of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound division of the Library of Congress in 2008, 100 years after the young cameraman filmed it. It is believed that recently discovered footage represents only a portion of what was originally filmed.
It is a haunting, extraordinary film. No bodies are shown, but the silent, stark and steamy film will stun you as you are virtually seeing the invention of modern journalism. In fact, THIS VERY SCENE is captured in the second portion of the film! As Bullock pans the crowd, it is quite likely the photographer who shot this photo is shown. That certainly makes this one of the most remarkable real photo postcards imaginable, and gives testimony to their value as cultural and historical artifacts.
Some 30 years later, "The March of Time" was a staple in American Motion Picture Theaters. Today, as we watch events like Haiti unfold in real time before our eyes, one might think of young Mr. Bullock as he rides to tragedy with his bulky equipment.
Collinwood Real Photo Postcard 1908 Collection Jim Linderman
Sorry for no vibrant colors of late, I've been busy. THIS would have colorful, but the camera wasn't capable. Ever wonder why wallpaper isn't a happening thing much anymore? "She thinks alot of her Unk. D, Aunt Pearl, Cousins Grace, Leland, Lloyd and Frankie"
Azo Real Photo Post Card, c. 1920 Collection Jim Linderman
