Two Million Dollars of Folk Art Cigar Store Indians Trade Store Figures Real Photo Postcard (And a Favorite Photograph)

The June 8, 2010 auction at Heritage Auction Galleries which set a record for a Cigar Store Indian (over $200,000 for the splendid figure here) may mean what you are seeing above is a few million dollars worth of wood. A Real Photo Postcard, circa 1940, of a most extraordinary collection of carved trade store figures. Quite a group. The piece sold above had exceptional original paint, and often these figures have had repaints over the years. The last photograph, a particular favorite of mine, shows my father and a friend, circa 1935, likely in upstate New York.
Anonymous Real Photo Postcard (Group of Carved Trade Figures and Cigar Store Indians) circa 1940 Kodak "EKC" logo on reverse Collection Jim Linderman

Dad Drops a Quarter The Sideshow Bottle Stand Trick 1966

Dad may be good at "knockin' them back" but he isn't going to stand this one up. Can it be done? Yes, and you will often see signs at the booth reading "one win per person per season" to keep that BMX mini-bike hanging on the wall in back. But will YOU do it? Nope. Dad has the wrong thing going here, and I don't just mean his white socks. The pole should be as vertical as possible, not horizontal, and you must "push" the bottle up, not pull it. Complicated? Yes. It will take you a solid afternoon to work it out at home. How many of those who come upon it have done their homework? None. Especially not Dad.

Original Vernacular Photograph, Dated August 1966 Collection Jim Linderman
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Flapper with Flag and Little, if Nothing Else

A flapper in the flag struts her patriotic stuff 50 years before Abbie Hoffman was arrested for doing same.

Anonymous snapshot, circa 1920 collection Jim Linderman

MAN DOWN! Vernacular Snapshot of a School Football "Game"

A striking snapshot I found the other day. Literally striking...as in he got struck. There has been much in the press of late about bullying and the psychological damage it does to kids. Here is another form of damage...

"According to Gail L. Rosseau, an AANS spokesperson and a neurosurgeon in the Chicago area, an estimated 300,000 football-related concussions occur each year in the United States, and nearly 45,000 football-related head injuries were serious enough to be treated at US hospitals in 2009.”

Now I do not know if the revenue generated by football ticket sales at schools is enough to pay for the training programs...but given the latest dismal rankings of United States educational achievement compared to the rest of the world I suspect we would be a bit better served if we spent more money on the library and the science lab, and a little less on the jocks. Not to mention the cheerleaders. Have you seen what a fall from the top of a pyramid can do?

Original snapshot, circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman

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There at the Creation

Anonymous Snapshot, date unknown Collection Jim Linderman
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Miniature Sausage Grinder and the Urban Word of the Year At the Circus in Black and White #24

Click to enlarge, and you will see this handmade tiny circus even has a sausage grinder. (?) Now as the term has come to mean "a very aggressive and active female sex partner" according to the Urban Dictionary (One of my favorite sites, and a reminder now is the time to vote for your Urban Word of the Year ("Vatican Roulette" another name for the rhythm method or "Hit the Slide" to leave a job in a particularly dramatic manner are my favorites) I am wondering what the carver had in mind here...

MONKEY grinders, or ORGAN grinders were common at circus and carnival gatherings, but they were hand-turned musical instruments with a simian dancer, not meat makers. You have to cook sausage first, and this little guy doesn't appear to have sterno. Maybe he was selling dogs in buns.

Pair of original snapshots of a handmade miniature circus, date unknown Collection Jim Linderman

#24 in Series "At the Circus in Black and White" on Dull Tool Dim Bulb the Blog

At the SCIENCE FAIR USA Education Leads the WORLD!

Dr. Wizard remembers when the good 'ol USA ranked #1 in every educational category. I don't think too many kids today could create fractional distillation at home if it came in an ipod.

Collection of Science Fair Photgraphs circa 1950, Illinois. Anonymous. Collection Jim Linderman

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ALL KNEEL BEFORE umm...THIS THING

Without insulting some culture, tribe or environ, I'll just post the snapshot and let others figure out who the grand Kahuna is. Guesses?

Anonymous Snapshot circa 1950? Collection Jim Linderman

Bump and Grind WAY too Early (At the Circus in Black and White #22)

Child labor laws seem not to have applied to carnival sideshow grinds during the 1930s as this photograph attests. The young dancer can not be much more than 16, but I guess it is hard to tell. She certainly doesn't quite match up to the painted silhouette on the barker's stand...for one thing her hands are hardly thrown up in joy. It is quite rare to see a photo of a dancing girl (literally) taken during the daytime at even the sleaziest carnival...but one "H. H." has done just that. Girl shows of this nature are as old as the carnival itself, but they frequently took place at night after most patrons (and the law, who was frequently paid off) went home. Hence the name "Midnight Ramble. In this case, they should have been checking ID around lunchtime. A young hoofer to be sure, but to me, a bit too young. Show business of any kind is hard despite the facade of glamour...this photo shows an underside not often (or easy) to see.

(Also posted on Vintage Sleaze the Blog)

Original Untitled Snapshot circa 1930 Collection Jim Linderman

The Early Gigantic Upskirt Silver Foam Soap and the Clean Billboard

Silver Foam Granulated Soap seems to have "left the (grocery) building" and joined the league of dead brands, but it certainly wasn't for a lack of taste. As you can see, their logo featured a hard working scrub woman with giant cheeks. She is working up a lather to match Lawrence Welk's bubble machine!

So falling under the category of "World's Earliest "Upskirt" photo (if you don't know what that is, check your son's phone camera) I have posted this on the Vintage Sleaze blog as well. But how many upskirt photos do you know with a robot featured in the middle of the desert with her gigantic glutes facing the traffic?

In case you think me demented for describing this logo as a stealthy and secretive photo technique, I am certainly not the only one. Note the "fine print" on the billboard. "Danger Electric Fence" and a "Reward $25.00" sign. Obviously, it was something to leave your car and peer up at...but for some fellas it got out of hand and they spoiled it for all by climbing up to grab a closer look. That there was electricity leads me to believe our washerwoman was an automotan, but I can't tell for sure. Make that "automowasherwomanotan."

Like when little Theodore Cleaver climbed up to see what was in the giant coffee cup, I don't think there was anything up there...but it would be worth a peek to make sure.


Original snapshot, circa 1945 Collection Jim Linderman

The Dead Giant

Snapshot, circa 1950 Collection Jim Linderman

At the Circus in Black and White #20 (In Miniature) Vernacular Photograph

Anonymous Snapshot "Bob Bernard's 1/4" Scale Al G. Barnes Circus Monkey Cage-4 Horse Hitch" typed on reverse. No Date Collection Jim Linderman

Chalkboard Cat Man Boy Dog (Children's Hospital 1907)

Untitled (Children's Hospital, Detroit 1907) Original photograph Collection Jim Linderman

School Brain Cultivating and Hide Tanning Vernacular Photograph

Handwritten photograph, Date Unknown, Anonymous Collection Jim Linderman

At the Circus in Black and White #16

Untitled (Clown at Clyde Beatty Circus) Original Snapshot 1962 Collection Jim Linderman

Big Fish, Big Fella and the Quileute of La Push Washington?

Said to be a snapshot of La Push, Washington, which would indicate the pieces may have been carved by members of the Quileute Native American tribe. If so, I would love to hear from anyone who can identify the location or provide information on the carvings. The tribe has a fascinating history, which includes the breeding of special woolly-haired dogs in order to make blankets of their coats(!) I would also like the sculptures moved to my front yard, but that seems unlikely.

Untitled Snapshot, circa 1950? Collection Jim Linderman

At the Circus in Black and White Dull Tool Dim Bulb #14 of a Series

Circus Performers Anonymous Snapshot circa 1960 Jim Linderman Collection

Sparse Circus (At the Circus in Black and White)

Click to enlarge. Hard to believe, but I THINK they've set up a ticket booth, so they're CHARGING for this ride. Snapshot, circa 1925? Likely Michigan. Collection Jim Linderman

Amateur Diane Arbus, the Photographic OBJECT vs the Photographic IMAGE At the circus in Black and White

As I pondered posting these vernacular photographs of a 1958 circus sideshow I found last week, I was struck by their being physical objects first, images second. I am sure the entire world has gotten over this matter long ago and my even admitting to bring it up is anachronistic. However, I own these, they occupy space in my files and as they are exposed to light and dust, fingers and moisture they will age, curl and change in aesthetic and physical ways. I am interested in the physical properties of photos, the wrinkles, the spots, the foxing, the tear. Surface is just as important to a photographic object as is the image. It might be my folk art background, where authentic age, signs of use and patina is a serious precursor to value and an indicator of authenticity...why shouldn't the camera arts be the same? Invited comments. In my world, "pristine" should apply only to the magic bullet commission exhibit 399.

4 original sideshow images, circa 1958 (cropped) Collection Jim Linderman