A beautiful miniature Native American sweetgrass basket. A decorative trinket form which originated during Victorian times to provide a meager living for our noble original residents. Taking all manner of shape and form, these baskets, which are commonly made even still by many Northeastern tribes, used wood splints which were given color by native, vegetal dyes and painstakingly created adapting traditional native forms for which the makers were hardly compensated.
I believe the decorative handles, tiny and remarkable coils of wood, have been called "God's Eye" but that might be a Western application.
A recent email conversation with a friend reminded me of a myth I heard in Santa Fe, which could be quite true...that native peoples, in particular those who took care of our land before we came to trash it, learned to make baskets by watching birds make their nests. A beautiful sentiment, true or not, and either way these perfect little creations are far more affordable than they should be. You'll see them around. If there are absolutely no breaks, their value is sure to increase.
Miniature Sweetgrass Basket, (Potawatomi tribe?) Circa 1920 Collection Jim Linderman
See and order my published books HERE
Interview with me and my alter-ego HERE
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Pair of matching original photographs, each 8 x 10 Collection Jim LindermanDULL TOOL DIM BULB BOOK CATALOG HERE
Whirligig Figure, circa 1930 Collection Jim LindermanSEE ALSO HERE for the story of the Nantucket Sailor Whirligig
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Everything a spy would need for a night out on the town...or I guess any customer or client of hi-shear rivet tool company!
Pair of Top Secret Folding Cards 1952 Collection Jim Linderman The BOOKSTORE
As I have been a big fan of Ricky Jay since watching him throw a playing card through a watermelon upstairs in a small theater off Times Square, it would be unfair for me to review his new book Celebrations of Curious Characters. Suffice to say it is a deal at any price (though it costs far less than any price) and it is the genuine deal, not some slight of hand. I'm not going to say he has the power to save the book from extinction, but your Kindle And Nook don't have you looking for the mailman until it comes either.
Anticipation beats a wireless download any day. Consider waiting for a pizza to be delivered. While eating pizza is wonderful too, the 20 minute wait is usually splendid. Some chat, a few jokes, maybe if you are in college furtive tokes with a wet towel under the door...and it arrives!
That is not an opinion, it is a fact. You will look far to find anyone who says they do not like pizza.
The origins of Celebrations of Curious Characters are to be found in a series of brief profiles Mr. Jay did for public radio. That implies erudite already...so bring your brains and expect the prodigious. When you have read it (and you WILL begin reading it immediately after tearing the cardboard strip off your Amazon box) you will have a beautiful spine facing you from the bookshelf rather than some digital bits which do not exist. As such, do not "Tell the publisher I'd like to read this book on Kindle" as you don't.
HERE is Mr. Jay's Wonderful Website. McSweeny published the new book.
A Play? Pageant? Coronation? An odd group indeed, and while they certainly seem on a stage with a backdrop, it is a motley troupe, and identification is not made easier by a lousy photographer.
Two Cabinet Card Photographs circa 1880 Collection Jim LindermanBOOKSTORE
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Peter Fuoco of Revelstoke, British Columbia discovered a big head in a tree trunk and spent some time bringing out the features, then added an equally giant hat. Dubbed "Ol' Woodenhead." A sign was placed next to it which read: "Don't be Wooden Headed. Drive Carefully. You'll live to enjoy the scenery more and longer." So beloved, the giant fellow was moved to his own "Woodenhead Park" next to the Trans-Canada Highway bridge. The second photograph here belongs to the Revelstoke Museum.
Snapshot, circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman
Collection Jim Linderman
Circa 1900 Collection Jim Linderman
Every peach holds within a little secret, I guess.
No, the one in the middle isn't Osama in final repose.
A group of Demoulin Masks! Lodge ritual objects. Demoulin was an astounding mail order company in the 1930s. These masks, three from the many they sold, were intended to be used in fraternal organization ceremonies. They are wire mesh, painted, with horse hair on on the "odd fellows" when needed and all originally had cloth straps to hold them in place. So these would date to 1920 or 1930.
As you can see, the company also produced some remarkable paper-mache parade and carnival masks.
One could bend these fellows back into shape, but I have to mow the lawn.Demoulin was astounding. I am usually full of hyperbole, but their catalog will seriously drop your jaw. Gary Groth recently edited what appears to be a reprint (and more) of the Demoulin catalog titled Catalog No. 439: Burlesque Paraphernalia and Side Degree Specialties and Costumes A generous preview of the book is available on Amazon...I do not know if these images are in the book...I found them on the web while trying to figure out what the hell I brought home. But I can assure you if the book is as good as it looks on Amazon, you'll love it. In fact, it too looks quite astounding. Group of three Lodge Ritual Fraternal Masks, circa 1920-1930 Collection Jim Linderman
