In the old days, this would have been called a printer's block, but more specifically, this is a piece used to print punchboards. Colorful, poster-size games of chance once popular in taverns. Actually, anywhere a crook could make a buck. A player would purchase a chance, then punch the board to see if their rolled up number inside awarded a prize. They are illegal now for the most part. Guess who got his start in organized crime peddling "chances" in this rigged game? A very young Jack Ruby. Mob-run punchboards in Chicago. Lucky Ben Punchboard Printing Block Circa 1940 or so. Collection Jim Linderman
Original vintage vernacular shapshot depicting a "street artist" selling his wares on the beach in Atlantic City. Appears to be on original mount from a photo album which dates snapshot to 1934. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb
Vintage Folk Art Decoy in the shape of a Submarine. Enhanced with an added weapon! The bottom is filled with lead to sink down and dangled to attract fish for spearing. C. 1940 Upstate New York. Collection Jim Linderman.
Handmade Folk Art Book by Darlene Olds 1934 Child's Drawings. Crayon on manila paper signed and dated. "Built" over the pages of a printed book 89 pages. Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb
A form of an early folk art toy I am not familiar with. It has the look and feel of a squeak toy, but in this case the bird is wired to pick his head up...essentially a very early example of the "pecking chicken" toy. Paper base is covered with a primitive printed wallpaper of the time. Any help identifying would be great! This was a manufactured object (while OLD) and likely other than embellishments, not one of a kind. Antique Toy Bird with articulated movement, highly worn. Early 19th Century Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb
Antique Folk Art Carving Sculpture Playing Card Suit Reminder. Original paint with a subtle reminder that even while playing games, it is hard to escape the current political situation. Collection Jim Linderman
When was the first drive-in church? A silent video on You tube attempts to claim it was in 1950. Watch the preacher make the rounds of parked autos with a collection plate. The idea here certainly tied into the motion picture drive-in fad. Seeing the preacher go from car to car reminds me of another 1950s scene, the Roller skating hamburger servers. Car hops. Truthfully, anyone would rather watch nubiles on skates than a church service, and I'll have fries with that. That is, unless Jesus showed up in the lot, and I find no record of that happening. The real photo postcards here could be dated by automobile model, and even by the card stock used (AZO, generally popular around 1910) I find no indication of location, but this enterprising evangelist had the idea decades before this video. Pair of Real Photo Postcard RPPC images. c. 1910 - 1920 Collection Jim Linderman
Snapshot circa 1930 of a folk art carved totem pole. Reverse indicates the photo was developed at Kodak Finishing on Broadway in Oklahoma City. Ed Galloway's famous Totem Park was some 100 miles from Oklahoma City in Foyil. It is said he began his totem pole around 1937. Could this have been another Oklahoma carver? Or an earlier photograph of what became his environment? Like this picture, Galloway used fish and "goo-goo" eyeballs as well. Folk Art snapshot collection Jim Linderman (Link to In Situ: American Folk Art in Place)
Vintage Folk Art Carving of an Unusually Shaped Man. Pressing the wall? Doing a pushup? Folk Art wood Carving Original Paint circa 1950? Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb
L. E. Ashbrook of Lexington Kentucky was a folk art carver in the whittling tradition, but he took it to the extreme. Mr. Ashbrook created a fantastic film of his figures and machines at work! This is one of the finest documents of an artist at work...and play! A large group of his carvings are currently listed on ebay for sale. Most of his work was created in the 1930s or so, the film was digitized in 2009. WATCH on Youtube HERE. Extraordinary!
Antique Cast Iron Eagle 19th Century. Likely from Chicago area. I can not find another example of the form here. 33 pounds with a 22 inch wingspan. Books by Jim Linderman available HERE
One of the most culturally rich areas of the country is the low coastal
area of South Carolina, where descendants of slaves still retain a bit
of their roots and skills. One tradition surviving is the sweetgrass
baskets still being made by African-American craftpersons who sell their
wares along the roads (and increasingly in Charleston shops and
boutiques.) It is unusual to
find an early sweetgrass basket these days, as collectors prize old
examples to contrast with their newer pieces. Note the wear and patina of the lid, the base and the inside of the basket. This piece could date to the 1930's or earlier. When found, the basket was filled with spools of thread, so it was used as a sewing basket. Collection Jim Linderman
