Pin-Up Girls Iron on Transfers Vendor Display and Tear Card circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman
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Iron On Transfers of Pin-up Girls One Cent Each! Dizzy Designs to Decorate your Duds Vendor Display and Tear Card
Pin-Up Girls Iron on Transfers Vendor Display and Tear Card circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman
Samuel Lonnie Simmons, Photographer
A piece from the sister blog "Vintage Sleaze"
Samuel "Lonnie" Simmons is Unsung Hero of Photography number nine. (See them all linked below)
Time to bring another great photographer out of the dust of obscurity and racism. Once known as "The Man Who Never Sleeps" Samuel "Lonnie" Simmons was an African-American jazzman (more than anything else) in his younger days playing with no less than American treasure Fats Waller, Hot Lips Page, Chick Webb and more. Many more. He recorded under his own name as well, including "I Can't Get Started" on the Parrot label (in which he played both organ and saxophone, probably at the same time.) If you are not yet impressed with Lonnie's musical chops, his Jet Magazine obit reports he also played with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. Parrot was a label which lasted only three years in the early 1950s, but some of the recordings were reissued later on Chess Records.
However, though Simmons performed up until the last, suffering a fatal stroke while performing AT AGE 80 according to Euguene Chadbourne, it is his work as a photographer of interest here.
Photographer too? I'm getting a little tired of learning about astounding talented people no one taught me about in school.
So Lonnie, or Samuel, is called "a free-lance photographer" in passing in the few places you might find information about him.
Born in Charleston, South Carolina Actually, in Mt. Pleasant, an isolated pocket in the low-country coast, yet another of those plantation- era places near where slaves landed. A bridge to Mount Pleasant was built in 1928. Wiki lists one Darius Rucker as coming from the city, he being "Hootie" of the Blowfish… but they omit Mr. Simmons.
Lonnie's father was a blacksmith who went back nearly to slave days, passing at the age of 82 in 1955. Lonnie's father was just one notable blacksmith named Simmons from the Charleston area. On his father's passing, Lonnie went back to Mt. Pleasant to bring his mother back to Chicago with him, and it was her first plane airplane ride. His appearance at the funeral was notable enough for the local paper to interview him, where Simmons is reported to have "gradually drifted into take pictures for newspapers and magazines" and that he maintains his own darkroom in his Chicago home. The headline reads "Mt. Pleasant Negro Musician Becomes Press Photographer" and adds a few more musical giants among his playing partners.
It was not unusual for Mr. Simmons to leap from the bandstand with his camera to capture events, including crimes. A one-man forerunner of the surveillance camera, his pictures were used by the Chicago Police for evidence and he earned honorary membership in the Chicago Patrolman's Association. Much of his photography was taken at the legendary Chicago Club De Lisa (which I wrote about earlier) and I now believe the photograph below was taken by Mr. Simmons in his "spare time" as picture maker who roamed the club supporting his income with snapshots.
The
extraordinary dance photos shown here were Lonnie's. Scarce not only
because they show the "Black and Tan" nightclub era (an era not
generally regarded as worthy of documentation at the time by most
photographers) but also because, I assume, most of Mr. Simmons
photographs have not been exhibited. It would be pretty safe to guess
the originals are lost. We can hope a relative finds this post, digs
them out and produces the coffee-table book he earned but no one made.
Somebody has some, as Mr. Simmon's photographs were apparently used in the 1995 documentary PROMISED LAND narrated by Morgan Freeman for the History Channel which while acclaimed was forgotten. You can read about it HERE where people keep asking why it isn't available on DVD…one of whom writes "It is a shame that this great work of truth has been overlooked." Par for the course. The documentary is about the migration of southern African-Americans to Chicago. Lonnie Simmons was one of them, and fortunately he was around with his camera.
Samuel
"Lonnie" Simmons photographs appear in Ebony, Jet, The Chicago
Defender, The Pittsburgh Courier, The Crusader and Cabaret (a magazine
which documented burlesque in the 1950s and from where the photographs
above were taken) and I suspect others once considered unsavory race and
pinup magazines from the 1950s on. The portrait of the young musician
is from the Charleston Jazz Initiative at the School of the Arts,
College of Charleston, South Carolina. Jet Magazine recognized Lonnie's
talents and skills…as well as using his photographs (including the
astounding picture of a dancer flying above a drummer, which I have
cribbed but credited) they also reported on his adventures, including
being bitten by an eel and having his instruments stolen HERE.
PHOTOGRAPH OF SAMUEL LONNIE SIMMONS Charleston Jazz Initiative Archives
PARROT RECORD LABEL HERE
Original Club DeLisa Photograph and Sleeve collection Jim Linderman
UNSUNG HEROES OF PHOTOGRAPHY is a series on Vintage Sleaze the Blog by Jim Linderman. Previous profiles include Art Messick George Boardman Danny Rouzer Russ Meyer Wil Blanche Benno Friedman and Bunny Yeager
JIM LINDERMAN BOOKS AND AFFORDABLE EBOOKS ARE AVAILABLE HERE ON BLURB
Time to bring another great photographer out of the dust of obscurity and racism. Once known as "The Man Who Never Sleeps" Samuel "Lonnie" Simmons was an African-American jazzman (more than anything else) in his younger days playing with no less than American treasure Fats Waller, Hot Lips Page, Chick Webb and more. Many more. He recorded under his own name as well, including "I Can't Get Started" on the Parrot label (in which he played both organ and saxophone, probably at the same time.) If you are not yet impressed with Lonnie's musical chops, his Jet Magazine obit reports he also played with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. Parrot was a label which lasted only three years in the early 1950s, but some of the recordings were reissued later on Chess Records.
Photographer too? I'm getting a little tired of learning about astounding talented people no one taught me about in school.
So Lonnie, or Samuel, is called "a free-lance photographer" in passing in the few places you might find information about him.
Born in Charleston, South Carolina Actually, in Mt. Pleasant, an isolated pocket in the low-country coast, yet another of those plantation- era places near where slaves landed. A bridge to Mount Pleasant was built in 1928. Wiki lists one Darius Rucker as coming from the city, he being "Hootie" of the Blowfish… but they omit Mr. Simmons.
Lonnie's father was a blacksmith who went back nearly to slave days, passing at the age of 82 in 1955. Lonnie's father was just one notable blacksmith named Simmons from the Charleston area. On his father's passing, Lonnie went back to Mt. Pleasant to bring his mother back to Chicago with him, and it was her first plane airplane ride. His appearance at the funeral was notable enough for the local paper to interview him, where Simmons is reported to have "gradually drifted into take pictures for newspapers and magazines" and that he maintains his own darkroom in his Chicago home. The headline reads "Mt. Pleasant Negro Musician Becomes Press Photographer" and adds a few more musical giants among his playing partners.
It was not unusual for Mr. Simmons to leap from the bandstand with his camera to capture events, including crimes. A one-man forerunner of the surveillance camera, his pictures were used by the Chicago Police for evidence and he earned honorary membership in the Chicago Patrolman's Association. Much of his photography was taken at the legendary Chicago Club De Lisa (which I wrote about earlier) and I now believe the photograph below was taken by Mr. Simmons in his "spare time" as picture maker who roamed the club supporting his income with snapshots.
Somebody has some, as Mr. Simmon's photographs were apparently used in the 1995 documentary PROMISED LAND narrated by Morgan Freeman for the History Channel which while acclaimed was forgotten. You can read about it HERE where people keep asking why it isn't available on DVD…one of whom writes "It is a shame that this great work of truth has been overlooked." Par for the course. The documentary is about the migration of southern African-Americans to Chicago. Lonnie Simmons was one of them, and fortunately he was around with his camera.
PHOTOGRAPH OF SAMUEL LONNIE SIMMONS Charleston Jazz Initiative Archives
PARROT RECORD LABEL HERE
Original Club DeLisa Photograph and Sleeve collection Jim Linderman
UNSUNG HEROES OF PHOTOGRAPHY is a series on Vintage Sleaze the Blog by Jim Linderman. Previous profiles include Art Messick George Boardman Danny Rouzer Russ Meyer Wil Blanche Benno Friedman and Bunny Yeager
JIM LINDERMAN BOOKS AND AFFORDABLE EBOOKS ARE AVAILABLE HERE ON BLURB
Some of the Darling Saxaphone Four Women Saxophone Players collection Jim Linderman
Original 8 x 10 Press Photographs circa 1920 collection Jim Linderman
Shotgun Wedding (with Pistol) collection Jim Linderman
DULL TOOL DIM BULB BOOKS (AND CHEAP EBOOKS) AVAILABLE HERE AT BLURB.COM
Have you Seen Freddie Cunningham Boy Wonder ? Nope RPPC collection Jim Linderman
Freddie Cunningham The Boy Wonder Unexcelled High Wire Artist circa 1900 Collection Jim Linderman
Jim Linderman Books and Ebooks available HERE
A Tiny House Cabin for a Folk Art Collection and Studio
Moving to Michigan and wanting a backyard barn for a modest folk art collection, studio and man-cave, I commissioned the fine folks at Mast Barns to create one for me.
The tiny house is 10" x 18" and features a tin roof, skylight and transom windows, a loft bed, double hung windows with screens and a pre-hung locking door. The house is wired for light, and as winter is approaching, a small space heater works fine. I will add a small air-conditioner in the spring.
A four inch base of stone insures level positioning.
The Inside is fully insulated and lined with 3/4" plywood.
Rudimentary shelves were installed for display, and all floor objects move under the loft providing room for a queen-sized air mattress for guests (the loft is large enough for one)
What is left to do? Wood putty finishing for seams and additional painting. A folding desk which will drop down when not in use. Molding and baseboard. The roof joints will be left exposed.
This shack is far more substantial than a large percentage of the world has to live in, and many here use similar, if less decorative houses for hunting cabins.
For those of you who would like to live cheap and off the grid, the Tiny House Listings website provides an opportunity to browse similar little cabins already made.
Super Small Head Superman MIcrocephalic Mexican Superman Toy Doll
My best guess is a most inept Superman from Mexico. Kryptonite in the Womb?
Old Iron Legs John F. Stahl walks and walks and walks and walks and walks
John Stahl was born in 1882 Ohio but spent most of his working days selling stamps in the San Francisco Post Office. When he retired, worried about his health, he took to walking. This was apparently in the 1940s, as the earliest mention of one of his walks was a massive hike from the Panama Canal to Austin Texas in 1940. 3,500 miles. He took a boat down, but walked back.
In 1949 he was seen in El Paso, Texas.
In 1960 he was stopped briefly by a reporter in Alabama during a six-month stroll to say "when a man retires he should have a hobby of some sort - walking is a good hobby."
Two years later Mr. Stahl turn up at the Seattle World's Fair, having walked 900 miles from San Francisco. That walk was sponsored by a beer company, and when he arrived he kissed a girl, danced a little jig, picked up a thousand dollar check and presumably kept walking.
Original Photograph of John F. Stahl, signed on reverse and dated April 23, 1949 Balboa, Arizona. Collection Jim Linderman
Thanks to J.J. Cromer
Jim Linderman books and $5.99 ebooks for iPad available HERE
Spectacular Circus Banners Hanging in 1963 At the Circus in Black and White (and Color) #34 collection Jim Linderman
Pair of original snapshot photographs dated 1963 Collection Jim Linderman
AT THE CIRCUS IN BLACK AND WHITE is a occasional feature on Dull Tool Dim Bulb. This is number 34 in the series.
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Hot Banjo from Michigan! Hootchie Cootchie Banjo PIcker 1936 Collection Jim Linderman
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| Click to see the Banjo Cutie collection Jim Linderman |
Gigantic Tramp Art Folk Art ...um...THING collection Jim Linderman
No door or opening, just a "house like" Tramp art thing.
Tramp Art "House" circa 1930 Collection Jim Linderman
Cartoon Tintype "Stick your Head Here" Man on a Mule collection Jim Linderman
Humorous "cartoon" tintype of one Frank Mason of Jackson, Michigan poses inside a painting of mule circa 1875. A "put your head in here" fun photo, but Frank is is a bad mood.
Frank Mason (inscribed on reverse) circa 1875 Tintype photograph collection Jim Linderman
See also The Painted Backdrop: Behind The Sitter in American Tintype Photography book by Jim Linderman (NOW a $5.99 Download Ebook available HERE)
Juvenile Delinquent Woodworkers Crafty Cutlery Trays from Detention
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| CLICK TO ENLARGE SULLEN CRAFTY DELINQUENTS |
Our early youthful offenders have also crafted magazine racks, stools and useful household objects. Each one looks like he is taking shop as a ruse to carve a fake gun or sharpen a shiv...and numerous light beatings have taught them all to stand with their hands behind their backs.
Grates on the windows keep the neighborhood safe from antisocial personality disorder.
The one checked-off (and ticked off) third from the end is Junior. He is making good progress.
Original anonymous snapshot, circa 1935 Collection Jim Linderman
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Lemonade Sucker in Silhouette in St. Louis In Black on a Postcard In the Mail On my Blog
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This silhouette is a particular favorite of mine as it not only depicts a fellow enjoying a lemonade, he takes the time to WRITE about having himself turned into a silhouette while sipping.
World's Fair Postcard St. Louis (blank) with Affixed hand-cut silhouette and text. 1904 Mailed
Collection Jim Linderman
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Art without Artists Gregg Museum Exhibition Catalog Review by Jim Linderman
Drawing upon the collections of a few thinkers who ponder such things, the exhibit enlarges our understanding of what art is, especially when there is no formerly designated artist present. The show is full of the reason I go to flea markets, antique shows…and even why I take walks. Unexpected delights which cause one to pause and marvel. Do we need an artist's strategy or intention to create or appreciate art? Of course not.
A stack of drugstore prescription receipts placed precisely on a spindle over the years represents order, procedure, tradition, progress, law, regulation, success, safely served customers, sales and my father's generation ruled by orderliness all in one humble object. There is decorative appeal, and a precision one would see in any well-crafted object, yet unless there is an institution collecting filled spindles of script, would this powerful object have been seen in the context of an art museum? Were not for the adventurous folks who seek out such objects, no. The only common thread among the material here is found in the folks who contributed their finds.
A make-do chimney cleaning device from the collection of Rick Ege may have saved a few house fires, so function and utility applies, as does wear and need. But what makes the bucket worthy of thought and admiration? I am left only with the belief it is Ege himself and the curators. That is not a bad thing. Taste makers do more than sell product or decorate homes. They bring attention to things not appreciated before. In this case, things seen but not observed. In another of Ege's found objects, a homemade radio antenna brings to mind the crucifixion and a radio preacher simultaneously. At least to me.
Aarne Anton, who has carried a luxurious appreciation of form with him for decades is represented with a twig "tack holder" but is that what it is? Mr. Anton has the ability to discern exceptional happenstance from normal happenstance. He has with consistent skill and thoughtfulness for a long time. But can this object simply be a tack holder? Could it have had held ribbons over the years? Notes to remember something or to instruct a worker nearby? A thing to meet by, something to think "hmpf" while passing? I will defer to Mr. Anton.
The show incorporates anonymous snapshots, functional objects, tools and devices along with a thoughtful essay by Roger Manley, who has also championed art created by the untrained for a long time.
As there are no formal standards or criteria for determining what is art and what is not (without being elitist, exclusionary or guided by one's own time and prejudice) we must defer to the finders. This show champions the taste and esthetics of the collectors more than the makers or the formal art world, but then the collectors and curators represented here have expanded those boundaries consistently for a long time. More than most shows, this one appears to show most of all that art is in the eye of the observer more than any artist.
2012 North Carolina State University Raleigh Gregg Museum of Art and Design (Show runs through December 16, 2012) 64 Pages
Working Man Whirligig Folk Art collection Jim Linderman
Early Folk Art Whirligig collection Jim Linderman
Book Catalog HERE
Some Tough Women in Overalls Pipes and Suspenders
See books and ebooks by Jim Linderman HERE
A Mean Calf Wean Calf Weaner Mask Farm Primitive
We kicked it around the antique mall for a while, but I knew what it was.
Calf Weaning Mask Circa 1900. Ouch.
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