Serving Time with Father Time Prison Art and Clock Hands which Don't Move

Plenty of nothing, but plenty of time.  Paraphrase of the Porgy and Bess song.  If anyone had plenty of nothing and plenty of time, it would be someone serving it.  Hence Prison Art.  Akin to the branch of institutionalized outsider art  (oxymoron) which existed before psychoactive drugs sapped some of the fevered creativity.  Folks in small living quarters with nothing on their hands BUT time…and sometimes an object of art results.

I don't know if this giant fake grandfather clock (Father Time) constructed of hundreds of wooden matchsticks was made by a prisoner, but it does have a time motif.  It even has a fake pendulum and weights which move, but the the hands do not.  He's stuck.  Time keeps dragging on.  A lifer.

One way to tell if your wooden object is tramp art versus prison art?  Did it require a KNIFE?  Most hoosegows frown, as general policy, of giving the inmates knives.

Tramp Art or Prison Art Grandfather Clock of Matchsticks.  No Date.  Collection Jim Linderman

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Uncle Sam Points the way to Uncle Sam's Cabins

Uncle Sam points to his Tourist Accommodations.
Original Snapshot No Date Collection Jim Linderman

DIRT Collection

Collectors and Collecting.  Presenting my Dirt Collection.

I won't say this is the first time I have paid for dirt, as my garden needed soil to counteract the sand.  I felt stupid buying dirt, as there is so much of it around...

But this is the first time I can honestly say I have owned a collection of dirt.

Seems like every state was swept up here, then specialty items started appearing.  Dirt from Disneyland.  Dirt from the highest point in so and so, the furthest point in somewhere else. Well over one hundred examples, each one numbered and labled with a hand-typed "cursive" red font from a typewriter.  Each little plastic pill bottle scooped full and carried home.  

We used to have our choice of two fonts, but they could have gone with the dymo labelmaker too. 

Said to have been collected by a husband and wife team of traveling CLOWNS!  The estate sale had their costumes and such too.


DIRT collection Jim Linderman  No date (ancient...dirt is really old)  

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The Wind Worn Whirligig The Part of a Wind Toy One Can Not Make or Fake Folk Art Whirligig Wear

 

The part of a whirligig one can not build is the wear.  The familiar "man sawing wood" whirligig, inescapable  when antique hunting.  The pattern I have here helps anybody build a wind machine about the same size as the one shown, but you can not create age.  Wind and weather does that, and the saw here has been worn smooth as butter by some fifty years of frantic movement.  Want to fake the age of a whirligig?  You can not.  You can trick a buyer, but you can not trick a wind machine.  My brother in law found me a good one.


Saw portion of a wooden whirligig, circa 1940-1950


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Jim Linderman Named FIRST COLUMNIST for Paraphilia Magazine

I am really pleased to have become the first columnist in the Art and Culture magazine PARAPHILIA.  My first two columns are linked below.   I'll be putting a banner on the side here soon!

                                FULL ARTICLE IS HERE

                                FULL ARTICLE IS HERE

Orvil Richards Snow Car Ready for Winter

Orvil Richards (who bears an unfortunate resemblance to Shemp Howard) hauls freight in his "snow car" which John Deere would be jealous of.  Check out the skis in front.  Orvil is ready for winter.

Anonymous photograph (On reverse "To Grandma Orvil Richardson's Snow Car" No Date)
Collection Jim Linderman

Folk Art Tramp Art Chewing Gum Wrapper Chain Collection Jim Linderman

Chewing Gun Chain.

The average price of a pack of gum is $1.58 according to the Wall Street Journal. Consequently, the gum market is flat. Not that you can use a gum wrapper to make a chain anymore. The manufacturers have eliminated your raw material!

The fellow below recommends using Starburst wrappers. Watch carefully and you will see he also recommends throwing away the gum. My chain here is ten feet long. Not bad, but record holder Gary Duschl, who seems like a nice guy, has one 74,216 feet long. For a professional competitor, Gary seems awful nice to share his technique.

This really doesn't fit the definition of Tramp Art, as not many fathers would like anyone calling their gum-chewing kid a tramp, but it is clearly related. A dying Folk Art? Yes.

Ten foot long Chewing Gum Wrapper circa 1960? Collection Jim Linderman 

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Andi Gustavson and the Personal Pin-up Project Love and Humanity During Wartime in Photographs

What could well be among the most meaningful uses of photography has gone all but undocumented, but doctoral candidate and researcher Andi Gustavson is compiling AND sharing the humble objects in a remarkable new database. Gustavson has created THE PERSONAL PIN-UP PROJECT which is a remarkable way to collect, archive and share that most precious of photographs.  The ones carried into war by loved ones.

Andi is a P.H.D student at the University of Texas at Austin and a teacher of American Photography and visual culture.  As she writes, "I am collecting the private photographs that service members carried or kept with them during their time in the military. These personal “pin-ups” can be snapshots of loved ones taken by the soldiers themselves or pictures of women or men who posed for the camera and then sent that snapshot off to war. I am looking for the photograph kept in the pocket, or worn in the helmet, or hidden in the gear of each service member. These images of loved ones do not often make their way into archives or art galleries. And yet, if most military members had one special photograph with them when they went away to war, then there must be thousands of these snapshots—in shoe boxes under beds, tucked into the back of closets, left in journals or letters, or stored on cellphones. The Personal Pin-up Project brings together the private images scattered across thousands of homes into a public and digital archive."

The Personal Pin-up Project is a public digital archive of the private images taken and kept by many American veterans and their loved ones. There is currently no archival repository to collect such a specific subset of war-related photographs that were, nevertheless, very common.  It is also a practice not only never documented, it is the most profound and deep function of a photograph imaginable.  An image of a loved one, miles away, preciously saved as a reminder, a talisman, an object to be loved, shared and treasured.  What more important function can a humble picture have?

Ms. Gustavson has hit on a universal truth and heart-wrenching practice previously ignored.  She has the site up and running.  It allows anyone to upload a photograph of their loved one as a tribute and an honor.  The person who they carried with them during the most difficult and testing challenges they would ever face.  It is fair to say every single soldier, regardless of gender or rank, had a precious image they carried.  While Andi's emphasis is on Cold War images, she recognizes that with digital technology, the intimate and personal pictures may have changed form, but their purpose remains the same: a small bit of humanity in the least human situations.

Take a moment to browse the website Andi Gustavson has created which allows participation from any soldier or veteran.   The project is just getting off the ground, but it offers a splendid opportunity for anyone to create a tribute to their loved ones who helped them survive the unfortunate brutality of war.  You may wish to share the links with family members.

THE PERSONAL PIN-UP PROJECT IS HERE

FOR INFORMATION OR QUERIES CONTACT WRITE personalpinupproject@gmail.com

Scarecrow Snapshot 1924 Folk Art Sculpture

Scarecrow and Friend Photograph  Dated on Reverse 1924 Collection Jim Linderman

Musicianers Blues Musicians from the 1940s Original Photograph collection Jim Linderman

We'll never know who these guys are, but original period snapshots of performing blues musicians from this period, likely 1940 to 1950, are scarce.  

I'm way behind schedule, but THIS is coming one day. 

Anonymous Snapshot, circa 1940 - 1950?  Collection Jim Linderman


 

Rubble in Kennebunk Press Photograph of Religious Intolerance Enhanced by Hand

An anonymous artist has touched up the rubble before publication in this original 1940 press photograph of a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall which was attacked by a mob in Kennebunk, Maine.  I guess the photograph wasn't rubbly enough.  The mugs standing around are.  The photo editor has touched up a few creased pants too...pictures DO lie.

That year, the Supreme Court ruled a school district could require students to salute the flag.  The Jehovah's had a problem with that…and numerous mobs had a problem with the Jehovah's.  The ruling unleashed a torrent of attacks on those who practiced the religion.

According to Wiki, the case "... resulted in a wave of persecution against Jehovah's Witnesses. Lillian Gobitas later characterized the violence as "open season on Jehovah’s Witnesses." The American Civil Liberties Union recorded 1,488 attacks on Witnesses in over 300 communities between May and October 1940. Angry mobs assaulted Witnesses, destroyed their property, boycotted their businesses and vandalized their places of worship. Less than a week after the court decision, a Kingdom Hall in Kennebunk, Maine was burnt down."

Well, it's still standing, so it wasn't "burnt down" but it certainly looks like there wasn't a whole lot of religious tolerance going on.

Original Press photograph, Anonymous, enhanced by hand for publication 1940  Collection Jim Linderman

Gasoline Powered Ice Racer from the 1930s. Frozen Daredevils

Looks like a contraption from a 1930s Popular Mechanics cover.  Check the engine on this contraption.  Most ice vehicles, or skimmers, or ice mobiles, or I have no idea what, are made with sails and operate on wind power.  These hopped up speedster guys made a real ice machine.  Ice Racing or snowmobile prototype?    Summer sport in Michigan! 
Snapshots of an Ice Vehicle  No Date (1930s?)  Collection Jim Linderman

Carved Folk Art Dancing Man on a Stick with Bowtie Articulated Figure collection Jim Linderman

Carved Folk Art Dancing Man on a Stick with Bowtie  

Articulated Figure circa 1940 collection Jim Linderman

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Bible Beehive Dexterity Game Bonus Post (from the old time religion blog)

Bible Beehive Dexterity Game!  (Idle hands are the Devil's playground) 
Bonus Post (from the old time religion blog by the same author)

Busy Hands Bible Game (no date) Collection Jim Linderman

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Soldier's Pin Up Foot Locker World War Two Collection Victor Minx

Soldier's Pin Up Foot Locker World War Two Collection Victor Minx

Hot as Coal

Anyone east of Big Muddy will understand this today.  

Salesman Sample for Matchbook cover circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman

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Amateur Hour Contortionist? Show Business Philadelphia 1950 by Robert Jones

Looks like a television studio with a well balanced performer.  Amateur Hour?

Pair of photographs by Robert L. Jones Philadelphia PA 1950 Collection Jim Linderman

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OH MIN! Hand Painted Folk Art Sign Oh Min ?

The seller and I at an outdoor antique show debated over the meaning of this hand-painted sign. A bad OMEN? A preacher exclaiming AMEN? It cost ten bucks and I bought it just to figure it out, which is usually the case with objects I post here.
 
It turns out OH MIN was the exclamation cartoon character Andy Gump used when complaining to his wife Minerva. The Marriott? I have no idea. Family name for this sign which may have identified a residence? Along the beaches in Michigan, it is not unusual for families to hang goofy signs in the woods to help folks find the place. That's my guess. 

"Oh Min" Hand-painted sign. Circa 1930. Collection Jim Linderman 

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Say it Five Times Fast Toy Gun

Folk Art Carved Gangster Gun  Circa 1930 Collection Jim Linderman

Christian Preacher and Evangelist W. V. Grant Mortal Conduit for God

Christian Preacher and Evangelist W. V. Grant uses a selection of sepia stock photos to help fill his pockets.  According to Wiki, the ex-con has claimed he isn't a faith healer, but IS a "mortal conduit" for same.  One of God's chosen ambassadors, I guess.  Grant's father was in the same game.  His "religious service" is an act aimed at anyone suffering from the worst affliction:  Blind faith.  A nice video of the fraudster follows.

I have assembled a nice little collection of Grant's tracts (thousands of which have sold for $1.00 each) which will be featured in a series of miracles of my OWN on the old time religion site.
 
CLICK HERE to send a Prayer Request directly through electronic conduit to Reverend Grant!  He is waiting for your mail.

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Buy the eBooks, they are cheaper.

A Well Dressed Wood Carving Folk Art collection Jim Linderman

 

Well-dressed Well-carved Folk Art Man, 19th Century.  Collection Jim Linderman

In Honor of the Roswell Anniversary, My Personal Collection of ACTUAL UFO PHOTOGRAPHS

Every serious photography collection should have a few original snapshots of Unidentified Flying Objects. These are original Kodachrome photos from a set dated 1964. I believe, I believe!

All above DATED and AUTHENTICATED by my own alien contacts.

Five color Kodachrome Print Snapshots 1964 Collection Jim Linderman