Halloween with John Spicer of Brooklyn. Snake Suit and Demon Dress all in worsted wool

The John Spicer company, a factory actually, was located in Brooklyn.  It started in 1888, and this catalog dates to around 1915, I believe.  The Halloween "body dresses" were made of worsted wool. 

John Spicer catalog circa 1915 Collection Jim Linderman
See also the books below by Jim Linderman

ECCENTRIC FOLK ART DRAWINGS OF THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES

THE BIRTH OF ROCK AND ROLL

Vintage Folk Art Sculpture Carnival Ball Toss

Vintage Folk Art Sculpture Carnival Ball Toss Collection Jim Linderman

Apple Industrial Factory Die Cut

Wood with metal border, sharpened at edges for industrial cut of an apple form   Undated, circa 1940.
Collection Jim Linderman

Witch with Pumpkin original anonymous watercolor dated 1911 Collection Jim Linderman

Witch with Pumpkin original watercolor dated 1911 Collection Jim Linderman
(See also the new book ECCENTRIC FOLK ART DRAWINGS:Obscure drawings of the 19th and 20th centuries)

BATS Miniature Watercolor c. 1910

Eccentric Folk Art Drawings of the 19th and 20th Centuries from the Jim Linderman Collection

SAMPLE PAGES FROM THE NEW BOOK ECCENTRIC FOLK ART DRAWINGS OF THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES FROM THE JIM LINDERMAN COLLECTION Available NOW from Blurb.com
200 Pages. PDF version available soon ORDER HERE

Sunday Painter Fairy Diptych Painted Pixies

A Pair of Painted Pixies frolic in the buff.  Estate Sale Find (two dollars for the pair.)  Circa 1980. 

Antique Scarecrow Photographic Essay Ephemeral Folk Art Sculpture at the Farm Collection Jim Linderman

Antique Scarecrow Photographic Essay  Ephemeral Folk Art Figures at the Farm Collection Jim Linderman  19th and early 20 Century snapshots of working dummys!  USE WITH PERMISSION ONLY.  See also the new book THE BIRTH OF ROCK AND ROLL for a photograph collection and music book unlike any you have seen.

Yanks vs Cubs 1932 ? drawing of the Big Game

A young boy draws America's game in 1932.  Cubs and Yanks appear on the scoreboard.  The two teams played each other in the World Series in 1932 and 1938, but I am calling this undated drawing 1932 because it was the series Babe Ruth called his home run.  Maybe he did it for the boy who drew this at home listening on the radio. 

Obverse and Reverse Will You Sleep With Me Jac? Please?

Vintage Sleaze the Blog comes and goes without warning.  It is currently on hiatus, but this couldn't wait. Original watercolor circa 1940 and reverse Will You Sleep with me Jac? Please? Collection Jim Linderman  Stay tuned to Dull Tool Dim Bulb the Blog for upcoming projects.  Thanks. Also of interest, The Birth of Rock and Roll is available from Amazon HERE and Dust to Digital HERE.

The Human Centipede Vernacular Photograph 1940

Original Photograph 1940 by Leslie H. Gardner.  Collection Jim Linderman
Also of interest, The Birth of Rock and Roll is available from Amazon HERE and Dust to Digital HERE.

Folk Art Hooked Rugs Painted in Enamel A Handmade Salesman Sample Book

A beautiful salesman sample book with twenty hooked rug designs, each hand-painted in miniature by a Massachusetts woman by the name of J. A. Harlow.  Not only are the samples beautiful and creative, they are rendered here in remarkable detail.  Note prices!   One of my favorite book titles is Anonymous was a Woman which detailed the extraordinary "women's work" created by artists who never signed their needlepoint, quilts, rugs and such.  In this case, there is a name.  The paintings are so beautiful, each could stand alone as a piece of wall art.  The salesman sample book also has numerous descriptions, instructions to order, and not surprisingly a note to return the book in good condition!  "Please be careful of it" reads one.  I will.

J. A. Harlow's  Homemade Salesman Sample of Hooked Rugs Collection Jim Linderman

Antique Folk Art Drawing Man with a Whip 19th Century collection Jim Linderman

Antique Folk Art Drawing Man with a  Whip 19th Century collection Jim Linderman
Drawn by a student circa 1874, it depicts one of her teachers.

Sepia Pin Up Calendar Storefront original photograph collection Jim Linderman

Sepia Pin Up Calendar Storefront.  This snapshot likely shows a photo studio associated with Sepia Magazine, which ran over 35 years but never achieved the reputation of the competitor Ebony or the mini-digest Jet.  Still, it was a popular media source for the Black country within the country.  Starting in 1947, Sepia was published in Texas by Good Publishing Company.  Good was also responsible for the few African-American scandal magazines of the mid 20th Century.  Hep, Jive and Bronze Thrills also came from Good.  Interestingly, The owner was a white man named George Levitan, but the staff was largely African-American, and Mr. Levitan was a civil rights supporter.

This could be a satellite office.  The magazine had nation-wide distribution, so it is possible a studio looking for glamour shots of African-American women would be in NYC or Chicago.  It is also possible this was simply a storefront set up by an anonymous photographer using the Sepia name.  What better way to attract talent?  There is a similar snapshot for sale on a website which identifies the date around 1930, but that is unlikely.

There is so little documentation of early African-American pinups.  My book Secret Life of the Black Pin-up is out of print., but many of the images have been shared and posted by others.  The phrase "Black is Beautiful" was intended to wake up all races…African-American residents were so abused, even they had doubts.  Yes, Black women are beautiful and they had their own subculture of pin-up beauty, but the history is buried and the issues scarce.

One reason so few of the original Good Publications magazines are seen today is due to the "pass-along rate."  Unlike, for example, issues of National Geographic, which are stockpiled in many garages in nearly mint but moldy condition, most of the race magazines were shared over and over until they wore out.  They cost from 25 to 35 cents…and before the 1960s, there was little disposable income for the minority.  They were seldom collected by libraries.  A few examples of Good Magazines are shown here.

See also HERE and HERE. 
Original snapshot Sepia Pin-Up Calendar Storefront.  No date, circa 1955?  Collection Jim Linderman.  Jim Linderman's book The Birth of Rock and Roll published by Dust to Digital is available for purchase HERE and HERE.

  

All Ears Folk Art Clay Sculpture

All Ears.   Folk Art Clay Sculpture Collection Jim Linderman

Comic Novelty Foreground Photographs

Comic Novelty Foreground Photographs from the 1940s.  Collection Jim Linderman

Old Handpainted Sign Bull for Sale

Michigan Origin. Circa 1950.  Collection Jim Linderman