An Early Panel Comic Strip drawn by Elizabeth Stohn Associated Art Studios Correspondence School for Cartoonists 1918

 

Continues Below

While this early, drawn by hand "comic" strip (or graphic novel if you like) is nearly 100 years old, the young woman who drew it had little to base her format on.  Dating to 1918 or so, there seems to have been only some 20 major published newspaper strips at the time being told in panels.  The Katzenjammer Kids, which appeared in 1897,  is credited as the first strip with a story told in panels.  Mutt and Jeff  came along ten years later.  The third major strip of the era, Krazy Kat, appeared in 1913. The character had been part of "The Dingbat Family" a few years before it appeared as a spin-off.

The other characteristic defining a comic strip is the use of "balloons" to carry conversations.  This has that as well.

 

Substantial strips of the early 20th century are far better known today than when they first appeared.  Research and compilations have documented them to an audience far larger than those who saw the original work on a regular basis. 

The artist here is a young woman named Elizabeth Stohn of Newburgh, New York.  This work was found with several sketchbooks filled with single drawings as well as an 88 page graphic novel drawn in 1921.  She had progressed, and some of the work from that book are shown below.

It appears her maturation was due to a correspondence school of art.  in 1924 she received somewhat persnickety  feedback from the Associated Art Studios in New York City.  Specifically from Mort Burger, who was director of the school of cartooning then located in the Flatiron Building.  Mr. Burger was a cartoonist himself, though maybe not much of one.  Comic historian Allan Holtz writes "Mort was a producer of small panel cartoons which peppered the daily papers of New York and other cities in the 1900s and 1910s. These mini-cartoons fell out of favor in the mid-teens and Burger turned to other cartooning pursuits like this school."  Well…I always wondered why artists taught art instead of making art.  Mort did both, but seems to have been slightly more successful teaching.  He tried performing on stage as well.  As also found by Allan Holtz, Mort was killed in an automobile accident just 6 months after the artist here received his letter of criticism!  It is not known how many working cartoonists the school turned out.  One can find numerous examples of the advertisements he placed in magazines, but little about any successful graduates.

Ms. Stohn seems to have seen her share of misery by an early age…and in fact "comic" strip is a misnomer.  Her strip works are lurid.  The earliest comic strips were often far from funny.  As David Kunzle writes "the early (pre-19th-century) strip was seldom comic either in form or in content, and many contemporary strips are in no sense primarily humorous. The terms comics and comic strip became established about 1900 in the United States, when all strips were indeed comic."   Still, if anything characterizes her strip work, it is perils of a young woman.  This and the larger book work are filled with abuse and violence. One hopes it was not autobiographical. But she was ahead of her time.

There is a Hedwig Stohn from Newburgh, NY listed as being born in 1880.  Father of Elizabeth?  Husband?  There is an Elizabeth Stohn born nearby in 1910, which would make the artist a child while doing the works shown here, and only 14 at the time of enrolling in the Associated Art Studios.  Possible but unlikely?  She passed in 1988, and could be our artist, if a precocious one. In an earlier post on Dull Tool Dim Bulb a drawing by the artist was shown requesting further information.  As yet, no response.  Should additional information be forthcoming, it would be nice to see the entire 88 page graphic novel  "From Poverty to Luxary" (sic) published!

Works by Elizabeth Stohn 1918 - 1924 Collection Jim Linderman
(You may also be interested in the BOOK Eccentric Folk Art Drawings by the Author.
available from Blurb.

Antique Vintage Frog Die Cut Mold

It is pretty hard to impart motion (and gooeyness) to a metal object, but this vintage die-cut mold certainly does.  I handled many frogs in my younger,  wet feet days, and I can assure you this is a perfect rendition of a frog.  Die-Cut molds have been used for a century and more.  All those colorful stickers from Victorian days?  Die-cut.  They cut leather, rubber, you name it into recognizable shapes.  Note sharp edges here.  A die-cut mold is stamped down hard to create a representation.  

This Frog has been used a long time.  It has a repair or two, and even some neon green goo stuck in the groove which probably came along late in his career.  This guy survived in the industrial machine swamp for decades...right up to the neon era.  

Vintage Frog Mold no date.  Collection Jim Linderman Follow the BOXLOT page on Facebook.

The Original Homeless Eight Vintage Photograph of a Drawing

Thanks and a tip "o" the homeless hat to NATALIE CURLEY ANTIQUES

Man on ICE Real Photo Post Card of a Stunt man Freezing

Man on ICE Stunt (coming out live on the radio!)   Real Photo Post Card of a Stunt man Freezing  Collection Jim Linderman

Original Vintage Photographs Reverend John D. Ruth Bible Garden Georgia Folk Art by Jim Linderman

Original Vintage Photographs Reverend John D. Ruth Bible Garden Georgia Folk Art by Jim Linderman 1995 © Dull Tool Dim Bulb
See also IN SITU: FOLK ART IN PLACE by Jim Linderman Free Preview and Orders HERE

Antique Erotic Folk Art Sculpture Carving Nude Woman

Antique Erotic Folk Art Sculpture Carving Nude Woman circa 1930?  Collection Jim Linderman

Antique Folk Art Drawing of an African-American Man c.1888 Georgia Origin Collection Jim Linderman

Antique Folk Art Drawing African-American Man, Georgia.  Dated 1888 Drawn on an envelope. Collection Jim Linderman
See also the book from Blurb ECCENTRIC FOLK ART DRAWINGS by Jim Linderman available in paperback or affordable instant ebook from Blurb.

Girl with Dog and Stick 19th Century Antique American Folk Art Drawing Watercolor

Girl with Dog and Stick  19th Century Antique American Folk Art Drawing Watercolor
Collection Jim Linderman
SEE ALSO the Book and Ebook available now ECCENTRIC FOLK ART DRAWINGS: Obscure Drawings of the 19th and 20th Centuries
Free Preview and Orders CLICK HERE.

 

Christmas Abundance Vintage Scrapbook of Die-Cut Stickers

Christmas Abundance Vintage Scrapbook of Die-Cut Stickers Circa 1935 - 1950  
Collection Jim Linderman

Miniature Clay Antique Boot Folk Art and the First Santa Toy

Miniature clay boot created circa 1900 by the American Marble and Toy Company in Akron, Ohio. Little more than one inch tall, and produced by the thousands.  My understanding has always been that the factory burned down at some time and boxes of the tiny toys of clay were dug from the ruins.  Sure enough, according to the website American Toy Marble Museum  "...on one unlucky day in 1904, thirteen years after it had been incorporated, The American Marble & Toy Manufacturing Company burnt to the ground. This unfortunate event appeared, to some young pilferers, to be a great day for marble collectors: the next morning, every little boy in Akron came down to scavenge and fill his pockets with marbles. This was no play ground, far from being a safe place for such innocent children to be hanging (and looting) about. The police were called in to keep these treasure hunters from unlawfully appropriating the marbles, and soon after, the city ordered the charred remains of the factory to be buried."
 

Image BLUE SANTA & FRIENDS

Interestingly, the factory was also responsible for the very first SANTA CLAUS toy!  The little fella, known as "Blue Santa" was dug up in 2009...you can hear the story on NPR HERE, and the picture is taken from the BLUE SANTA AND FRIENDS site which provides the full story.

Tiny Stoneware Boot circa 1900 Collection Jim Linderman
Courtesy Natalie Curley Antiques.
SEE ALSO THE SEWER TILE and SEWER PIPE FOLK ART POTTERY Website.

Frat House Freeze! Ice and Snow Sculpture from Maine 1939 Vernacular Photographs

See also the Book (and ebook) In Situ: American Folk Art in Place available now.
Ice and Snow Sculpture from Maine 1939 Vernacular Photographs. From the Facebook site BOX LOT.