Jim Linderman blog about surface, wear, form and authenticity in self-taught art, outsider art, antique american folk art, antiques and photography.
Mail with Stamps on Both Sides
Waste not, Want not. I especially like the Columbus discovers America clock.
Group of Postcards with applied stamp decoration and paint. Circa 1900-1945
Collection Jim Linderman
Leaving the Baptism Real Photo Post Card Jim Linderman Thanks
Many years ago a good friend told me the art world works slow. It does indeed. I started collecting antique photographs of folks being washed and saved many years ago. With each one I found and acquired, my desire to share them with others increased. All good things come to he who waits. I was fortunate indeed to find Lance and April Ledbetter at Dust to Digital, they brought a professionalism and respect to the material I could have not have even imagined. Master designers John Hubbard and Rob Millis have recreated my delight finding the photos with every turn of the page. Luc Sante, who has a remarkable acuity for translating visions into text generously provided words I am incapable of. Many others were involved, Lance thanks them in the credits. I am pleased the originals have been accepted into the permanent collection of the International Center of Photography, where, unlike many of the things I have assembled over the years, they will be kept together for all to enjoy. Today, anyone can leave a footprint...all it takes is the ability to hit "send" or "upload"...but to have a physical object as beautiful as the book and CD my friends have produced is a wonderful thing.
So, on to the next. I have shoe boxes full and ideas plenty.
"Baptism on the Ohio River, near Cincinnati, Ohio" Azo Real Photo Post Card circa 1910 Collection Jim Linderman
Gladis Smyth's Drawing Teacher
Alonzo Hall Blind Accordion Playing Pastor Phones in a Performance
The Emotion Control Machine of Mr. Higgins 1930
Victoria Plaza from Passaic and her Proud Baseball Moment
Victoria Plaza's moment came against the Rutherford, New York girls baseball team in Spring 1921. The Passaic New Jersey student pitched a no-hitter. When she woke that morning, could she have suspected her photo would be taken against a wall near the dugout? She seems to be handling her momentary fame with considerable style and grace.
Original photo with pencil caption and date stamp, 1921 Collection Jim Linderman
Paul Wegner "Summer Home" Sparta Wisconsin
Earl Moran Cheesecake and the Rifkin Safety Sac with Arcolock
Here is Earl Steffa Moran taking some time from throwing fabulous parties in the San Fernando Valley and arranging for his work to be shown in prestigious journals of art such as Flirt, Wink and Giggles. Having his paintings licensed for use on advertising cards for Rifkin's Bank Bags and Safety Sacs was also not quite what he had in mind when he was studying at the Art Student's League in Manhattan (a place I once wandered into after shopping at the now closed Coliseum Books on West 57th Street and encountered two nude models chatting near the admissions office) Moran is probably the most prolific pin-up artist of all time. He also discovered and as seen here, painted one Norma Jean Dougherty who later went on to seduce a baseball player and a president. After years of partying and painting, Moran decided to concentrate on his work and began painting more seriously. His subject? I kid you not...Nudes.
Four Advertising price list cards, c. 1945. Collection Jim Linderman
Fury in Whittier Park! Vernacular Photographs of Motion Picture Making in the Early 1930's
Fury in Whittier Park? Actually, Fury in Malibou Lake, a place you've seen without even knowing it. These rare, original photographs were taken during the filming of "Fury in the Jungle" in 1933, a typical, disposable adventure yarn directed by Roy Neill, who would go on to direct, among many others, the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films, several Three Stooges shorts and even the noir classic Black Angel. No one of any great consequence acted in this film, at least as far as I can tell...but the STAR is the lake itself! In 1931, Boris Karloff as Frankenstein met the girl here. In The Bad Seed this was the location of the drowning scene. Chaplin filmed pieces of The Great Dictator here. In this potboiler, Malibou Lake became "Morongo, South America" and was filled with rubber alligators. Many of the photos here have notes describing the action being staged. Unusual historical content for a group of snaps!
Set of Original Snapshots of a Motion Picture Set, California, 1933 Collection Jim Linderman
United Society of Christian Endeavor Tool Chest Price List
I Desire a Return of Affection: Calling Cards and Tokens of Affection
These weren't made with a dull tool or a dim bulb. Often sold by traveling salesmen for a dollar a bundle, these engraved paper tokens were given as polite gestures, presented for thanks and left in a small tray near the doorway for visitors. I've touched on calligraphy in an earlier post, it was a skill which used to be taught to children in school. These are all printed examples, but hand drawn ones are only a little harder to find, they are often glued in scrapbooks or at the bottom of a box of paper objects. Each is smaller than a credit card. Assorted Calling Cards and Tokens of Affection. C. 1860-1890. Collection Jim Linderman
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