Certainly the largest man I've ever seen fit onto a tintype. Sideshow performer or just portly?
Tintype circa 1870 collection Jim Linderman
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Fat Man Tintype Circus Sideshow or Just a Large Man? Collection Jim Linderman
Fake Native American Band RPPC Real Photo Postcard collection Jim Linderman
Real Photo Postcard circa 1910 Collection Jim Linderman
The Albatross of Maine Charles Tower's Fantasy Bird from the Insane Hospital collection Jim Linderman
The Insane Hospital of Augusta, Maine opened in 1840, but much of it burned down ten years later. Since there were so many insane people in Maine (they turned down 100 applications for lack of space) they rebuilt in 1854. By 1900 they had over 1,000 inhabitants.
I do not know when Charles Tower was admitted, but this drawing and fantasy story about the Albatross of Maine was certainly done before 1900. You can read it, but I think it made more sense to Charles than it will to you.
Letter and Drawing by Charles W. Tower, Augusta Insane Hospital circa 1880? Collection Jim Linderman
School for Boys Graduating Class By the Numbers
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Someone went to plenty of trouble identifying all the young men here. A few gaps, but not bad. There are three boys named Morris, each further indicated by additional numbers on the reverse! (Morris number 2, Morris number 3...but I suspect they went by other nicknames, like "big" Morris and "stinky" Morris or something) The fellows in back graduated, and most of them went on to grade A schools.
Class Portrait, circa 1910? Original Photograph, 6" x 9" Collection Jim Linderman
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Wyoming Cowboys Roll into Town on a Float
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| Click to Enlarge Fake Cowboys |
The Wyoming Cowboys roll into Cleveland on a float...I will refrain from saying these rough and tough hombres are "floating" into town, but I gotta say they look like tenderfoots to me. Their dates look a bit surly, ornery and peeved though.
Buyer Beware Folk Art This Little Piggy Went to Market
All sold within the last few weeks on eBay. These would fall into the "antiques made while you wait" category.
- This little piggy went to market,
- This little piggy stayed home,
- This little piggy had roast beef,
- This little piggy had none,
- And this little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home.
Rhoda Ann Sargent RIP 1886 Hair Folk Art Memorial Tribute Death
Rhoda Ann Sargent's Hair woven into a tribute. 1886 Collection Jim Linderman
Tintype Dog with Considerable Eyebrows Tintype Photograph collection Jim Linderman
A real pair of eyebrows on this li'l fellow. Perched on a birch stand, man's best friend.
Rack of Carnival Knock-Down Punks and the Great Bicycle Ramp Jump Collection Jim Linderman
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| CLICK TO ENLARGE collection Jim Linderman |
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A big chunk of early carnival history on one photograph. A rack of knock-down targets sit underneath the giant wooden ramp of death for a bicycle daredevil above. I suppose one could take the time to squint at the signs and identify the location of this carnival which took over main street for a while, but what I here is already enough for me. Oh...and a nice ball toss target with a big mouth.
Madcaps Fingerama Musical Madness (I guess...)
Ladies and Gentlemen, give it up for THE MADCAPS and their original FINGERAMA !!!
Original Real Photo Postcard Date Unknown Collection Jim Linderman
Harlem History and Tan Pin Ups Teena, Vera and Dolores
One of the earliest significant ads I can find in a mass market
periodical offering nude photographs of African-American women.
(Or
even women of color...)
From a 1956 issue of Frolic Magazine. Scarce today, Frolic was printed
on cheap pulp but the covers were bright and vibrant to stand out on the
top shelf of shops. In 1956 the magazine was published every two
months with Luke Bailey as editor. Harlem was about 100 blocks north of
the editorial offices.
The photo sets offered here were common in the day, but to cater to a
race market was not. Mar-Mays photos MAY be yet another "branch" of the
enormous "Marr" or "Marno" distributor of countless figure study
digests documented as well as can be in the book
PROTO-PORN: The Art Figure Study Scam of the 1950s.
PROTO-PORN: The Art Figure Study Scam of the 1950s.
The ad here ran four years after African-American photographer Cass Carr
was arrested for organizing nude camera shots which used ethnic
models...and Bettie Page. Carr was a pioneer of sorts and lived in
Harlem. His studio was shut down by police as reported in Jet Magazine
in 1952. It is likely the photographs above came from informal (or even
illegal) amateur camera club models such as those used by Carr.
Ads from Frolic Magazine 1956 Text by Jim Linderman
Pet Cemetery ? Real Photo Postcard collection Jim Linderman
Mystery. Pet Cemetery? Garden layout? Any guesses?
Real Photo Postcard circa 1900 Collection Jim Linderman
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Good Boy (Dog) Toy Kraft Company Pull Toy
Thanks to a friendly follower, what I thought was a craftsman toy project from a kit or hobbyist magazine turns out to be a manufactured product made by the Toy Craft company in Wooster, Ohio. See post on Collector's Weekly HERE. Great paint and wonderful wear.
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Baby Betty on Highway 61
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| Baby Betty RPCC Collection Jim Linderman |
In a convoluted story which reads like a mid-1960s Bob Dylan song off Highway 61, Fat lady Baby Betty sued sword swallower Patricia Smith for $3000 after being hit on the head with a soda bottle. See the original story reported HERE by the AP, or use your imagination.
There was little midgets
and a long-haired gal
Great Shackles Charles
at the nasty trial
Dainty Dotty turned
to show some leg
her stockings fell
the judge turned red
Them Hula dancers
witnessed the row
Just keep quiet honey
and you'll get yours
Baby Betty Real Photo Postcard circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman
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The Aerial Fire Fiend A.S. Danton the Daredevil of Charleston collection Jim Linderman
I wish I had this brave young man's story to share, but I'm working on something and don't have time to scroll the microfilm in Charleston, West Virginia.
I assume a stunt performer with a terrifying act of fire and height. It looks like he may have singed his moustache.
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Old Folk Art Doll House of Cardboard Collection Jim Linderman
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| CLICK TO ENLARGE TEENY TINY TOILET |
Featuring a complete bathroom with a toilet paper roll, two tiny soap holders with soap, comfortable miniature beds with ticking and enough seating for the whole neighborhood! Corrugated life is seldom as comfortable. The heavily painted miniature craftsman is twenty inches long and a foot high, and features actual screen windows, two porches, numerous rooms and a Christmas wreath on the front door! Dated 1951…if you slather cardboard with house paint, it will last a long time.
The toilet seat is less than an inch wide. Better practice your aim. The soap is tweezer size.
Delineated bricks, well-worn front steps, and the entire living space slides out like a drawer…unlike most dollhouses the roof is stable.
Yes, there is a light, yes it plugs in and yes it works…after 60 years. I am not sure some of the houses being built today will last as long.
Handmade Cardboard House Model, 1951 Collection Jim Linderman
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Ghelyoon Okka Nargile Chillim One Hitter Bong
Nargile
Chillim
Huqqa
Gudugudaa
Marra Pipe
ghalyan (or ghelyoon)
Okka Pipe
One Hitter
Water Pipe
According to Wiki according to a study according to students surveyed 40.3 percent of college students had smoked from a hookah. I suspect that is inflated, as some of the stoners likely hit the "yes" button several times expecting a candy bar to drop.
Someone I know, I am not going to say who, used to pack shaved ice from the freezer compartment into a clay pipe for a nice cool smoke. It still wrecked his lungs.
Stoner Dude Snapshot circa 1960? Collection Jim Linderman
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Slingshot as Weapon Utilitarian Folk Art Which Puts Food on the Table
Does this look like a toy? I used to collect handmade slingshots as pieces of utilitarian folk art…but thought of them as mere pea-shooters for boys until I met the king of slingshot collectors in the mountains of North Carolina. He had a striking collection of slingshots. As in big rocks striking a rabbit. His name was Howard and he told me the toys I was lining up on my mantle weren't toys, they were weapons and a good one used with skill was a serious earner. It put food on the table. Up in the hills, during tough times or easy, young boys would hunt with them and more often than not bring something home. Squirrel, possum, rabbit…God's creatures brought down by a piece of inner tube stretched out from a handheld device.
Hand Welded Slingshot, circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman
Mishawaka Ball Band Rubber Boots Trade Sign Overshoes Galoshes Collection Jim Linderman Folk Art
Ball Band Rubber Boots were first manufactured in 1898, and the wonderful boot trademark with a red ball on the boot was registered as the official logo in 1901. The company was Mishawaka Rubbers, and a pair ofcirca 1935 rubber boots manufactured just like the one of the sign belong to the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they were added to the collection in 2004. Mishawaka Rubber & Woolen Company, in Mishawaka Indiana, operated from 1874 to 1969. The link to the Met with illustrations of the boot shown is HERE
The Resseguie General Store which displayed this sign was located in Middleton, Michigan.
Tin Sign circa 1900 24" x 9" Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb
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Elmer the Optician Optical Goods Eyeglasses Folk Art Trade Sign RPPC Collection Jim Linderman
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I suppose most know the folk art trade signs of figural form from days gone by were intended to identify the store for those who could not read. The technique was obviously particularly important in the case of eyeglass makers, as their clients couldn't read OR see! Consequently, the giant pair of glasses is one of the most common and recognizable early trade signs.
The sign here, mounted on Elmer the Optician's place in Muskegon Michigan dates to 1920. Elmer was Elmer P. Heimer, who had the top floor. It appears a shoe sale was going on below.
Elmer the Optician Perfect Fitting Glasses Optical Goods Trade Sign Real Photo PC circa 1920 Collection Jim Linderman
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