Human Detective Art versus the Courtroom Artist Pale by Comparison to Pulp

What do they mean here?  As opposed to bloodhounds?  Now that we rely on cyberslueths more than gumshoes, it is nice to be reminded of the days when a hard working human dick brought in the perps.

Human Detective was lurid, but then so is 48 hours (and the knock-off on A&E The First 48) both which are gripping…and as long as we have criminals, we'll have headlines, even if they come in digital form.

The best Human Detective covers are painted.  Later, tricked-up photographs were used, but one could hardly tell the difference, with all the hyper-realistic color and primary color luridness added.  Still great. 

Here is a question:  How come today's courtroom artists suck by comparison to the old-timers?  Seems to me that market, if one were a commercial artist looking to dominate a field, is ripe for a lurid illustrator rather than a quick sketch artist.

Two lovely books which reproduce covers of True Crime pulps are, first, the way totally cool Cyanide and Sin: Visualizing Crime in 50s America, which was published in a limited edition of 3,000 copes (and comes with a huge fold-out cover) and True Crime Detective Magazines 1924-1969.  Both are great.

Fiery Red Character Wig Which Temporarily Retards Flame

Character unspecified, but if you click and enlarge, you will see the small print reads "treated to temporarily retard flame."  Hmm.  I don't see a time estimate, but I would walk junior around the neighborhood with a large spritzer bottle just in case.  He might peer down into a pumpkin.

I recall reading years ago a funny thing about writer, director and genius John Waters.  He claimed one of his numerous collections was "banned toys" which he would rush out every shopping season after the consumer product safety made their lists.  I don't know if he was kidding or not, but every time I see a set of Lawn Darts in an antique mall (you know....those heavy darts not intended to fall straight down into a kid's head) or, as above, a halloween costume literally made out of tinder...I think of Mr. Waters.  I think I have ALSO figured out who the character here is.  Torchy Recall, the consumer bandit.

Unsafe Character Wig Style "Red Flowing" NO MANUFACTURER or date on package!  Collection Jim Linderman

BROWSE AND ORDER BOOKS AND EBOOKS BY JIM LINDERMAN HERE

Kindergarten Toy Orchestra! 1930

Kindergarten Toy Orchestra 1930  Original Photograph by "Olson" 1930 Collection Jim Linderman

One Race Many Cultures Vintage Photograph collection Jim Linderman

There is only one race, the human one.  There ARE many cultures.  I am glad to be living during the years we finally realize it.  These sisters in geisha garb realized it before most of us, I guess.

Untitled Anonymous Snapshot (African-American Women In Japanese Geisha Garb) circa 1920?
Collection Jim Linderman

Antique Carnival Coin Toss Gameboard collection Jim Linderman

Circa 1940 Carnival Game Board (Penny Toss) painted on linoleum.  Linoleum used to be called "kampticon" and was invented way back in 1864, and as such is yet one more "mid-century modern" thing which is in fact not mid-century or modern at all…like plywood.  Both go back well over 100 years, and both are now antique…so take that stuff out of the "modern" wing folks.

Carnival Game Board collection Jim Linderman

Browse and Order Books and affordable Ebooks by Jim Linderman HERE

Fantasy Drawings by African-American Artist Asa "Ace" Moore collection Jim Linderman

 

 

A group of the recently discovered erotic fantasy comic illustrations by Asa "Ace" Moore, African-American from Ohio, circa 1935.  

All Original Drawings circa 1935 collection Jim Linderman

MAKE SURE TO SEE BOOKS AND EBOOKS BY JIM LINDERMAN HERE

Big Folk Art Wood Carved Head Sculpture

Carved and painted bust.  Life Size!  Collection Jim Linderman 

Women with Dummies Female Ventriloquist with Vent Figures Vintage Photographs

Women with Dummies

Are ventriloquist dummies any less creepy when being manipulated by women?  Well, I don't see them as creepy at all, I see them as complicated, handmade and hand carved folk art objects with long and noble careers.  The dummies, that is.  The women with their hands up Woody's crotch might be a little strange, but the dolls (or using the proper term "vents" ) are fine with me.

Striving to be gender friendly in all endeavors, the author spent a decade collecting antique vintage photographs of ventriloquists with their tool, and while I cannot say total equality was achieved, I dare say you have never seen so many pictures of the "fairer" sex with blockheads before.  Dummy dames? 

I'M WITH DUMMY Vent Figures and Blockheads by JIM LINDERMAN | Make Your Own Book

BROWSE BOOKS AND AFFORDABLE Ebooks FOR iPad by Jim Linderman HERE

Jumbo Target Game with Bell Original Paint

No date or manufacturer, but it must have had packaging which would identify it.  Rusted bell in center and 12" across with fold-out wire stand. 

OId Airplane Whirligig Weathervane on a Pole Photograph collection Jim Linderman

 Anonymous snapshot, No Date Collection Jim Linderman

Incongruous Group of Boxers and Banjo Cabinet Card Photograph collection Jim Linderman

Original Cabinet Card Photograph Circa 1880 Collection Jim Linderman

19th Century Folk Art Doll Puppet Head Collection Jim Linderman

Good looking older fellow with moustache, chin beard and rosy cheeks.  Circa 1870 collection Jim Linderman

Eliot Brewster and L.B. Cole Cheap Pulp Heaven

Illustrator L.B. Cole had a doctorate degree in anatomy and used it to good advantage by rendering bad women, cheating men...and for his numerous comic books, the occasional throbbing rocket ship.
 
Eliot Brewster was one of many hack writers who had his hardcovers turned into paper digests which served the emerging market for cheap reads...much of it caused by thousand upon thousands of men and women going to war.  At home, on a train to camp or hiding in a foxhole, a colorful, spicy read was one of the few pleasures available.  There are very few copies of the books above, as they were cheap, by intention, and during difficult times passed off to neighbors and buddies until they were gone.  Later the high acid content evaporated all but those pressed tight...which only delays the inevitable crumbling a few more decades.

In Love Above All,  Les Carver returns from war to the "simple, little plump girl" he promised to marry.  Her weight is discussed frequently in the book.  His eyes wander and soon  Les is "irresistibly drawn into a whirlpool of drink, debauchery, wild sex orgies…" and more.  

Author Eliot Brewster is due a revival.

In Faithfully Yours,  Brewster puts a maid in the house, a man in the service and gives them both a book title which is a lie.

Like Bilbrew ten years later, Cole's men frequently have greasy, troubled hair falling perfectly down their troubled foreheads. 

In Love Above All, smoke initially rises towards the wedding, but swirls over to the dame. The same dame nearly impaled on a bottle of whiskey.  What man returning from the war wouldn't drift like smoke to the dark side?  After the unspeakable horror of war, many men had a choice.  Do what is "right" or pound it away, literally, against a loose bed board. Is there a cheap motel shown on this cover?  Does there need to be?  Look into his eyes.
 
Cole is responsible for some of the most striking comic book covers you will ever seen.  A good sample is HERE on the Monster Brains website.  

But Cole was at his best when things in a guy's head were at their worst.  

Brewster today appeals only to the few collectors who seek the same thrills sought during the war.  Among his other titles are Sisters in Sin, Skin Deep, Lusty, Private Companion, Ready for Love and Wicked Women.

Faithfully Yours by Eliot Brewster cover by L. B Cole 1943  Phoenix Press.  Love Above All by Eliot Brewster cover by L. B. Cole 1945  Palace Press (Phoenix) Both Collection Jim Linderman 

AN ABRIDGED VERSION OF A POST ON VINTAGE SLEAZE THE BLOG

Books and Ebooks by Jim Linderman are HERE  

Vintage V African-American Weaves Wigs and Hair from Howard's of Harlem

Some SERIOUS Black wigs from just after World War Two.  And since hair is a serious subject for most African-American women, I am not going to even attempt much an essay here.  I do remember walking through the book fair on 125th street (where these images came from fifty years earlier) and it seemed every publisher, large or small, had a title devoted to women of color and their hair, wigs, weaves, hats and the culture around it.

There is also a serious amount of weaves in here, including  "crispy hair transformations and biscuit side puffs"  along with a considerable group of the necessary tools.  Beautiful essentials for already beautiful women.

My only other observations are the "V" for victory style,  which makes sense after the war,  and that from what I can tell "Howard's of 125th Street" was in business well into the long-overdue "Black is Beautiful" era of the late 1960s and beyond. 

The splendid artist, alas, is unidentified in the catalog, which is a whopping 44 pages. At one time Howard's owned a copyright on the phrase "Re-birth of Charm" though I don't think the women who received this catalog in the mail ever lost theirs.

Rebirth of Charm spring 1946 Catalog  Coiffures Created by Howard's New York City  44 page Pamphlet 5" x 7" Collection Jim Linderman 

BROWSE and ORDER Books and affordable Ebooks BY JIM LINDERMAN HERE at Blurb

Early Blues R&B Quartet Performs on the Street Photograph collection Jim Linderman

Original Photograph Collection Jim Linderman

Original Photograph Collection Jim Linderman

I was fortunate to find another early blues and/or R&B group performing on the street.  As before, any help out there?  Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin and String  Bass played with a bow.  No date, but I am guessing the 1940s?  Could be earlier, could be later.  Share it around folks...definitive answer wins a prize!

African-American Musicians on  the Street Performing, Anonymous.  Collection Jim Linderman

See Dull Tool Dim Bulb books and affordable Ebooks HERE

Twig Table with Crazy Quilt Bugle and Woman Dull Tool Dim Bulb Folk Art photograph

Since I am sure this is the only post in the world which combines the phrases Twig Table and Crazy Quilt and Bugle and Woman, let's test Google's retrieval capabilities.  (And you wonder how I receive so many hits on my blogs) 

Woman with Bugle and Twig Table original photograph Anonymous, circa 1890 Collection Jim Linderman

Art and PhotographyBooks and Affordable Ebooks for Ipad  by Jim Linderman are HERE at Blurb

James Bond Bongo! Sing a Song of Detective Clive

I've only seen a James Bond film with either Sean Connery or Woody Allen playing the spy, but I did read every one of Ian Fleming's novels, even the one he did for kids.

I haven't heard Adelle's song for the next one either, but so far all of them have been crap except for  Dr. No, which is here (wait for the bongos) and the ones composed by John Barry.

Fraternal Freemason Guy Lisa Hix Article on Secret Societies and Bruce and Julie Webb collection

This rugged, or ragged, or regal (take your pick) fellow seems decked out in splendid mason regalia, but as I am no expert on fraternal folks, this fellow from Sandusky, Ohio gives me an opportunity to recommend two wonderful things which might help identify the fellow.

The first wonderful thing is LISA HIX who over the course of the last few years has written a lively group of articles about the curious angles which hold together the collector's field, and in turn has helped Collector's Weekly become the vibrant, active and always interesting site for ALL folks who do the work of collecting.  I say  "do the work" as work it is.  From picker to shopper, putting together a group of rare objects of any form is a job, and the folks who do it are 50 years ahead of the museums.  So pat yourselves on the back everyone.  But read Lisa Hix
 
Lisa is a particular favorite of mine, as she is fearless, clever and her essays always teach while entertaining.  You can read her work, which is published frequenty HERE, but in particular, her newest and fascinating DECODING SECRET SOCIETIES: WHAT ARE ALL THOSE OLD BOYS 'CLUBS HIDING?  Nice Job Lisa.  Lisa receives the Linderman stamp of approval for this article, and the lifetime achievement award for the 10 or 12 quirky subjects she has profiled. Lisa is an up and comer and I am a fan. 

The other site I can share as a result of old crusty, freemason is Bruce and Julie Webb, who run the Webb Gallery in Waxahachie, Texas.  Honest, informed, fun folks with great stuff.  But more pertinent for this post is their wonderful, extraordinary collection of Lodge and Fraternal material they have assembled over a number of years.  OFT UNSEEN : ART FROM THE LODGE AND OTHER SECRET SOCIETIES was exhibited and a lovely website display remains which you must see.  Ever since I met the couple some 10 or 15 years ago, I always think of them as sharp, Informed and down to earth good people.  So browse their WEBB GALLERY WEBSITE too!

Cabinet Card (top) of an anonymous Free Mason No date.  Collection Jim Linderman

Linderman Books and ebook downloads for IPad are HERE