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Three Legged Sack Race 1951 Snapshot Collection Jim Linderman
Three-Legged Race:
To play you will need one burlap bag for each two-person team. The more teams racing, the more fun it is.
- Participants stand side-by-side and put leg closest to each other in the burlap bag.
- Together, they race to the finish line.
- The first team to the finish line wins.
Original snapshot dated on reverse 1951 Collection Jim Linderman
Carnival Shooting Gallery Target in the Shape of a Cannon
Carnival Sideshow Shooting Gallery Target in the Shape of a Cannon No Date (circa 1930?) 12" across Collection Jim Linderman
Knit Clown Costume Leggings and Sweater Carnival Sideshow collection Jim Linderman
Anonymous Clown in Knitted Costume 1922 (Detail) Original Photograph collection Jim Linderman
See also ARCANE AMERICANA the photography book available in softcover OR Ebook for Ipad HERE
Iron On Transfers of Pin-up Girls One Cent Each! Dizzy Designs to Decorate your Duds Vendor Display and Tear Card
Pin-Up Girls Iron on Transfers Vendor Display and Tear Card circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman
Samuel Lonnie Simmons, Photographer
A piece from the sister blog "Vintage Sleaze"
Samuel "Lonnie" Simmons is Unsung Hero of Photography number nine. (See them all linked below)
Time to bring another great photographer out of the dust of obscurity and racism. Once known as "The Man Who Never Sleeps" Samuel "Lonnie" Simmons was an African-American jazzman (more than anything else) in his younger days playing with no less than American treasure Fats Waller, Hot Lips Page, Chick Webb and more. Many more. He recorded under his own name as well, including "I Can't Get Started" on the Parrot label (in which he played both organ and saxophone, probably at the same time.) If you are not yet impressed with Lonnie's musical chops, his Jet Magazine obit reports he also played with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. Parrot was a label which lasted only three years in the early 1950s, but some of the recordings were reissued later on Chess Records.
However, though Simmons performed up until the last, suffering a fatal stroke while performing AT AGE 80 according to Euguene Chadbourne, it is his work as a photographer of interest here.
Photographer too? I'm getting a little tired of learning about astounding talented people no one taught me about in school.
So Lonnie, or Samuel, is called "a free-lance photographer" in passing in the few places you might find information about him.
Born in Charleston, South Carolina Actually, in Mt. Pleasant, an isolated pocket in the low-country coast, yet another of those plantation- era places near where slaves landed. A bridge to Mount Pleasant was built in 1928. Wiki lists one Darius Rucker as coming from the city, he being "Hootie" of the Blowfish… but they omit Mr. Simmons.
Lonnie's father was a blacksmith who went back nearly to slave days, passing at the age of 82 in 1955. Lonnie's father was just one notable blacksmith named Simmons from the Charleston area. On his father's passing, Lonnie went back to Mt. Pleasant to bring his mother back to Chicago with him, and it was her first plane airplane ride. His appearance at the funeral was notable enough for the local paper to interview him, where Simmons is reported to have "gradually drifted into take pictures for newspapers and magazines" and that he maintains his own darkroom in his Chicago home. The headline reads "Mt. Pleasant Negro Musician Becomes Press Photographer" and adds a few more musical giants among his playing partners.
It was not unusual for Mr. Simmons to leap from the bandstand with his camera to capture events, including crimes. A one-man forerunner of the surveillance camera, his pictures were used by the Chicago Police for evidence and he earned honorary membership in the Chicago Patrolman's Association. Much of his photography was taken at the legendary Chicago Club De Lisa (which I wrote about earlier) and I now believe the photograph below was taken by Mr. Simmons in his "spare time" as picture maker who roamed the club supporting his income with snapshots.
The
extraordinary dance photos shown here were Lonnie's. Scarce not only
because they show the "Black and Tan" nightclub era (an era not
generally regarded as worthy of documentation at the time by most
photographers) but also because, I assume, most of Mr. Simmons
photographs have not been exhibited. It would be pretty safe to guess
the originals are lost. We can hope a relative finds this post, digs
them out and produces the coffee-table book he earned but no one made.
Somebody has some, as Mr. Simmon's photographs were apparently used in the 1995 documentary PROMISED LAND narrated by Morgan Freeman for the History Channel which while acclaimed was forgotten. You can read about it HERE where people keep asking why it isn't available on DVD…one of whom writes "It is a shame that this great work of truth has been overlooked." Par for the course. The documentary is about the migration of southern African-Americans to Chicago. Lonnie Simmons was one of them, and fortunately he was around with his camera.
Samuel
"Lonnie" Simmons photographs appear in Ebony, Jet, The Chicago
Defender, The Pittsburgh Courier, The Crusader and Cabaret (a magazine
which documented burlesque in the 1950s and from where the photographs
above were taken) and I suspect others once considered unsavory race and
pinup magazines from the 1950s on. The portrait of the young musician
is from the Charleston Jazz Initiative at the School of the Arts,
College of Charleston, South Carolina. Jet Magazine recognized Lonnie's
talents and skills…as well as using his photographs (including the
astounding picture of a dancer flying above a drummer, which I have
cribbed but credited) they also reported on his adventures, including
being bitten by an eel and having his instruments stolen HERE.
PHOTOGRAPH OF SAMUEL LONNIE SIMMONS Charleston Jazz Initiative Archives
PARROT RECORD LABEL HERE
Original Club DeLisa Photograph and Sleeve collection Jim Linderman
UNSUNG HEROES OF PHOTOGRAPHY is a series on Vintage Sleaze the Blog by Jim Linderman. Previous profiles include Art Messick George Boardman Danny Rouzer Russ Meyer Wil Blanche Benno Friedman and Bunny Yeager
JIM LINDERMAN BOOKS AND AFFORDABLE EBOOKS ARE AVAILABLE HERE ON BLURB
Time to bring another great photographer out of the dust of obscurity and racism. Once known as "The Man Who Never Sleeps" Samuel "Lonnie" Simmons was an African-American jazzman (more than anything else) in his younger days playing with no less than American treasure Fats Waller, Hot Lips Page, Chick Webb and more. Many more. He recorded under his own name as well, including "I Can't Get Started" on the Parrot label (in which he played both organ and saxophone, probably at the same time.) If you are not yet impressed with Lonnie's musical chops, his Jet Magazine obit reports he also played with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. Parrot was a label which lasted only three years in the early 1950s, but some of the recordings were reissued later on Chess Records.
Photographer too? I'm getting a little tired of learning about astounding talented people no one taught me about in school.
So Lonnie, or Samuel, is called "a free-lance photographer" in passing in the few places you might find information about him.
Born in Charleston, South Carolina Actually, in Mt. Pleasant, an isolated pocket in the low-country coast, yet another of those plantation- era places near where slaves landed. A bridge to Mount Pleasant was built in 1928. Wiki lists one Darius Rucker as coming from the city, he being "Hootie" of the Blowfish… but they omit Mr. Simmons.
Lonnie's father was a blacksmith who went back nearly to slave days, passing at the age of 82 in 1955. Lonnie's father was just one notable blacksmith named Simmons from the Charleston area. On his father's passing, Lonnie went back to Mt. Pleasant to bring his mother back to Chicago with him, and it was her first plane airplane ride. His appearance at the funeral was notable enough for the local paper to interview him, where Simmons is reported to have "gradually drifted into take pictures for newspapers and magazines" and that he maintains his own darkroom in his Chicago home. The headline reads "Mt. Pleasant Negro Musician Becomes Press Photographer" and adds a few more musical giants among his playing partners.
It was not unusual for Mr. Simmons to leap from the bandstand with his camera to capture events, including crimes. A one-man forerunner of the surveillance camera, his pictures were used by the Chicago Police for evidence and he earned honorary membership in the Chicago Patrolman's Association. Much of his photography was taken at the legendary Chicago Club De Lisa (which I wrote about earlier) and I now believe the photograph below was taken by Mr. Simmons in his "spare time" as picture maker who roamed the club supporting his income with snapshots.
Somebody has some, as Mr. Simmon's photographs were apparently used in the 1995 documentary PROMISED LAND narrated by Morgan Freeman for the History Channel which while acclaimed was forgotten. You can read about it HERE where people keep asking why it isn't available on DVD…one of whom writes "It is a shame that this great work of truth has been overlooked." Par for the course. The documentary is about the migration of southern African-Americans to Chicago. Lonnie Simmons was one of them, and fortunately he was around with his camera.
PHOTOGRAPH OF SAMUEL LONNIE SIMMONS Charleston Jazz Initiative Archives
PARROT RECORD LABEL HERE
Original Club DeLisa Photograph and Sleeve collection Jim Linderman
UNSUNG HEROES OF PHOTOGRAPHY is a series on Vintage Sleaze the Blog by Jim Linderman. Previous profiles include Art Messick George Boardman Danny Rouzer Russ Meyer Wil Blanche Benno Friedman and Bunny Yeager
JIM LINDERMAN BOOKS AND AFFORDABLE EBOOKS ARE AVAILABLE HERE ON BLURB
Some of the Darling Saxaphone Four Women Saxophone Players collection Jim Linderman
Original 8 x 10 Press Photographs circa 1920 collection Jim Linderman
Shotgun Wedding (with Pistol) collection Jim Linderman
DULL TOOL DIM BULB BOOKS (AND CHEAP EBOOKS) AVAILABLE HERE AT BLURB.COM
Have you Seen Freddie Cunningham Boy Wonder ? Nope RPPC collection Jim Linderman
Freddie Cunningham The Boy Wonder Unexcelled High Wire Artist circa 1900 Collection Jim Linderman
Jim Linderman Books and Ebooks available HERE
A Tiny House Cabin for a Folk Art Collection and Studio
Moving to Michigan and wanting a backyard barn for a modest folk art collection, studio and man-cave, I commissioned the fine folks at Mast Barns to create one for me.
The tiny house is 10" x 18" and features a tin roof, skylight and transom windows, a loft bed, double hung windows with screens and a pre-hung locking door. The house is wired for light, and as winter is approaching, a small space heater works fine. I will add a small air-conditioner in the spring.
A four inch base of stone insures level positioning.
The Inside is fully insulated and lined with 3/4" plywood.
Rudimentary shelves were installed for display, and all floor objects move under the loft providing room for a queen-sized air mattress for guests (the loft is large enough for one)
What is left to do? Wood putty finishing for seams and additional painting. A folding desk which will drop down when not in use. Molding and baseboard. The roof joints will be left exposed.
This shack is far more substantial than a large percentage of the world has to live in, and many here use similar, if less decorative houses for hunting cabins.
For those of you who would like to live cheap and off the grid, the Tiny House Listings website provides an opportunity to browse similar little cabins already made.
Super Small Head Superman MIcrocephalic Mexican Superman Toy Doll
My best guess is a most inept Superman from Mexico. Kryptonite in the Womb?
Old Iron Legs John F. Stahl walks and walks and walks and walks and walks
John Stahl was born in 1882 Ohio but spent most of his working days selling stamps in the San Francisco Post Office. When he retired, worried about his health, he took to walking. This was apparently in the 1940s, as the earliest mention of one of his walks was a massive hike from the Panama Canal to Austin Texas in 1940. 3,500 miles. He took a boat down, but walked back.
In 1949 he was seen in El Paso, Texas.
In 1960 he was stopped briefly by a reporter in Alabama during a six-month stroll to say "when a man retires he should have a hobby of some sort - walking is a good hobby."
Two years later Mr. Stahl turn up at the Seattle World's Fair, having walked 900 miles from San Francisco. That walk was sponsored by a beer company, and when he arrived he kissed a girl, danced a little jig, picked up a thousand dollar check and presumably kept walking.
Original Photograph of John F. Stahl, signed on reverse and dated April 23, 1949 Balboa, Arizona. Collection Jim Linderman
Thanks to J.J. Cromer
Jim Linderman books and $5.99 ebooks for iPad available HERE
Spectacular Circus Banners Hanging in 1963 At the Circus in Black and White (and Color) #34 collection Jim Linderman
Pair of original snapshot photographs dated 1963 Collection Jim Linderman
AT THE CIRCUS IN BLACK AND WHITE is a occasional feature on Dull Tool Dim Bulb. This is number 34 in the series.
Order Dull Tool Dim Bulb / Vintage Sleaze / Jim Linderman Books and Tablet downloads for iPad HERE
Hot Banjo from Michigan! Hootchie Cootchie Banjo PIcker 1936 Collection Jim Linderman
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| Click to see the Banjo Cutie collection Jim Linderman |
Gigantic Tramp Art Folk Art ...um...THING collection Jim Linderman
No door or opening, just a "house like" Tramp art thing.
Tramp Art "House" circa 1930 Collection Jim Linderman
Cartoon Tintype "Stick your Head Here" Man on a Mule collection Jim Linderman
Humorous "cartoon" tintype of one Frank Mason of Jackson, Michigan poses inside a painting of mule circa 1875. A "put your head in here" fun photo, but Frank is is a bad mood.
Frank Mason (inscribed on reverse) circa 1875 Tintype photograph collection Jim Linderman
See also The Painted Backdrop: Behind The Sitter in American Tintype Photography book by Jim Linderman (NOW a $5.99 Download Ebook available HERE)
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