Folk Art hand carved puppet family. Circa 1930? Collection Jim Linderman
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Puppet Family Antique Folk Art Sculpture
Folk Art hand carved puppet family. Circa 1930? Collection Jim Linderman
Books, ebooks and instant PDF downloads by the author available HERE
Antique Bowling Game Sideshow Carnival Made by Hand Folk Art
Someone threw the ball too hard, but this is the only example I have seen. A make-shift carnival bowling game. Plywood with complicated workings...I am going to guess this comes from the transitional days of the sideshow, when handmade gaming objects and targets were changing from somewhat primitive contraptions to more modern. The mechanism might have been sold from a catalog, then assembled by the recipient...who knows. Sold with a template to cut and install the works? Ten pins and six llights. Seriously, who knows? The object, good from both sides, is 21" tall and 21" across. I'm guessing 1940ish?
Early Carnival Bowling Game collection Jim Linderman
NOTE: Friend and follower Harold Gaines found the answer!
Since pinball machines and the like were made in very small quantities, the old ones look pretty sketchy once you pop them open and look beyond the fancy glass and cool art to see how they were put together. They were basically hand-made, one at a time. However, being professionals at the coin-op compaines, they did things like countersink lightbulb recesses that even a good amateur wouldn't. Further, although your piece is in pretty bad shape, the quality is too high for a 1940's amateur job. They just didn't have the specialized stuff like routers to make the professional looking cutout sections, soldered ring connectors with multiple colors of wire, etc. It looks like the wiring is a combination of cloth and plastic insulated. Plastic insulated wire wasn't introduced until the 1950's. Finally, the rusty marks on the back side look way too symmetrical for an amatuer (especially a carny). It looks like it was mated almost perfectly to something metallic, which was also very precisely made. It just looks too well made to me even in it's (very) rough condition. The guys at link could probably take one look at your pics and tell you, though.
Snake Handler Original RPPC dated 1932
An unidentified Snake Handler stretches his arms as far as he can, but the serpent still has slack! An original Real Photo Postcard dated on the reverse 1932. Thanks to a fan and follower.
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Giant Mid-Century Modern Paint Sales Incentive Store Display for Kem Tone Paint
8 feet long. A whole room for a room!
Collection Jim Linderman Dull Tool Dim Bulb
Hero Dog Born in Antarctica Tom Pratt (and his buddy Charles Lofgren) Rppc
A Real Photo Post Card circa 1935 of Charles E. Lofgren personnel officer of the Byrd expedition to Antarctica in 1928.
I found numerous mentions of C. E. Lofgren, but I was really interested in the dog. Not only because I used to have a dog named Crispus who looked quite a bit like the husky here, but also because the dog obviously did the real work!
It appears the dog was one Tom Pratt! He WAS a hero, and was retired after his super dog achievement to tour the country in a rumble seat! The Byrd exhibition set up camp at "Little America" and stayed at the South Pole a while, long enough for Tom Pratt to be born there. Which would mean Tom Pratt only pulled a sled out, not in.
Did I say Tom Pratt retired? Um…nope. in 1937 it is reported Tom was pulling Santa in a Christmas parade in Lawrence, Kansas! How embarrassing. They still made him work? Well, my Malamute loved to pull, so I guess it was alright. In 1933 Tom was reported not only to weigh 170 pounds (!) but to be on the road entertaining school children in Pittsburgh.
When Tom Pratt "…was a pup he played with the penguins" according to the Pittsburgh Press of March 15, 1933. He tugged supplies from a boat 800 miles to the camp. I've made plenty of 800 mile drives. It takes two days, and in the hotel room halfway through I'm exhausted. Tom had to do the whole trip, more than once, with his paws!
Lofgren kept Tom on the road a long time. They toured the country for years by automobile, covering some 100,000 miles. All I can say is "GOOD dog!" My dog had the same grin.
As you can see here, Lofgren liked his dogs…he was breeding them ten years before the exhibition according to the Field Dog Stud Book.
collection Jim Linderman
Folk Art Sculpture Vintage Red-Headed Woodpecker
Books and Ebooks by the author HERE
Early Wind Power Farm Windmill Rotator with Hand Painted Folk Art Star Barn Red
Early Wind Power Farm Windmill Rotator with Hand Painted Star Michigan circa 1940
Collection Jim Linderman
The Miniature Dollhouse Murder Scenes of Frances Glessner Lee Folk Art Forensics
I don't think anyone will mind me posting the entire Police Detective article from the 1950s which tells the story of the amazing murder scene reconstructions Francess Glessner Lee created to help train detectives. Amazing little works, and each costing around three grand to make! There was a nice documentary produced some 50 years after this article was written. It's a good show, and it is streaming in meticulous mayhem color. Movie trailer at end.
The film Of Dolls and Murder tells the story, and it is streaming on Netflix. Never have dollhouses
looked do gruesome.
It's a good story.
looked do gruesome.
It's a good story.
Hair Show 1961 Collection Jim Linderman
Folk Art Carving Miniature Sculpture Family Tree
Folk Art Carving of a Couple 1945 Collection Jim Linderman
My Balls in a Cage Folk Art Sculpture of Wooden Whimsy
Collection of Folk Art Carvings Mid 20th Century Collection Jim Linderman
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