The Moses Tabernacle Bernstein Model

O. O. Bernstein's traveling exhibition!  Real Photo Postcard circa 1920. Collection Jim Linderman

Big Head from Clyde Beatty Circus 1962 original snapshot

Big Head from Clyde Beatty Circus 1962 original snapshot dated on reverse.  Collection Jim Linderman.

Risque Space Panties Gift Certificate c. 1960

Risque Space Panties Gift Certificate c. 1960 Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Handmade Baseball Miniature Book Folk Art Scorekeeper 1926

 
 
A young fella keeps track of his favorite team with a handmade record book.  Appears to have been the rainy season.
Miniature Made by Hand booklet inscribed.  Collection Jim Linderman

Back to School Boys

Sketch of the school hierarchy by George Foster circa 1925 collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb courtesy Natalie Curley

Vintage Folk Art Handmade Fabric Activity Book c. 1960

A Vintage Folk Art Handmade Fabric Activity Book c. 1960.  Each cloth page provides learning tools for a young child.  Button which button, a working zipper (with "cowboys and indians" era figure in a teepee) and other dexterity tools.  Collection Jim Linderman

Antique Foam Rubber Doll Nude Woman / Teaching Tool / Display circa 1930 - 1940

Circa 1930 Foam Rubber Doll with considerable age.  Stand appears to be original, the wire has created a "tan line" on the woman's back.  I believe this is a latex foam figure.  VERY soft to the touch.  Whipped latex was introduced in 1929.  Relative explicitness suggests this was some type of display device (educational purposes?) rather than a doll.  Any guesses?

Antique Female Form of rubber, circa 1935 - 1940  Height 12 inches.  Collection Jim Linderman

Love During Wartime Nookey Ration Card

"Tear off a piece" ration card 1943.  Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb
Love During Wartime appears in periodic posts on the blog

Tall, Short, Cool Air Conditioned Movie Theater

Tall, Short, Cool,  Original snapshot c. 1950 Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Vernacular Travel Photo

Vernacular Travel Photo (Museum of Natural History, NYC March, 1971)
Collection Jim Linderman Dull Tool Dim Bulb

The Human Living Whirligig

The Human Living Whirligig of Norwich, CT is presented by the Smith Wood Working Co. in 1957.  I checked...the float didn't win first prize.
Original Snapshot collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Miniature Folk art Carnival Spinning Wheel Gambling Antique Toy

An antique miniature carnival spinning wheel / gambling toy only 9 inches tall.  Primitive and handmade construction, but interestingly the wheel is covered with paper printed numbers.  The thin paper was applied to the wheel before small nails were pounded in. There is a "catch" cog, so the wheel works and clicks like a real one. I am guessing this was part of a very old "commercially" available toy set?  Think tramp art with old lithograph paper.  The old patina is real.  Maybe a novelty prize item from a very early carnival gaming booth?  
Late 19th, Early 20th century made by hand spinning wheel 9" tall, 3" wide.  
Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Folk Art Mickey and Minnie Mouse Handmade Cartoon Characters

 
Folk Art Mickey and Minnie Mouse Handmade Cartoon Characters circa 1950.  Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb the Blog.  Books and Ebooks by the author available HERE

Early Adopter John Willis and his Electric Bungalow

Two miles from where George Washington crossed the Delaware, on a tiny island where he had been living some thirty years, electric wizard Jim Willis rigged his modest bungalow with 100 dry cells of electricity.  He also tapped into the nearby trolley line for another 600 volts.  There were over 150 electrical connections which animated the place from top to bottom. In 1912, the Popular Electricity and World's Advance described the wonder thus:  "…when all the switches are closed, it is almost impossible to move a muscle or touch a thing without receiving a shock or turning on the lights or  ringing an alarm bell.  If you pick up a book, a pipe, or lift the lid of his tobacco jar, you start an alarm.  You can't even take a pin from his pin cushion, or a toothpick from its holder, nor can you even turn the water into the lavatory without the same result."  Willis also created an electric clock out of an empty tomato can which would automatically draw the shades when the lights came on! 

He welcomed visitors and averaged a few thousand a year.  If anyone attempted to swipe something, a gong alarm would sound.

Willis' Electric Bungalow Willis Island on the Delaware.  Real Photo Postcard c. 1912 Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb.
Preview or order Books and Ebooks by Jim Linderman HERE.

Outside Office!

Can we work outside today?  Looks like the college newspaper staff is taking the show on the road.
Original photograph Dull Tool Dim Bulb.  Thanks to Boxlot on Facebook.

Plein Air Portrait Painters

Two aspiring illustrators apply their craft outdoors.  Enjoy the Summer!

Original Real Photo Postcard inscribed on the reverse with date 1912 and
Original Snapshot inscribed on reverse with date 1953.
Collection Jim Linderman
Books and affordable ebooks by the author available HERE

Summer Post! Link to hundreds of Dull Tool Dim Bulb images from last ten years.

LINK to Dull Tool Dim Bulb posted images from the last ten years on MOSAIA: http://www.mosaia.com/feeds/46551934645b8111baf20d0228b011f471b7e711

 See entire images at the MOSAIA LINK

Antique Wood Folk Art Toy with Original Paint

Antique Wooden Folk Art Toy with Original Paint.  A sliding motion toy depicting cartoon figures from the early 20th century.  12" long.  Collection Jim Linderman

The Unknown Superhero

The Unknown Superhero.  Anonymous watercolor on paper circa 1950 
collection Jim Linderman.  NOTE:  The Amazing Devlin Thompson located the source material!  It is apparently the Yellow Jacket, a Marvel creation!  Thanks Devlin.

 

   Browse and order books by the author available HERE

Satan and Adam Memories and a New Documentary

I used to see Sterling Magee play on 125th Street in Harlem. No, not the Apollo...the STREET. Mr. Magee was also known as Satan from "Satan and Adam" a salt and pepper blues duo.  It was a regular gig worth taking the A-train for. Satan was once called "The Fastest Guitar Player in the World" and he might have been, but his amp was so cheap it all came out like one glorious distorted note. He used a foot operated drum and cymbal thing while plugged into a lamppost near the Studio Museum of Harlem. 

Satan also made art, and I spent a day in his apartment while he showed me his trippy, cosmic, Sun Ra holograms made out of plywood and such. Sorta like primitive Rubic's cube toys but shaped like stars and each with their own particular logic only Mr. Satan could interpret. I went with a friend, he later told me that was the longest afternoon in his life. I wasn't surprised to learn he had a nervous breakdown not long after, but what DID surprise me was the extent of his Wikipedia entry! He never told me he played with a transvestite duo known as "The Illusions That Create Confusion" but he did mention James Brown and King Curtis, both which were true. He also made a few early singles and with Adam, a few LP records but they gave him a better amplifier. Too bad. He sounded great with the one he carried on a modified shopping cart. 

I am pleased to see a new documentary on same!  Enjoy it...there aren't many stories like this coming along to be told.