Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Dilmus Hall Seated Devil African-American folk art sculpture Athens, Georgia c. 1980

Dilmus Hall Seated Devil African-American folk art sculpture Athens, Georgia c. 1980 Dull Tool Dim Bulb Archives.

Antique American Folk Art Sign original paint two-sided 32" x 37" on Galvanized steel with frame

Antique American Folk Art Sign original paint two-sided 32" x 37" on Galvanized steel with frame Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb.

Jack Ruby Gives Candy Barr a Puppy

JFK was shot 62 years ago today. Odd the Warren Report couldn't say how mobster Jack Ruby got into the Dallas Police basement to shoot Oswald, but they DID learn Ruby gave Candy Barr a Puppy!

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox on top of a building Original snapshot from the 1950s St. Ignace, Michigan

This appears to be a kind of ratty Paul and Babe seated on the roof of an abandoned house with primitive,made by hand identifying signs. Not only is big Paul seated, he’s surrounded by wire fence to thwart intimate encounters.Babe looks a little tipsy too. Despite working with a fuzzy amateur photograph, I’ve tracked them to Castle Rock, Michigan. Look close and you can make out the rock upper left. At some point in Babe and Paul were moved to a new place within a fence, but the shack is gone. I have found a similar photo atop the shack claiming to be from 1953…but haven’t found when he was originally built. Some sources say “in the 1950s” To see a post with lots better Pauls, see: https://dulltooldimbulb.blogspot.com/2009/04/paul-bunyan-fakelore-urban-legend-and.html Original fuzzy snapshot photo of Paul Bunyan and Babe at Castle Rock, St. Ignace MI. Circa 1950 (?) collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Vintage Polaroid photograph of Ventriloquist vents (dummies) part two

I posted a collection of ventriloquist dummys (vents) a while ago, but I have more as shown. Others are at https://dulltooldimbulb.blogspot.com/2015/09/polaroid-dummys-vintage-snapshots-of.html Original polaroid photographs of vents. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Handheld Technology! Personal Stag Film Projectors from the Golden Age of Porn. Goofy Graphics from Vintage Advertisements

A history of handheld projectors is easy to pull up, but most omit that widespread acceptance of them can be attributed to porn. These little cartoony images for mail order stag films created for the market. Like all visual technologies, illicit images of woman created the demand.These images were common in men’s magazines from 1950 to 1960 or so. Dull Tool Dim Bulb the Blog

19th c. Carved Folk Art Puppet Head with original paint.

Two views of a painted carved wooden puppet head, 19th Century. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Two Old Goats on a Float ! Original photograph of an IOOF parade float with characters.

The IOOF Interlocking rings sybolize Frendship, Love and Truth. Independent Order of Odd Fellows here celebrate with the triple rings, a goat and a somewhat grizzled participant. Original Photograph c. 1900? Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

STICK YOUR HEAD HERE ! Antique Comic Foreground original photographs collection Jim Linderman

Statue of Liberty 34" tall folk art sculpture wood carving

Statue of Liberty 34" tall folk art sculpture wood carving. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Origin of the Christian Evangelist Right. Antique Tract Literature

As I am currently in a certain social media timeout, I was unable to do a regular “It’s Sunday” post from my collection. So it goes here. Pray AI will let me back on the platform, but if not, I’ll join another one. These tracts I pick up when I find them…mostly very early 20th century and indicative of the sometimes annoying invasion of christian evangelism. Cheap printing of these 4-pagers made everyman an evangelist. “In many ways, the modern history of the movement can be traced back to the birth of fundamentalism in the first decades of the 20th century, when conservative Protestants began to organize around their rejections of liberal and “modernist” Christian responses to the rise of science, biblical criticism, and secularism. Fundamentalists lost control of most church institutions to the liberals, but they largely retained control over who would be identified as an evangelical going forward” The Pluralism Project Harvard University. Original evangelist tracts circa 1930 - 1930. Collection Jim Linderman. Dull Tool Dim Bulb the blog.

American Voodoo. Pair of original photographs c. 1990

American Voodoo. Two original 35 mm Photographs of West African influence. One South Carolina, one New York. Photographs by Jim Linderman early 1990s.

Basil Merrett Outsider Artist article

As a collector of Basil Merrett’s extraordinary little drawings, I’m always happy to come across articles about his work I haven’t seen before. Here, Tony Burton of LakeChapaleArtists.com discusses his recent find of a drawing of a house D. H. Lawrence lived in. https://lakechapalaartists.com/?p=14057 #basilmerrett. #outsiderartists. #artbrut.

Rare Handmade Peg Solitaire games homemade by one John. M. Shaw of Milwaukee circa 1940 Folk Art Game Boards

Rare Handmade Peg Solitaire games handmade by one John. M. Shaw of Milwaukee circa 1940. Solitaire is a board game for one player involving movement of pegs on a board with holes. Invented centuries ago, these elaborate challenges are complicated and involve mathematics and considerable will to solve. The game is beyond me, but these homemade game boards of cardboard with elaborate construction and obsessive detail are my kind of thing. To find, not to play. I don’t have the patience. Remarkable relics of what people went through before television and the computer. Note reverse of one board which supposedly reveals “the solution” which means nothing to me. Three handmade and homemade Peg Solitaire game “boards” of cardboard by J. M. Shaw Milwaukee 1940. Collection Jim Linderman. Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Prison Art Al Capone portrait in pencil on paper from prison

Prison Art. A wonderful little tribute of the original gangster drawn by an inmate, I presume. Al Capone (aka Scarface) was connected to Chicago so I’m going to guess it came from there. It’s drawn in pencil on an 8xll piece of paper, but the size of the drawing is the size of a folded legal size envelope, so the artist had a client. Mr. Capone is one of the most notable sufferers of syphilis and while serving a sentence, it wore him down and he was allowed to go home after eight years in the slammer. He passed away in 1947. Original anonymous prison art drawing of Al Capone c. 1990? Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb #prisonart. #unknownartist. #anonymous. #alcapone

Aunt Lindy and the Three Types of Girls Peaches, Preserves and Pickles. Original hand drawn postcard 1908 Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Apparently there are three types of girls. Peaches, preserves and pickles…at least in 1908. Aunt Lindy here was probably the advocate of the belief, although here it is attributed to “my sis.” Anyway, it looks like Aunt Lindy had her hands full. I’m going to have to admit I spent more time with Peaches. Hand drawn postcard dated 1908. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb.

Great Stone Carvings by Henry Church of Ohio Antique postcard image

Ohio’s Henry Church (1835 - 1908) was a stone carver, a painter, a musical instrument maker and a blacksmith. His father discouraged Henrys artistic inclinations but to our advantage, he persisted. This is a rare period postcard of his “The Rape of the Indians by the White Man” but the town favored a more benign name. “The Famous Squaw Rock in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Charlie was right the first time. It’s still there! Original Postcard circa 1900 collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Primitive Calligraphy Folk Art Doves drawn by hand 1910 Larry Snead Antique

Larry Snead Folk Art Calligraphic Drawings (looking as much like tattoo flash rather than traditional folk art) on paper scraps 1910 - 1913. COLLECTION JIM LINDERMAN / DULL TOOL DIM BULB

CAT ! Antique Folk Art Drawing of a Cat c. 1900.

CAT! Late 19th / early 20th century drawing of a cat. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Real Photo Postcard Wild and Wooly ! Mount Upton on July 4th with a monster aboard a cart.

It’s the WILD and WOOLY BANGAROO (!) I’m going to need some help explaining this one. Real Photo Postcard The Wild and Wooly Kangaroo at Mount Upton, NY July 4th 1909. Real Photo Postcard 1909 Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb #rppc. #realphotopostcard. #folkart. #monster. #devil. #dulltooldimbulb. #jimlinderman

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jim Linderman

"...Linderman is widely regarded as one of the foremost figures in a field of vernacular art collectors working beyond the margins of most institutional axioms and impulses, in what is essentially it's own self-taught art form."
Ursula Magazine Hauser & Wirth 2019

"Linderman produces the most sublime books on dreamy, arcane subjects, sexy stuff, too, all with rare one-of-a-kind images." Craig Yoe 2017

"...disclosing an underground history of American popular culture one oddball tale at a time"
John Strausbaugh in The New York Times

"...one of the blog writers to watch for"
ARTSlant

"...wonderful, extraordinary, fascinating, remarkable and profound" Fans in a Flashbulb International Center of Photography Museum 2016

"Brilliantly Astute, Acerbic and Aesthetic Jim Linderman"
The Museum of Everything 2014

"Dull Tool Dim Bulb is always worth a visit" THINGS Magazine 2016

"...grumpy..." The Austin Chronicle 2014

"Perpetually ahead of the collecting curve...a one man Taschen. An authentically curious individual...diligently archiving the forgotten curiosities of American History"

Emma Higgins in Art Hack May 2012

"Jim Linderman likes Art, Antiques and Photography and his collection of Vernacular Photography, Folk Art, Ephemera and Curiosities is a wonderful place..."
LifeElsewhere with Norman B. 2014

"...collected over the years by Jim Linderman, a character who seems the perfect subject for a Harvey Pekar comic. Linderman treats collecting like a calling, and his finds have a resulting air of authority, stunning in their capture of bygone picturesque moments."
Derek Taylor Dusted

"The pictures, discarded artifacts of ecstatic Americana, come from the stash of Jim Linderman, who in his introduction recalls advice he’s plainly taken to heart: “Collect the heck” out of whatever you find interesting."
Drew Jubera Paste Magazine

"His interest in art is rivaled only by his interest in music, and one expression informs the other. He pursues objects with thoroughness and an innate sense of curiosity..."
Tanya Heinrich Folk Art Magazine

"Linderman acknowledges the obscure at the same time that he elevates it.... His collections tell vast stories in sotto voce, allowing curios and objects shadowed by mainstream culture and ideology to converse and be heard. What we hear is an enormous American sub-culture speaking in forbidden, marginalized languages: stuff discovered boxed in the attic out of embarrassment or zealotry, smutty ash trays crowing next to religious pamphlets, each claiming a part of the complex, sometimes contradictory, always conflicted American imagination, a chaos of memories that will one day vanish."
Joe Bonomo Author of Conversations With Greil Marcus, Jerry Lewis Lost and Found and No Such Thing As Was

"...he's one of the world's greatest pickers."
Brian Wallis in The New York Times

"Documenting--one clipping at a time--the scrapbook of a leg and garter aficionado that was dumpster-dived in Virginia in the 60s" "...an outstanding image-archaeologist who has compiled a shelf-ful of worthy and unique photographic histories."
William Smith Hang Fire Books

"Linderman has a knack for discovering untold stories and introducing them to a wider audience"
Joey Lin Anonymous Works

"Jim Linderman...makes us all look a little puny"
Could it be Madness-this?

"...insatiable collector of ephemera and ringleader behind an incredible circus of blogs — including the treasure trove dull tool dim bulb"
The Cynephile

"Yo no sé ustedes pero creo que es uno de los mejores sitios que he visitado en mucho tiemp"
Color Me in Blog

"...there's something beyond the endless photos and postcards and weird propaganda from another time that he lovingly documents - I think it's the collection as a whole, the portrait of a person fascinated with culture and communication. I have met people like this before, and in reading Dull Tool Dim Bulb I feel I have been lucky enough to meet one more. This site is a goldmine in terms of links..."
The Hyggelic Life October 2009

"Linderman is always on the lookout for the new and exciting"
Chuck and Jan Rosenak Contemporary American Folk Art

"...an amazing collection..."
Revel in New York October 2009

"Jim Linderman has a nice little colllection of interesting books and blogs...But every so often he just loses it."
American Digest March 2010

"FOR MOST OF HIS LIFE, COLLECTOR JIM LINDERMAN has searched high and low for authentic things--unique and special objects that define the artistic culture of the American experience. From folk art to popular culture, from pulp fiction to Delta Blues-- Jim is a walking authority on so many things American they are too numerous to mention. One thing is certain-- his collecting interests are for things that have fallen through the cracks, those things lost and forgotten--the box of material under the table at the flea market booth. If it wasn't for dedicated collectors like Jim Linderman-- so many important objects about our culture would have surely been lost to time and indifference."

"Jim Linderman maintains a most interesting blog about the most amazing things from his collection—a site he calls “Dull Tool Dim Bulb,” the only curse words his father ever uttered. I love it, and read it everyday."
"...an excellent writer and I devour your blog daily. I am impressed at your deep knowledge of things within your niche..."
John Foster Accidental Mysteries

"I am grateful to Jim Linderman for first alerting me to the existence of the 1930s Spiritualist hymn "Jesus is My Air-o-plane."
William Fagaly New Orleans Museum of Art, Author Tools of her Ministry: The art of Sister Gertrude Morgan

"Linderman describes a long gone world...(he) claims not to be a writer but he is most certainly an excellent researcher..."
BOOKSTEVE

"Jim Linderman, King of the Internet Ephemeral Arts"
Spaniel Rage

"Jim is a fantastic historian...show him some love"
Astrid Daley Fringe Pop / Sin-A-Rama

"Almost an experimental narrative"
Idiopath

"He came to us with hundreds of jaw-dropping baptism photos that he'd been collecting for 25 years," Ledbetter explains. "By the time he found us, he'd already done half a lifetime's works, and he trusted us to handle it properly." Lance Ledbetter in Creative Loafing 10/13/11

Fair Use

Though the images, which I have myself largely scanned from my personal collection of photographs and ephemera, some are subject to © by the artist, syndicate that distributed them or otherwise the individual artists. The use here is regardless covered by the U.S. fair use laws because:
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