Set of Crepe Paper Party Hats, No Date, Germany Early 20th Century Collection Jim Linderman
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Miniature Native American Sweetgrass Basket and Lessons from the Birds
A beautiful miniature Native American sweetgrass basket. A decorative trinket form which originated during Victorian times to provide a meager living for our noble original residents. Taking all manner of shape and form, these baskets, which are commonly made even still by many Northeastern tribes, used wood splints which were given color by native, vegetal dyes and painstakingly created adapting traditional native forms for which the makers were hardly compensated.
I believe the decorative handles, tiny and remarkable coils of wood, have been called "God's Eye" but that might be a Western application.
A recent email conversation with a friend reminded me of a myth I heard in Santa Fe, which could be quite true...that native peoples, in particular those who took care of our land before we came to trash it, learned to make baskets by watching birds make their nests. A beautiful sentiment, true or not, and either way these perfect little creations are far more affordable than they should be. You'll see them around. If there are absolutely no breaks, their value is sure to increase.
Miniature Sweetgrass Basket, (Potawatomi tribe?) Circa 1920 Collection Jim Linderman
See and order my published books HERE
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Vernacular Hand Tinted Photograph Collection 1950s
Add some color! Kodachrome is extinct,but I do not expect to see a return to hand painted photographs. I don't mean "contemporary artists" who ruin old prints by doctoring them up, I mean the real thing, usually done with Marshall's Oil Colors, an early supplier to those stuck with black and white film. One of those "art of the people" things and available to anyone who read the back pages of Popular Mechanics or home hobby publications. Gone the way of candy dishes, aperitifs, formal dress and beer steins against the basement bar wall.
Tinted by hand photographs (8 x 10 and 5 x 7) all 1948-1950 Collection Jim Linderman
Civil War Colt Weapons Collection of Gun Collector William S. Lawrence
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Pair of matching original photographs, each 8 x 10 Collection Jim Linderman
DULL TOOL DIM BULB BOOK CATALOG HERE
There Once Was A Man From Nantucket...Wood Whirligig Folk Art
Whirligig Figure, circa 1930 Collection Jim Linderman
SEE ALSO HERE for the story of the Nantucket Sailor Whirligig
The Worst Woman in the County Addicted to Scolding and Open on Sunday
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What does it take for a woman to get arrested for just being ornery? Start with being "addicted to scolding" and to "instruct and teach her children to insult, abuse and injure children and persons in general." Mrs. Johnson also "makes a habit of using profane, vulgar and abusive language." Not only that, she keeps her store open on the Lord's day which disturbs the rest of the peaceable citizens.
Sounds like just another day at Wal-Mart to me, but to the good folks of Lycoming County in 1884, Mrs. Susan Johnson was a big pain in the Pennsylvania Dutch ass.
Your choice old lady Johnson...the can or the stocks.
Original Court Document, 1884 Collection Jim Linderman
Top Secret Woman Vitals and Man Vitals from the HI Shear Rivet Tool Company
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Everything a spy would need for a night out on the town...or I guess any customer or client of hi-shear rivet tool company!
Pair of Top Secret Folding Cards 1952 Collection Jim Linderman
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Ricky Jay Celebrations of Curious Characters a Review of sorts...and Pizza
As I have been a big fan of Ricky Jay since watching him throw a playing card through a watermelon upstairs in a small theater off Times Square, it would be unfair for me to review his new book Celebrations of Curious Characters. Suffice to say it is a deal at any price (though it costs far less than any price) and it is the genuine deal, not some slight of hand. I'm not going to say he has the power to save the book from extinction, but your Kindle And Nook don't have you looking for the mailman until it comes either.
Anticipation beats a wireless download any day. Consider waiting for a pizza to be delivered. While eating pizza is wonderful too, the 20 minute wait is usually splendid. Some chat, a few jokes, maybe if you are in college furtive tokes with a wet towel under the door...and it arrives!
That is not an opinion, it is a fact. You will look far to find anyone who says they do not like pizza.
The origins of Celebrations of Curious Characters are to be found in a series of brief profiles Mr. Jay did for public radio. That implies erudite already...so bring your brains and expect the prodigious. When you have read it (and you WILL begin reading it immediately after tearing the cardboard strip off your Amazon box) you will have a beautiful spine facing you from the bookshelf rather than some digital bits which do not exist. As such, do not "Tell the publisher I'd like to read this book on Kindle" as you don't.
HERE is Mr. Jay's Wonderful Website. McSweeny published the new book.
Mystery Cabinet Card Pair
A Play? Pageant? Coronation? An odd group indeed, and while they certainly seem on a stage with a backdrop, it is a motley troupe, and identification is not made easier by a lousy photographer.
Two Cabinet Card Photographs circa 1880 Collection Jim Linderman
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Big Folk Art Heads AGAIN
More big heads. A coincidence. I'm going work in the garden today, no time to do a real post!
Parade Snapshots circa 1935 collection Jim Linderman
Dull Tool Dim Bulb Tumblr HERE
The Big Folk Art Head of Peter Fuoco Carving Sculpture
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Peter Fuoco of Revelstoke, British Columbia discovered a big head in a tree trunk and spent some time bringing out the features, then added an equally giant hat. Dubbed "Ol' Woodenhead." A sign was placed next to it which read: "Don't be Wooden Headed. Drive Carefully. You'll live to enjoy the scenery more and longer." So beloved, the giant fellow was moved to his own "Woodenhead Park" next to the Trans-Canada Highway bridge. The second photograph here belongs to the Revelstoke Museum.
Snapshot, circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman
Joey Lin and his Anonymous Works A New Stop and Shop!
Joey Lin and I have been swapping pictures of finds for a few years...but he also shares them with a wider audience through his blog Anonymous Works. Mr. Lin has a skill for finding authenticity, an increasingly scarce and valuable trait. Now Joey has gone commercial! He has created a website to sell the objects which attract his authentic eye. I have relied on his recommendations, now so can you.
Above are only a few of the modestly-priced pieces in his cyber-store, and I intend to bookmark and make regular visits. Joey is one of those folks attracted to art of the people. An artist himself, he is drawn towards untrained artists who through skill, talent, luck or happenstance create beauty. He has generously shared with me as a friend from afar, I am excited that others can now take part! He tells me the community of folks interested in his finds is a benefit as important as the objects... who can argue with that? His following online attests.
Take some time to see Mr. Lin's shop HERE. You will see many things asking for a base and a spotlight...but often created in far more humble places.
Wood Folk Art Birds of Uncommon Form and Grace
When do lawn ornaments become good enough to be called folk art? When you bring them inside.
Pair of wooden swans, circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman
Dull Tool Dim Bulb Books HERE
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