Six Hoops at once! Arthur Ward and his assistant Florence Dane. Fifty Years of Juggling

 

Francisco Alvarez in his book Juggling: It's History and the Greatest Performers mentions Arthur Ward practicing the same 6 hoop trick for hours at Bothner's  Gymnasium on 42nd Street. Whether Florence Dane (below) practiced with him is unknown.  In fact Florence is unknown, period.  But Arthur?  check him out…the "dash of humor" is his facial hair.

They say all press is good press, but not the one below, which I cribbed from the Miami News in 1951, in which Florence is not only referred to only as "a shapely lass clad in black" sucks because Arthur dropped his hoops!  He shoulda practiced a bit longer.

Jeez, cut him some slack.  Arthur is reported doing the same act FIFTY YEARS EARLIER IN 1915, unless there was more than one Arthur Ward, the Hoop Juggler.  Can you imagine being on the vaudeville trail fifty years?  I wonder how many shapely lasses he went through!    He got good, as for quite a while he was the ONLY six hoop performer and held the record.  At that time, his assistant  was referred to as an "eccentric dancer" which makes me think I would have enjoyed the act, then taking place in Canada.  What exactly is an eccentric dancer?  Elaine at the Christmas party on Seinfeld?   

I do see he redeemed himself with a good review in 1935.  Persistence.  In 1950, the LA Times calls him "toothy" but I can't tell if they mention his traveling partner than, as the paper requires a "Pay per View" just like Arthur and Florence.  He WAS clearly using Florence two years later though…in Spokane.  At the time he was traveling with a bill which included "Brats, unicycle and trampoline…monkeys…and sway pole."

Miami showbiz scribe Herb Rau reviews his act briefly that year, but he is far more impressed with a bird which whistles tunes. 

IN 1959 Arthur was still a juggler, comedy dancer and 72 years old according to the American Guild of Variety Artists.  But that's about it I guess, and sadly even his record has been broken.  Some other juggler has mastered SEVEN hoops, I am afraid.

What about Florence Dane?  Well, she's mentioned appearing with Arthur at intermission of the First Annual K.C.  Aviation Ball in 1953…just before the article mentions the door prizes will be an electric toaster and a set of steak knives.  Good gig!

Super sexologist Gloria Brame, who I have been fortunate enough to cyber-acquaint myself with, ran this very picture of Florence, but I think she cribbed it before I bought it on ebay.  Alas, I fear Florence will always be playing second fiddle with the hoops.

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Original Photograph of Florence Dane with press clippings collection Jim Linderman
Photo of Arthur Ward from ebay.

Hotpoint Man Head Sales Stimulator Designed by Joseph Kallus of Cameo and Kewpie designs Creepy

Hotpoint got their name from their first product, the electric iron in 1911.  The hottest point was the point.  They dicked around with General Electric for a while, but now it is fully owned by Indesit, an Italian company. 

I have no idea why Hotpoint had to sell to GE when their marketing was as good as the goon above…(snicker) but his name was "HOTPOINT MAN" and he dates to the 1930s.   They propped him up in stores to keep the kids busy while Mom and Dad bought modern appliances, and I think they sent a few home too. Gee...a doll you just couldn't help to love.

Hotpoint Man was designed by Joseph Kallus of Cameo and today he is pretty rare apparently, so i'll just make do here with his head.  Kallus was a sculptor and designer who is associated with the Kewpie doll.

 "In 1916 Kallus himself founded the Rex Doll Co. to produce composition Kewpie dolls, as supplies from Germany were halted by the war.  These dolls were distributed by Borgfeldt, who controlled all production rights to Kewpie dolls and figurines.  With permission from Borgfeldt, the Rex Doll Co. also made a line of composition Kewpie dolls that were distributed by the Tip Top Co., a distributor of carnival prizes." according to the website of the Cameo Doll Company

Well, the guy above ain't no Kewpie, so I guess Kallus could design cute AND creepy!

Believe it or not, and if you can believe Wikipedia, Hotpoint branded products are made by GE Consumer in Louisville, Kentucky.  In the United States!

Head of Hotpoint Man Composition sales stimulator doll circa 1930  Collection Jim Linderman

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Antique Lanky Limberjack dances a Jig Folk Art Bull Dog Sal

This lil fella can dance, and I made an academy award winning (not) short to prove it. Music graciously provided by copyright expired and unfortunately dead "Ashly and Foster" playing their stomper Bull Dog Sal. 

Limbjack collection Jim Linderman
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Howard Campbell Folk Art Collector and Collecting. A Piece I Won't Sell

As this is the fifth anniversary of the Dull Tool Dim Bulb Blog I thought I might revisit the very first post, from 2008, and a piece which still sits in my office.  I love it, of course, but that isn't the only reason it still sits next to me as I write this.  It sits here because the person I obtained it from told me to keep it.

Howard Campbell was one of the most interesting men I ever knew.  I'm not quite sure how to describe Howard, and those of you also fortunate enough to have known him will readily agree with me.  Let's see…a shock of white hair higher than a mountain?  Bare feet?  Bib Overalls, even in the most formal of places?  (Howard didn't go many formal places, if he could avoid it)  He didn't go to many places he couldn't be barefoot either…including his back yard covered in snow, which I myself saw him do several times without even a slight grimace. 

Howard was a folk art collector in the mountains of North Carolina.  A good one.  His house,  precariously placed atop a mountain, was for him a refuge, but for me a museum.  I cherish my visits there still. 

When Howard was a young boy, he visited a wonderland of small woodcarvings created by Earl Eyman of Oklahoma.  Eyman carved hundreds of tiny figures…you can see a few here I used to own, but Howard never owned any.  The house was a miniature museum of circus figures, baseball games, patriotic scenes and more.  He charged a dime to get in.  The Eyman environment was dispersed, and over the years I would find them at shows and such, love them for a while, and then trade them to Howard.  He loved them even more than I.  For me, an Earl Eyman carving was as good as cold cash at the Howard Campbell mountain museum, and I squeezed a few things out of it by dangling the little carvings in Howard's face over the years.  I got good at picking them out at folk art shows and such, and I did it for Howard.  No small feat, as the figures were tiny and their provenance was lost, having been dispersed and eventually tossed into boxes with more important things.  Two I found are here.  I found an astounding little carving of a woman holding a flag once, and Howard got that one too.  

When I met Howard for the first time, we shared another interest.  I had just quit drinking, and he was trying to.  I told Howard, who would mask his vodka in bottles of Mountain Dew soda, that I would always be there to help him if he wanted to chat.  I succeeded in quitting and have been sober a long, long time.  Howard didn't.   I don't think that is a secret either of us kept to ourselves really,  so I can share it here.  It was appropriate a decade or so after I met Howard, that many of the 22 boxes holding his collection of books on Southern folk art were sold out of cartoons which once held vodka and whisky bottles.  I don't know if it killed him, but it couldn't have helped.  My offer to help keep him sober may have ultimately allowed me to purchase the piece you see above.  It was one of Howard's favorites too, and he had a standing offer from me to purchase it whenever he was ready to sell it.  For YEARS.  And every time I visited and saw it there, the offer went up a bit, but he would wave me off.  To this day, although I never asked him, I believe he allowed it me to finally purchase it out of his own regret for failing to conquer the bottle.  After five years of my offers, he had two requirements.  One was the price, which was fair, and the other was that I never sell it.  People say that, but he meant it.  I won't ever sell it, and I have already moved it 800 miles once.

The piece is a handmade desk, dresser, chest, whatever with an attempted decorative scroll and the original mirror.  It dates to the late 1800's and was likely made by an African-American man who was a former slave who ended up in Tennessee, which is where Howard found it, and he told me so.  There is a name in pencil on the inside I have never even tried to research.

Howard Campbell was a brilliant man. That is an overused term.  It applies here.  Amy and Steve Slotin, auctioneers north of Atlanta who sold a large chunk of Howard's collection while he was living (to benefit the American Museum of Folk Art, as he wished) asked him to write his autobiography for their auction catalog.  A portion follows:

"I was always a collector. As a small child on our chicken farm in N.W. Arkansas, I dragged a horse skeleton out of the woods and tried to re-assemble it. The time was WWII. Mom and Dad were getting white rocks from hatchlings to broilers in seven weeks. I was dragging stuff out of the woods. I was an only; a self-absorbed/contained little kid. The parents (God keep them!) would ask me what I wanted for Christmas, birthday, whatever, and I would answer, “A little brother!” Because they had different rhesus factors it was 1947 before advancing medical technology gave it a chance. My little brother was born on Valentine’s Day in 1948. He and my sister-in-law don’t want any of this stuff! Being of sound mind and judgment, but realizing that a tree could fall on my head tomorrow...

But enough about me. Amy and Steve asked me to write some kind of bio-sketch that would emphasize my philosophy of collecting.

Philosophy, Schmilosophy! If it made me laugh, or chuckle, or snort, and it wasn’t too expensive, I dragged it home, where it was immediately lost amid the other junk...If it should affect others likewise, please bid and keep bidding! My poor widowed mother needs new shoes. That last sentence was a lie... My mother went to Heaven over five years ago. Like me, she hated shoes. Imelda Marcos she wasn’t.
Mom came close to being a Zen Master. She begged her children, grandchildren, etc. NOT to buy her ANYTHING for Christmas, birthday, whatever. And she meant it! I understand more and more what she was saying. Who wants to spend his last years dusting the bust of the deceased Duke?
It’s simply the thrill of the chase, or of the find, gentle readers. The money’s worth less (one Euro = $1.30) as I write. So keep bidding... 

An English gentleman (Thomas Rowlandson - borrowed from Hippocrates) wrote “Life is short, but art is long...”* Remember that and keep your paddles in the air. Your kids don’t need expensive Nikes, Converses, etc. either. They’re better off barefooted. Watching out for broken glass or dog doo will serve to sharpen their perceptions. Believe me, I know."


Well, that's Howard, and he talked like that too.  He was funny.  He was hilarious.  He could paint too, and while I can only find one online, it's a good one, a one-eyed dog and a young boy I believe is Howard.    I wanted one of his paintings too, but he never delivered.

Portions of the Howard Campbell collection of American Folk Art was exhibited at the William King collection in Virginia and the Hickory Museum of Art in North Carolina.  Once in a while, he would truck down some smalls and put them in an antique booth in Banner Elk, North Carolina.  He served in the Navy.  His bathtub was hand built of stones from around his house, and he listened to the radio, bluegrass usually, from a space taller than the towers which broadcast it.

Books and affordable ebooks ($5.99) by Jim Linderman are available HERE

Walter Main Circus Photograph in 1922 Collection Jim Linderman

CLICK TO ENLARGE Collection Jim Linderman No Use without Permission.

Original Photograph 8 x 11 1922 by Andrew Downes "Walter L. Main 1922" on reverse collection Jim Linderman

Art and Photography Ebooks by Jim Linderman ($5.99 Each) are available  HERE

Antique Handmade Sock Dolls Depression Era Make Do Folk Art collection Jim Linderman

Antique Sock Doll Pair circa 1930.  Good looking kids.  Each 14" tall, and each wearing two socks.  Collection Jim Linderman

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Turn of the Century Well-Stocked Grocery Store

Click to enlarge (and shop?)  Might be time for a clearance sale.  You won't see a store like this anymore...the cops can't see in and watch the stick-up.

Original Photograph circa 1890 Collection Jim Linderman

Art and Photography books and ebooks by Jim Linderman HERE

Articulated Folk Art Man on a Pole Carved Toy Collection Jim Linderman

Monkey on a stick.  Handmade folk art toy circa 1920 Collection Jim Linderman

Books and Ebooks by Jim Linderman are HERE

Vintage Graphic Art of Murder Manilia Paper Tobacco Labels from Uncle Daniel and Oren Scotten of Detroit.

Early tobacco printing "mock-ups" on manila paper for the Uncle Daniel company in Detroit, Michigan.  The engravings are fragile, as manila paper tends to eat itself.   It is usually given to children for drawings, but in this case it was used, apparently, to draw up snazzy graphics to market carcinogenic dried weeds to unsuspecting, ill-informed and trusting naives...not that Uncle Daniel knew, of course.  The tobacco companies didn't start obfuscating what their product did to people until much later.

Daniel was Daniel Scotten.  He was the uncle of Oren Scotten, a precocious young man who entered the tobacco business at sixteen years of age.  By the age of twenty-five, he owned the whole show.  The American Tobacco Company bought him out eventually, making young Oren a millionaire and major land owner in Detroit.   Scotten, who passed away in 1906, is now buried, it is fair to say, along with each and every single one of his customers. 

Mr. Scotten, who was not required to place warning labels on his lethal product, was a highly regarded businessman.  He was an Elk, the fire commissioner for a time, an art collector,  an avid hunter and although you won't see him reported as such, a murderer.  

Group of "Uncle Daniel" Tobacco labels on manila paper, circa 1900.  Collection Jim Linderman

Moonshine Tableau Carved Whittled Folk Art Moonshiner

Moonshine Tableau Folk Art No Date Collection Jim Linderman

Buzzfeed picks 15 reasons New York City was Cooler in the 1980's and Jim Linderman is NUMBER EIGHT

Jim Linderman Hell's Kitchen New York City circa 1980  from BUZZFEED HERE
(SCROLL DOWN TO NUMBER EIGHT)

You NEVER Forget your first Airplane Ride! Real Photo Postcards from Argentina Collection Jim Linderman

Magnificent Argentinians in their flying machines.  A group of Real Photograph Post Cards circa 1920 - 1930.  I haven't explored the diffusion of real photo technology throughout the world (nor the use of goofy fun house photo props) but it would seem to be a field worth pursuing.

Original Real Photo Postcards from Argentina circa 1920 - 1930 collection Jim Linderman
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Beautiful but Deadly Mid-Century Modern Kentile Asbestos Floor Products Salesman Sample Set

Beautiful but deadly.  Mid-Century Modern colors by Kentile, a Brooklyn based company which lasted nearly 100 years before asbestos forced them into bankruptcy.  Today, a search on the company turns up far more hits for respiratory disease then floor tiles, but you'll still find a few folks trying to match colors and patch-up the floor in the ping-pong room. 

Kentile had an eight-story tall sign visible from the Gowanus.  It rusts there still, I guess,  a reminder for product safety and essentially a gigantic memorial for the workers and homemakers who lived with Kentile.

By far the most popular and familiar Kentile floors were the dapple-like pieces shown in the ad below.  They epitomize the 1950s, but don't scuff your feet too hard and stir up the fibers.  Don't grind them up when you remodel either.  I think they were trying to create a vinyl marble, or a marbling effect. To me, the patterns define the era as much as the beautiful plywood furniture…and I grew up within a few miles of the Herman Miller company and my folks dragged me along to the now famous company tag sales, so I know.  Of course, even then, Kentile was the stuff you pulled up to create an even more modern look…or covered with shag.  You can connect with other trendy retro-renovators HERE
 

The colors in this salesman sample box have names as pretty as the colors.
Sagebrush
Burnt Orange
Bangkok Pink
Hot Canary
Avocado
Bristol Blue
Terra Cotta
White
Black



Kentile Salesman Sample Set of  Solid Colors Designer Palette Vinyl Tile No Date
Collection Jim Linderman

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Want to see a "smart" woman and "wise" woman put floors down the easy Kentile way?

Folk Art Weathervane

Folk Art Weathervane 1904 Collection Jim Linderman

Samurai Preacher Joe Niijima Husband of Yae

Niijima collection Jim Linderman

Samurai runaway and stowaway Joseph Harvey Niijima,  "A Diamond of which the world is not worthy" is shown in this Japanese postcard circa 1900.  Niijima snuck aboard a ship to escape Japan, sold his swords and became a Christian educator and preacher after attending Amherst College in 1870. 

Apparently a scarce postcard.

Sound like a good story?  Samurai Preacher Reverend J. Niijima?  Japan network NKH TV thinks so…a year long historical drama (FIFTY episodes) will air on Sunday nights starting in 2013.  The epic will be titled "Yae no Sakura" with Ayase Haruka in the role of Niijima's wife Yae.

Japanese postcard, circa 1900 Re. J. Jiijima collection Jim Linderman

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Bettie Page Wood Carving Folk Art collection Jim Linderman

Bettie Page Wood Carving

Amateur Carved Wood Tribute to the Queen of the Pin Up  Anonymous circa 1960
Collection Jim Linderman

Card Game Bride? RPPC Deck of Cards Wedding

Deck of Cards Wedding Party

I have no idea why this wedding party has participants dressed as a deck of cards, but maybe you do.


Real Photo Post Card circa 1900 Collection Jim Linderman

Lonnie Holley's Consistent Artistic Vision Review of Just Before Music

Those familiar with 20th Century self-taught artists, in particular African-American creators will be interested in the new CD of songs by Lonnie Holley on the Dust to Digital label.  Co-produced by Stephen Lance Ledbetter and Matt Arnett.  Lance of course co-produced the Grammy-nominated release Take Me to the Water with me several years ago, and Matt is of course from the Souls Grown Deep organization which published the mammoth (and essential) Souls Grown Deep volumes on Southern Black art which grew from the collecting and scholarship of Bill Arnett.

I first met Lonnie Holley 20 years ago, when he was living on (and in) a remarkable sculptural environment he created in Birmingham, Alabama…a massive jumble of rusted objects repurposed into sculpture, visions, lessons and mojo near the Airport.  While we spoke  (or rather, while Lonnie spun a continuous rap and I listened) he created a  hand-sized carving out of foundry sand with a nail file while a handful of his many children played in the nooks and crannies of his yard.  I left impressed but suspicious.  To this day I have considered Mr. Holly half-spiritual griot  and half carnival barker.  Both, in my book, are noble and valid.  Either way he is a considerable communicator.

I once made a list of all the known and prominent self-taught, or "outsider" artists who also sang or played instruments.  (A year ago, when Lance sent me a dub of one song here, I immediately asked in surprise "who is playing the piano" without thinking much.  Of course it was Lonnie.)  But Sister Gertrude Morgan, Henry Speller, Son Thomas,  S. L. Jones, Charles and Noah Kinney, Anderson Johnson, Howard Finster and Jimmy Sudduth all played some music.  It goes hand in hand…the creative impulse is cultural after all, and visual arts often come from the same place as musical.  They are one and the same in many ways.

Lonnie comes up with a handful of songs in perfect synch with his sculptural creations.  A contemporary praise singer of sorts.  There is a consistency in his vision which travels to his fingers, back to his eyes and now through his voice.  One voice.  He may claim he is the voice of his ancestors, or of the earth, but Lonnie is really his own voice built upon deep roots.  Musically, the disc is more than anything a pleasing groove,  Not quite the deep Alabama blues drone of Junior Kimbrough which came out of the Fat Possum hills, but you WILL hear descending phrases which sound like the bluesman,only here soft and almost jazz-like.  The lyrics are moods with repeated phrases as much as poems,  and all are what one could be called vintage Lonnie.  Consistent with his vision.

There is lovely packaging, of course.  Both Souls Grown Deep and Dust to Digital do that like no one else.  Holley writes the intro, and there is a ten page insert with splendid examples of his art as well as lyrics.  If you collect Dust to Digital releases, and you should, it is recommended.  If you are interested in the relationship between the visual and aural traditions of African-American culture, likewise. 

Dust to Digital continues to be the most interesting, entertaining and DEEP labels of recorded sound in business.  A striking video of Mr. Holley working follows:

Dukes UP Boxing Day Folk Art Boxers

Pair of Folk Art Boxers Boxing Toy  No Date Collection Jim Linderman

Carnival Ball Toss Target Figures From the Forties Collection Jim Linderman

 

A group of wooden painted sideshow carnival ball toss figures, circa 1940     Collection Jim Linderman