A charming circa 1900 ink drawing of the "exterternal" Structure of a Bird from an industrious student's biology notebook. Otherwise perfect, I wonder if the misspelled title came after he spent all that time drawing the little fellow, or before. It is a beautiful little bird either way.c. 1900 Anatomical School Child Drawing Collection Jim Linderman
Wax Jethro Bodine, future Beverly Hills brain surgeon, "Double-Naught Spy" and in one episode big time Hollywood producer "Beef Jerky" drives the wax Clampett family to Beverly Hills. At the time, CBS fancied itself the "Tiffany Network" and the tightly-wound, nose-in-the-air suits HATED the idea of the country bumpkin show...but greed soon won them over. The Hillbillies ruled the airwaves! It was the number one rated show two seasons in a row, and one show alone attracted 22 million viewers. Some trivia? Future Charlie Manson victim Sharon Tate had a recurring role on the series as Jane Hathaway's assistant. Even more amazing, Granny Irene Ryan released a novelty single in 1966 titled "Granny's Miniskirt".
Beverly Hillbillies Postcard c. 1970 Collection Jim LInderman
Two generic Presidents by the one artist listed in BOTH the Guiness Book of World Records AND Ripley's Believe it or Not. That would be the world's fastest artist, Morris Katz (1931-) I used to see him walk around New York City in the early 1980's. He had a television show of his own at the time, "The Instant Art Show" in which he would churn through canvas after canvas while appraisers watched. According to the artist's website, Mr. Katz is still available for Publicity Stunts, Corporate Events and more. Whatever the price, it is a steal. As his website asks "how many of you can say you have seen someone paint thirty-six 8x10 inch paintings in one hour?" The link here shows more of the Morris Katz Presidential series. Seldom a day goes by without a Katz being listed on Ebay. The more common (and by that I mean, THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of more common) are usually palette knife works you can't avoid at flea markets. God willing, Mr. Katz is working on his Obama.Two Morris Katz postcards, 1967 Collection Jim Linderman
A double dose of drawing dynamite! George Jerome Rozen had a twin brother named Jerome George Rozen. No kidding! The twins were born in 1875, one lived ten years longer than the other. Jerome was the first to enroll in the Art Institute of Chicago, Jerome followed a year later and had George as an instructor! Jerome was the first to paint covers for The Shadow, but George did them later. Both were in GREAT demand for their pulp magazine illustrations (as these six examples from my collection should serve to illustrate) These were done by George, who is shown in the dreary black and white photo here, which should also illustrate just why artists were favored over photographs for magazines during the 1930's. However, even though the pair of brothers painted their way through the depression, they could not paint their way through the technological progress of the camera, and not long after WW2 the glory days of pulps were over. Between the two, hundreds of pulp covers, from True Crime to Fictional Science were produced. These are six simply incredible examples of George #1's talent. Never mind they didn't quite come true.Six Modern Mechanix and Inventions Magazines 1934, 1935, 1936 cover illustrations George Jerome Rozen. Collection Jim Linderman
I said I would never link to music on this blog, but minds are made for changing. Since I moved back to Michigan, I rely on my friend Robert to tip me off culturally. He sent me a great link to a recently rediscovered African-American punk rock band from Detroit called "Death" profiled in the New York Times March 15. It reminded me of my favorite black punk record from Michigan (and how lucky I was to grow up with the Michigan blues...from John Lee Hooker to Jack White, Detroit has always been the home of rock. It comes from the industrial crunch of the auto plants, think Iggy and the Mc5) But I digress. The Algebra Mothers (or affectionately, the A-Moms) were a short lived punk rock group from Detroit with a black lead guitarist and singer named Gerald Collins. Their entire output, sadly, consists of one single, "Strawberry Cheescake" which you can hear on the great KBD website. It was recorded in 1979 and released as a 45 the same year. I sold mine. Roctober.com has an article by James Porter and Jake Austen "Black Punk Time: Blacks in Punk, New Wave and Hardcore 1976-1984" which certainly begs for a major book publisher and major compilation. Jack White? Are you listening?
Every great city has a great museum, but one city IS a museum to the work of one man. Charleston, South Carolina has been the home of blacksmith Philip Simmons his entire life. (A life continuing at age 97) Mr Simmons recently moved to a rest home...at the time of my first visit he was still pounding the anvil, the second time he was passing his skills down. The blacksmith shop was built by a slave who gave it to his son in the late 1800's, who in turn hired Mr. Simmons at age 13. Simmons worked in the shop for 77 years. Well over 200 of his gates, doorways and other ornamental ironwork have been identified, the documentation continues. Some of his beautiful work, along with a map is illustrated at the Philip Simmons Foundation site, they are raising funds to preserve his shop as a museum.
