There are two ways to make a sculpture, one is to take away, the other is to build up. Hobo Nickel carvers take away. A form of tramp art , the murky origins are similar to the ugly notched cigar box frames and furniture one still finds in abundance at antique shows. Supposedly started by hobos, these amateur Augustus Saint-Gaudens learned to carve the relatively soft Buffalo Nickel, thus adding value and trading them for bigger sandwiches. The buffalo nickel was minted from 1913 to 1938. The noble chief was a composite of Iron Tail, John Big Tree and Two Moons. The buffalo came from the Central Park Zoo. As they circulate, the first thing to go is the date, which was not delineated enough, thus frustrating young boys who would thrill to find one in dad's change only to realize the obliterated coin would not fill a slot in their little blue folder. Hobo nickels are still made today, in fact there are entire conventions of makers. I guess they get together and swap nickels.
Hobo Nickel c. 1913-1938 (and) c. 1990 Collection Jim Linderman
A dated miniature 1888 Odd Fellows painting, less than an two inches square. The triple link chain (3/4" long) refers to friendship, love and truth. The purple tent (1" tall) refers to the encampment.
One notable Odd Fellow member is Al Franken (International Order of Odd Fellows Manchester Unity) who is currently embroiled in an election dispute with bad loser Norm Coleman. As Franken should and will be seated soon enough, Coleman will thus become the only national politician who has lost an election to both a professional wrestler AND a professional comedian.
Miniature watercolor by William Distin 1888. Collection Jim Linderman
Looks like African Nail art, but it is the telephone pole down the road used for nailing up garage sale notices. Enlarge the pic. As you can see, the trunk was "double-girdled" with iron but the nails keep on coming. Many appear to be collaborative attempts shared by Father and son, which is nice.
One of the nice things about moving to Western Michigan is landing smack dab into design history. Charles and Ray Eames began their relationship with Herman Miller in the 1940's, and Herman Miller has been expertly realizing their iconic modern design ever since. Zeeland is still the headquarters...the manufacturing trucks pass through town every day, they are a reassuring and comfortable sight. It is pleasing indeed to come across original ephemera from time to time. This is one C. Cook's drafting template from Herman Miller. As you can see, designs for the Eames Shell Chair and the Nelson Sling Sofa are here, and the original furniture is still common enough that my tiny outdoor patio has four of the stacking chairs in the summer. Computer Assisted Design meant the end for this plastic tool. Design is generally discussed as "before" CAD and "after" CAD. There came a day when all the worker bees at Herman Miller were told to lay down their pencils and pick up the mouse, presumably these templates were collected by staff and discarded en masse. Perhaps a few old-timers held on to them in case the damn computer broke. I imagine a few still miss the Scumex. (look it up)
Herman Miller Drafting Template 1979 Collection Jim Linderman
Original 35mm photograph Alabama 1992 Collection Jim Linderman
That I can not resist the phrase "nice big melons" is testimony to my endearing immaturity, but this post does have a more mature message, trust me. Exaggeration post cards are, of course, trite as can be. Ever since the Allman Brothers LP "Eat a Peach" was released in 1971 with a giant peach on the cover, our generation has taken these jumbo agriculture, fish and jackalope cards for granted. Like most postcards, the quantity is endless and the price is low. However, in these grim economic times, they do offer a brief smile, and you can hardly find a less expensive collectible. Thousands were created. These two happen to be good ones. First of all, they are early (one from 1909, the other from 1911) Second, they are in fact "real photo post cards" which are not real. Real photo post cards are actual photos, but they are printed on postcard stock for mailing. At their best, they are printed up in a quantity just enough to fill a narrow demand, say one copy for every member of a family, each participant in an event or everyone who wishes to remember a historical moment. I have always figured 500 tops for most RPPC images, and far less for most, but some have been printed in staggering numbers.
These real photos depict an unreal scene which didn't exist. At the time, it cost one cent to mail them, that's a pretty cheap joke. Postage today would be 27 cents, but you can mail it all the way to Alaska or Hawaii for that, and it includes home delivery. By the way, it is almost an urban myth that Duane Allman, an extraordinary musician, met his death riding his cycle into a peach carrying truck. But the cover shot was indeed a reference to the master of the empty Coricidin bottle slide guitar. I've heard him use the phrase "eat a peach" on a bootleg recording, and even through his magnificent stoned Southern slur, the inflection leaves no doubt he was referring to something much, much more fun than having a piece of fruit. So despite the broken urban myth, the image was a clever and fitting tribute after all.
Two real photo post cards, circa 1909, 1911 Collection Jim Linderman
Bear with my story here. Ten years ago I served on a jury as an alternate to convict a fellow of a drug charge. He had been held EIGHT MONTHS in Rikers Island for his " fair and speedy" trial, but that isn't the point of this post. The defendant, speaking only Spanish, attended the trial every day with an interpreter. He had a court appointed lawyer. A guard stayed with the defendant, two others were at the door to the courtroom during the entire trial. There was, of course, a judge. There was a bilingual stenographer. There were two lawyers for the prosecution who called two undercover policemen to testify. They called a court appointed chemist to describe the contraband. They had a person whose job was to tell us to stand up and sit down on occasion. There was another person who knocked on the door of the jury room when we were needed, and three people who were responsible for scheduling, that is, making sure all of us were in the right place at the right time. As it turns out, the defendant was not actually in possession of narcotics, he was charged with sales, although there was no money or drugs on the stoop where he sat...what he did was lift one hand and point to someone across the street who DID have drugs for sale. He was convicted and sentenced to five years, but allowing for the 8 months he had already served, it came to 4 years and 4 months. This means, including the jury, there were 29 people involved in convicting this prisoner. Oh...and one person who screened the movie "your responsibilities as a juror." That makes THIRTY. Deducting the 13 jurors, who spent one day waiting and three days "jurying"...17 full-time paid employees who earned their salary convicting the defendant. I assume he has been cared for and fed since. Now I am not advocating drug legalization or even finding fault with our jurisprudence system. I also don't use illegal drugs, I'm sick enough already. But I do often wonder if anyone has yet provided a job to our rehabilitated Spanish speaking ex-con with a five year record. The film being shown in this Texas town was directed by Elmer Clifton in 1937 with the slogan "a puff, a party, a tragedy". "Assassin of Youth, El Paso, Texas" Original Silver Print Photograph c.1938 8 x 10 Collection Jim Linderman
