A Book Review from the Past and a Web site review from the Present!
One of the most amazing books (make that a series of books) ever is the astounding Household Physician published originally in 1905 with copyright in England by F. S. Woodruff, the book was republished ten years later in the United States, and again in 1923 by J.A. Brown. If you have the slightest interest in medical Illustration, homeopathic medicine, folk medicine or even art, this is an amazing source and SITE...the entire volumes are available online HERE.
A compendium unmatched! The site is sponsored by J. Crow's, a source of herbal medicinals, folk medicines and such.
The claim is made within the preface that "No one who reads this book thoroughly will be often imposed upon thereafter by quack nostrums..." I'm not sure about you, but I have had my fill of quack nostrums, and thus recommend this book.
Now I am not sure I would start here rather then, say, WebMD if I had a medical emergency... but if the bleeding has subsided and the poison has been purged, this makes for an entertaining afternoon. In many cases, the Household Physician is spot on...other times? Eh. Let's just say medicine has progressed a bit since the late 19th century, and bar Republican efforts, it will continue. Speaking of Republican efforts...how come they aren't suing because we are forced to buy AUTO insurance? Isn't that "unconstitutional" too? I'm just asking.
The illustrations are, as you can see. simply extraordinary and I suspect hold up to modern medicine better than the text. No artist is credited in the book, which contains 500 line drawings in addition to the remarkable color plates above (tipped in as a folded group) allowing all to play "invisible man" and marvel. All manner of pompous physicians are credited, but the artists? Not a thing. I loaded "Man" here in reverse so you can put him back together! Anyway, the illustrations and hundreds more are available online HERE.
Have fun...but talk to your doctor first! Numerous copies of the chunky bigassed multi- volume set are available from used book dealers. If you purchase one or all, make sure the inserted color plates have not been torn out. Especially in the Veterinary volume, as the cow is great!
Exercise on the Apparatus Tumbling and Stunts by W. J. Wittich Book Review from the Past by Jim Linderman
W. J. Wittich and H. C. Reuter created an amazing book in 1925, which to my reckoning will go out of copyright in two years, so I thought I would jump the gun here a bit and wake up the publisher. As the few pieces of junk mail I receive frequently say "Time to Renew!"
Each photograph looks like a David Byrne video. The images, which I find striking and quite beautiful, are not even credited in the book. They appear to be a mixture of time-lapse and beautiful group shots. It is most unusual for a "technical" manual such as this to have no line drawings at all, but we are fortunate...
Now you may be wondering exactly what this book is. Most of us and unfortunately most of our children won't recognize the action, but some will...this is an early gymnastics and body movement guide prepared with extraordinary care and skill. It was also prepared with a wonderful love of the human form. Appreciate the excerpt here from the introduction:
"Swinging and climbing sensations are still the most pleasant elements of the physical life of man. Let us not forget that the physical activities which we today call play and recreation are the activities which our forefathers for hundreds and thousands of years indulged in every day, and all the time, in their struggle for existence while they went through the periods of the savage life, the nomad, the primitive agriculturist, and the tribal life. Our children today enjoy better than to climb up into trees, onto sheds, and roofs; the higher they go the better they like the experience, much to the dismay of the overanxious mothers."
There are 50 photographs, all splendid. The activites sound as good as they look: Forearm-support Circle, Reading Newspaper. Lazy Man's Circle, Double Hip Circle, Development of the Kipp, Acrobatic Hand-Shake and Elephant-Walk.
No, I have not been in a gym class for a while, and since my marathon running days are behind me now, I appreciate agility and fitness more than ever. These examples make me hurt in a different way...Now it just hurts that I can't do them!
The Book is 110 pages, and while WELL out of print, I am sure used copies are around. MIne was Five bucks and was once owned by a fellow in Texas, but it came back to Michigan and I found it this weekend.
W. J. Wittich, from La Crosse, Wisconsin must have been quite a guy. 15 years after producing his book, he created the "Wartime First Aid Wheel" as it is called in the splendid book by Jessica Helfand titled "Reinventing the Wheel" a wonderful design book listed at right somewhere. Wittich's Wheel appears on page 85. It was an 8 inch disc packaged in a sleeve.
In addition to serving on the faculty of Teachers College, La Crosse, Wisconsin Mr. Wittich was an advisor to the American Red Cross and was also a painter. I'd love to have more information on both the technique of photography and Mr. Wittich himself, but all I have is the book. Which is great, and if it were used a bit more, I suspect our kids would appreciate moving like they did again when his book came out.
Sam stands silent. Uncle Sam Mailboxes took off around the time of the Spanish- American War, but this fellow likely stood through World War One. Dated 1924 on the reverse. I wanted to do my part for both country and the economy by linking to a source for plans to make your own. Here you go! Only $10.99 from Woodworkers Workshop.com. But guess what? The company is owned by Canadians! parent company is Woodchuckcanuck.com. Has it really gone this far?
Do it anyway...I love the those folks up there.
"Uncle Sam Mailbox" snapshot 1924 collection Jim Linderman
Using an archive of original and rare mail-order brochures from the 1950s and 1960s collected by Victor Minx, SMUT BY MAIL: VINTAGE GRAPHICS FROM THE GOLDEN DAYS OF OBSCENITY illustrates some 150 examples of art, graphics and design used to promote and sell soft-core pornography in glorious crumpled but colorful glory!
From a time when the mere delivery of a pamphlet such as these could result in an arrest! A staggering collection, assembled over a decade, shows vintage "come-ons" which wiggled a finger in print form to men all over the country. From back page ads came a flood of amateur and mob-run smut to your very doorstep courtesy of the U.S Mail, all of it wrapped in the ubiquitous plain brown wrapper.
Remarkable as it seems today, even primitive, hand-cranked projectors and 3-D viewers which allowed a blurry but taboo glimpse were offered along with stag films, photo-sets and slides.
Today laughable and virtually innocent, at the time the producers (and booksellers) of the material were hounded by postal authorities and subjected to numerous censorship arrests. The essay by Jim Linderman reveals how this censorship, now seen as absurd, occurred at a time when the word "freedom" was bandied about by moral watchdogs with their own hidden secrets and agendas.Colorful, vibrant and often downright odd, it is another example of formerly lost and forgotten art being brought to light by Dull Tool Dim Bulb Books. Striking primitive and naive graphics which pre-date the punk esthetic by 20 years.
25 pages of the 2011 book are available for preview HERE.
Certainly one of the most unusual and interesting vernacular art books of the year, and once again a forgotten area of art history brought to light by Dull Tool Dim Bulb Books.
160 pages. 10" x 8" Full Color with an essay by Jim Linderman Hardcover and Paperback
Dull Tool Dim Bulb books published by Blurb.com
There is nothing funnier than a fake wallet on a string. You know...old wallet, five bucks sticking out...busy sidewalk. Two kids on the end of the string behind the fence giggling as they wait for a portly gentleman to bend down for it. Construction workers used to do it on 6th Avenue and howl.Today it would be more cruel than funny, as the latest studies have found a majority of us can't reach down anymore. Portly has become just plain fat. Today a good percent of the population wouldn't even see it.
If it wasn't juvenile and in bad taste, I would tell you a glued-down quarter is funny too.The WORST ADVERTISING IN HISTORY used to plague New York City Streets in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Tiny leaflets folded to look like a twenty dollar bill with an ad on the back for a strip club, dial-a porn or some other shady, sleazy, cruddy business. Junior mobsters were hired to dump the litter as they walked down city streets, often at dawn, which allowed the tricky things to blow around a bit before commuters hit the streets.
I saw a few of the amateur thugs drop them as I walked my dog...creepy punks a step below the guys who would hang glue-slap posters for lousy dance clubs anywhere their paste brushes could reach. Sidewalk Spammers.
The one above happens to be an ad for dirty film called "Foxtrot" which starred Vanessa Del Rio. I used to have the pleasure of watching Vanessa swim and sun every day at the rooftop pool atop the Holiday Inn on West 57th Street between 9th and 10th Avenue. It was for hotel guests, but for a buck CBS employees (and a few favored folk) could use it and I sure did. Spending your lunch hour with a super-tan Vanessa Del Rio in a bikini was a whole lot more fun than eating a slice of pizza at my desk. I often got back a few minutes late. I am putting Vanessa's name in the title here in case she has a service scanning the web for mentions of her...why shouldn't Vanessa have a nice, sunny memory too?
Anyway, I remember seeing hundreds of these crooked, low-down miniature trick circulars strewn all over around Times Square, and will confess to having fallen for them a few times. As I recall, the city was trying to outlaw the practice through anti-litter laws and the department of sanitation...sure enough, an article ran in the NY Times in 1991 which coined the word "trashvertising" or "trash cash" and discussed efforts to ban them without violating any fugwad's "right to free speech."
Imagine my surprise (and disgust) to find they are still being produced. "Drop Cards" they are called and you will find purveyors on the web today. Slime.
"Drop-Card" miniature advertising leaflet, 1982 Collection Jim Linderman
