Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Antique Articulated Folk Art Man on a String

Antique Folk Art Man on a String. 18 inches tall. Collection Jim Linderman

Donald Greene Doodles a Courtroom Drama on the Reverse of his Spelling Test 1919

Twelve year old Donald Greene Doodles a Courtroom Drama on the Reverse of his Spelling Test 1919. Collection Jim Linderman

The Exhibition of Celestial Planets figures created by Occult Prophet Benny Evangelista Bizarre Folk Art Sculptures

The Exhibition of Celestial Planets! Figures created by Occult Prophet Benny Evangelista of Detroit. Bizarre Folk Art Sculptures made in the late 1920s, and the work of a murdered bogus faith healer. Intrigued? Read my story in The Chiseler HERE titled Faith Healer Left Headless : A True Crime Tale by Jim Linderman

Original Press Photograph edited and cropped for publication Collection Jim Linderman

Patriotic Spencerian Calligraphic Penmanship from Mifflin Pennsylvania 1875

Patriotic Spencerian Calligraphic Penmanship from Mifflin Pennsylvania 1875 variations and practice. Collection Jim Linderman

The Birth of Rock and Roll : Photographs from the collection of Jim Linderman plus a conversation with Joe Bonomo

The Birth of Rock and Roll is now available for pre-ordering on Amazon. I received a copy and it turned out beautiful. A coffee table book, and a book about music unlike any you have seen.

My vintage photographs were handled beautifully by the fine folks at the publisher DUST-TO-DIGITAL and the design by award-winning Martin Venezky and his Appetite Engineers shop is fantastic. Historian, essayist and music-writer Joe Bonomo contributes elegant prose.

160 pages and when they are laid open, each is 19" x 12" of striking jumping' and jivin' humanity! I am proud indeed to make a contribution to our understanding of that phenomena we call Rock and Roll, and the folks mentioned above helped it happen.

There will be more about the book soon, but for now it is listed in the art book D.A.P. Catalog (shown here) and Amazon is taking pre-orders. It will soon be available at the Dust-to-Digital Website and other sources.

It may be worth mentioning that my first book with Dust to Digital, Take Me to the Water (which was Grammy-nominated) is now out of print and used copies are trading for over a hundred dollars…

I would like to thank the publisher Stephen Lance Ledbetter for recognizing the potential of this project, and for the magnificent results. A picture does tell a thousand words, and in this case the pictures tell a hundred year story like never before. Thank you!

Annual I'm Not at the Outsider Art Fair Post Famous Residences by Basil Merrett

My annual "I'm not at the Outsider Art Fair" series continues, here with works depicting famous residences by British eccentric and cypher Basil Merritt circa 1950. I'd be there if I could, but I hate to fly.

A few other posts in my unstructured and informal Outsider Art series are shown HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE More or less. Additional works by Basil Merrett are HERE.

Boy Preachers Boy Evangelists Boy Wonders and "your Al Sharptons" Photo Essay

Lavin Burcham, the boy who had oil poured on his hands (olive oil…so says the bible) leads off our tribute here to miniature mouths for the Lord! Boy Preachers are cool…it keeps them from being bad at least until they grow up. Whenever you hear a talking head on Fox rail against "Your Al Sharptons…" that's what they are talking about. Boy Preachers!

All these boy preachers have been profiled on the Old Time Religion Blog (which you should follow) except for Reverend Al. Do you know why Fox hates Al Sharpton? Because other than the Brawley incident, he is usually right. (Except when he worked as an agent for the FBI….It's complicated. It will make for a good book!) I hope he runs for president again. He will keep Hillary honest and give her a foil.

ALL ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS COLLECTION JIM LINDERMAN (Except for boy wonder Al Sharpton. That comes from his new autobiography shown here and available here.

Little Women of Frank Wendt Vaudeville's Hoofers and Sweethearts Book

At the turn of the century, thousands of young girls without the benefit of child labor laws traveled and performed nightly in the vaudeville and burlesque theaters of America. Photographer Frank Wendt took their photographs. They appear in the book HOOFERS AND SWEETHEARTS: THE LITTLE WOMEN OF FRANK WENDT.

Hoofers and Sweethearts: The Little Women of Frank Wendt by Vintage Photographs from the Collection of Jim Linderman |

Vintage Ventriloquist Dummy Duck Folk Art Sculpture

Vintage Ventriloquist Dummy Duck Folk Art Sculpture circa 1950 Collection Jim Linderman
BOOKS AND INSTANT PDF DOWNLOADS AVAILABLE HERE

Painless Dentistry

Cropped and enhanced Press Photograph 1922 Collection Jim Linderman

Undisputedly the Undisputed Truth? Norman Whitfield and the Undisputed Truth White Afro Promotional Photograph

Hey! It's Taka Boom, Chaka Khan's sister. Hard to tell with all the make-up. Strategic placement of disco ball helps identify the musical genre…you are going to put on platform shoes, wait in line to get in and possibly do some blow. Or should I say undisputedly.

The Undisputed Truth was brainchild/nightmare created by Norman Whitfield, a strong R&B composer who seems to have made a major mistake here. Norman wrote "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" and "War" (Oooof! Absolutely NOTHING! Say it Again!) He also wrote "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" "Just My Imagination" and "Papa Was a Rolling Stone". So we are talking money here…big time top of the line songwriter for the ages money.

Whitfield was born in Harlem, but moved to the Motor City where he was soon writing songs for Motown. Blinded by success (or SOMETHING?) Whitfield moved to LA when Motown abandoned Detroit In 1973…and his first band was the nightmare above. They followed him from Detroit too… He still wrote hits, including "Car Wash" which you are humming now.

The Undisputed Truth lasted 8 years or so, with numerous members. Taka Boom's Fan Page is HERE. Can you Dig it? Well Dig THIS, it's the Undisputed Truth doing Whitfield's "Smiling Faces" I'm smiling.

Promotional Photograph (No Date) Collection Jim Linderman

Vintage Ventriloquist Dummy Vent Figure

Vintage Ventriloquist Dummy Vent Figure Mid-20th Century Clay and wood with wire mechanism, handmade. Eyes, mouth and arms move. 36" long. See also the book I'M WITH DUMMY available HERE in paperback and hardcover.

Three Large Folk Art Carved Stump Men Sculpture

Three Large Folk Art Carved Stump Men 19th - 20th century Collection Jim Linderman

Wonder House by Conrad Schuck is For Sale in Florida Vernacular Architecture Outsider Art Folk Art Environment

Would anyone like to purchase a WONDER HOUSE? Conrad Schuck's Wonder House in Florida is available, and you can get "outsider" art at an "insider" price! Real Estate Listing is HERE. Dull Tool Dim Bulb Previous Post on the Wonder House is HERE

Russians Take the Lead in Robotics

Cropped and enhanced press photograph 1970 Collection Jim Linderman

Folk Art Snowman Mask

Papermache Snowman Mask circa 1950? Collection Jim Linderman

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jim Linderman

"...Linderman is widely regarded as one of the foremost figures in a field of vernacular art collectors working beyond the margins of most institutional axioms and impulses, in what is essentially it's own self-taught art form."
Ursula Magazine Hauser & Wirth 2019

"Linderman produces the most sublime books on dreamy, arcane subjects, sexy stuff, too, all with rare one-of-a-kind images." Craig Yoe 2017

"...disclosing an underground history of American popular culture one oddball tale at a time"
John Strausbaugh in The New York Times

"...one of the blog writers to watch for"
ARTSlant

"...wonderful, extraordinary, fascinating, remarkable and profound" Fans in a Flashbulb International Center of Photography Museum 2016

"Brilliantly Astute, Acerbic and Aesthetic Jim Linderman"
The Museum of Everything 2014

"Dull Tool Dim Bulb is always worth a visit" THINGS Magazine 2016

"...grumpy..." The Austin Chronicle 2014

"Perpetually ahead of the collecting curve...a one man Taschen. An authentically curious individual...diligently archiving the forgotten curiosities of American History"

Emma Higgins in Art Hack May 2012

"Jim Linderman likes Art, Antiques and Photography and his collection of Vernacular Photography, Folk Art, Ephemera and Curiosities is a wonderful place..."
LifeElsewhere with Norman B. 2014

"...collected over the years by Jim Linderman, a character who seems the perfect subject for a Harvey Pekar comic. Linderman treats collecting like a calling, and his finds have a resulting air of authority, stunning in their capture of bygone picturesque moments."
Derek Taylor Dusted

"The pictures, discarded artifacts of ecstatic Americana, come from the stash of Jim Linderman, who in his introduction recalls advice he’s plainly taken to heart: “Collect the heck” out of whatever you find interesting."
Drew Jubera Paste Magazine

"His interest in art is rivaled only by his interest in music, and one expression informs the other. He pursues objects with thoroughness and an innate sense of curiosity..."
Tanya Heinrich Folk Art Magazine

"Linderman acknowledges the obscure at the same time that he elevates it.... His collections tell vast stories in sotto voce, allowing curios and objects shadowed by mainstream culture and ideology to converse and be heard. What we hear is an enormous American sub-culture speaking in forbidden, marginalized languages: stuff discovered boxed in the attic out of embarrassment or zealotry, smutty ash trays crowing next to religious pamphlets, each claiming a part of the complex, sometimes contradictory, always conflicted American imagination, a chaos of memories that will one day vanish."
Joe Bonomo Author of Conversations With Greil Marcus, Jerry Lewis Lost and Found and No Such Thing As Was

"...he's one of the world's greatest pickers."
Brian Wallis in The New York Times

"Documenting--one clipping at a time--the scrapbook of a leg and garter aficionado that was dumpster-dived in Virginia in the 60s" "...an outstanding image-archaeologist who has compiled a shelf-ful of worthy and unique photographic histories."
William Smith Hang Fire Books

"Linderman has a knack for discovering untold stories and introducing them to a wider audience"
Joey Lin Anonymous Works

"Jim Linderman...makes us all look a little puny"
Could it be Madness-this?

"...insatiable collector of ephemera and ringleader behind an incredible circus of blogs — including the treasure trove dull tool dim bulb"
The Cynephile

"Yo no sé ustedes pero creo que es uno de los mejores sitios que he visitado en mucho tiemp"
Color Me in Blog

"...there's something beyond the endless photos and postcards and weird propaganda from another time that he lovingly documents - I think it's the collection as a whole, the portrait of a person fascinated with culture and communication. I have met people like this before, and in reading Dull Tool Dim Bulb I feel I have been lucky enough to meet one more. This site is a goldmine in terms of links..."
The Hyggelic Life October 2009

"Linderman is always on the lookout for the new and exciting"
Chuck and Jan Rosenak Contemporary American Folk Art

"...an amazing collection..."
Revel in New York October 2009

"Jim Linderman has a nice little colllection of interesting books and blogs...But every so often he just loses it."
American Digest March 2010

"FOR MOST OF HIS LIFE, COLLECTOR JIM LINDERMAN has searched high and low for authentic things--unique and special objects that define the artistic culture of the American experience. From folk art to popular culture, from pulp fiction to Delta Blues-- Jim is a walking authority on so many things American they are too numerous to mention. One thing is certain-- his collecting interests are for things that have fallen through the cracks, those things lost and forgotten--the box of material under the table at the flea market booth. If it wasn't for dedicated collectors like Jim Linderman-- so many important objects about our culture would have surely been lost to time and indifference."

"Jim Linderman maintains a most interesting blog about the most amazing things from his collection—a site he calls “Dull Tool Dim Bulb,” the only curse words his father ever uttered. I love it, and read it everyday."
"...an excellent writer and I devour your blog daily. I am impressed at your deep knowledge of things within your niche..."
John Foster Accidental Mysteries

"I am grateful to Jim Linderman for first alerting me to the existence of the 1930s Spiritualist hymn "Jesus is My Air-o-plane."
William Fagaly New Orleans Museum of Art, Author Tools of her Ministry: The art of Sister Gertrude Morgan

"Linderman describes a long gone world...(he) claims not to be a writer but he is most certainly an excellent researcher..."
BOOKSTEVE

"Jim Linderman, King of the Internet Ephemeral Arts"
Spaniel Rage

"Jim is a fantastic historian...show him some love"
Astrid Daley Fringe Pop / Sin-A-Rama

"Almost an experimental narrative"
Idiopath

"He came to us with hundreds of jaw-dropping baptism photos that he'd been collecting for 25 years," Ledbetter explains. "By the time he found us, he'd already done half a lifetime's works, and he trusted us to handle it properly." Lance Ledbetter in Creative Loafing 10/13/11

Fair Use

Though the images, which I have myself largely scanned from my personal collection of photographs and ephemera, some are subject to © by the artist, syndicate that distributed them or otherwise the individual artists. The use here is regardless covered by the U.S. fair use laws because:
1. The image illustrates an educational article; its inclusion in the article adds significantly to understanding the text because it is a historical sample of the art covered in the critical commentary, and shows use of an innovative style. Therefore the image substantially improves the educational value of the article.
2. The image is used as the primary means of visual identification of the article topic, which directly concerns a visual artist, and is indicative of the style for which hethe artists are renowned.
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Although most of the images here are original photography and objects owned by the author and in the author's personal collection, we cannot absolutely guarantee the exact copyright status of the items or offer written assurance that every or any aspect of this work is completely cleared for all usages. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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