Man with Camera and Man with Telephone circa 1920. From the BOOK Eccentric Folk Art Drawings : Obscure Drawings of the 19th and 20th Centuries from the Linderman Collection. "When does an artist become an artist...?"
Available in paperback or PDF Download HERE
Bettie Page Nude Camera Club Study by Rudolph Rossi 1952 Original 8 x 10 Hand-tinted by the artist. Collection Jim Linderman
Two crisp 8 x 10 original photographs from the Holland, Michigan Tulip Festival, a show which persists to this day. They both show the Baker Twins. They are joined by friends for the second. The Tulip Time Festival has been going on since 1929, and as these photos are from 1943, they weren't going to let Hitler's occupation of the real Holland stop the show.
In 1928, The Holland city council bought 100,000 tulip bulbs from Holland and stuck them in the ground. They come up every year, and so do buses of tulip fans.
Holland, MI is super-conservative and super-religious. The "What would Jesus Do" wristbands originated there. The city recently adopted a backwards anti-discrimination policy which specifically omitted the rights of LGBT citizens as well, but that will go away when they finally learn it's bad for business. There are some level-headed progressives working to correct the situation, and 25 years from now I suspect the Tulip Festival will be more crowded then ever. I mean please.
"The Baker Twins" photographs, 1943 by anonymous. Collection Jim Linderman
You might also be interested in the coffee table book THE BIRTH OF ROCK AND ROLL
Tin Weathervane Whirligig circa 1935? Original Barn Red, secondary coat radiator silver. Collection Jim Linderman
Frederick's of Hollywood closed all their retail outlets this year. A shame. Somewhere between on-line sales and the power of Victoria's secret lies the reason. Soon, all retail will be gone and shopping neighborhoods will only be good for an ice cream cone or one of those dough pretzels. There is just no way to compete with online sales, at least in America. If what remains of the middle class had any disposable income anymore, they might walk into a mall once in a while...but it won't last much longer. Soon even the minimum wage retail jobs will be gone. Stores will hire extra help for Black Friday and lay them off the day after.
Still, Frederick's lasted quite a little while. The company was started in 1947, but it was taken private by a conglomerate after bankruptcy in 2014. It is now owned by "Authentic Brands Group" who buys brands to license them for tacky products. They own Elvis, Muhammad Ali and Marilyn Monroe too. Authentic!
Vintage Frederick's of Hollywood cribbed from ebay.
It's bad enough to move a refrigerator, but when the International Harvester company went into the fridge business, they had to move their humongous fabricated salesman too! Many of the ill-fated giant boxes survive, but I am not sure where the dummy ended up. I also do not find anything which indicates the box "ran silent" which is no surprise.
The web is full of folks asking if the International Harvester refrigerator they found in the barn has any value. One helpful suggestion says "they make great smokehouses" and another drilled a hole in his for a spigot and keeps a keg of beer inside!
Apparently the machine talked too...I don't know if the dummy did. There is another postcard with a woman trying to open the giant door, and it says the box talked to her on the reverse.
Real Photo Postcard 1951 "Have just seen this 13 ft. giant at the 1951 Ohio State Fair. He was telling every one about the many exclusive feathers of the International Harvester Refrigerators and Freezers" caption on reverse. Collection Jim Linderman
From CURLEY'S ANTIQUES.
Antique Folk Art Turnwheel Crank Whirligig Sculpture made from Cigar Boxes, circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman
A pair of large, hand carved Turkey Vultures! Aieeee! Also known as Turkey Buzzard, John Crow or Carrion Crow. These wooden figures (in original paint) were possibly used as decoys to scare away vermin? I have no idea, but they certainly seem appropriate for the season.
"Turkey Vultures are accustomed to living near humans and snacking off of our leavings. You will often see them in farm fields or hanging out next to the road. However, they are not likely to be in your backyard unless something has died…" Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Pair of wooden turkey vultures, circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman
Untitled (Big Head Parade of 1940) Vintage Snapshot photograph by Leslie H. Gardner November 1940 collection Jim Linderman
The visually acuity team here at Dull Tool Dim Bulb finds proof the 1950s comics were as bad as Kefauver and his confederates thought. Veronica is BETTIE. Page, to be exact. Here Dan DeCarlo (of Archie Fame) bases a gag drawing on America's favorite fetish model! The Bettie page photo is from a stereoslide of the model which circulated in the late 1950s. DeCarlo reportedly first freelanced for Archie Comics in the late 1950s. Betty and Veronica were created before DeCarlo took over the drawing duties, but certainly he was looking at some smut during his off hours.
BOOKS by The author available HERE and HERE
Early automobile race? Horse race? Guesses? Somebody is going to need a whole lot of chalk. Undated Snapshot
Vintage Folk Art Sculpture Carnival Ball Toss Collection Jim Linderman
Wood with metal border, sharpened at edges for industrial cut of an apple form Undated, circa 1940.
Collection Jim Linderman
SAMPLE PAGES FROM THE NEW BOOK ECCENTRIC FOLK ART DRAWINGS OF THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES FROM THE JIM LINDERMAN COLLECTION Available NOW from Blurb.com
200 Pages. PDF version available soon ORDER HERE
A Pair of Painted Pixies frolic in the buff. Estate Sale Find (two dollars for the pair.) Circa 1980.
