African-American Folk Art Sand Sculpture from the New Jersey Shore Pair of Snapshots c. 1915

 

A pair of vernacular snapshots of a sand sculptor at work near the turn of 19th century. The location is likely Ashbury Park or Atlantic City. There were several skilled sand builders working the New Jersey Shore around 1915. I suspect this is either Jas. J. Taylor (who was known for his depictions of Cupid) or Lorenz Harris. Harris was apparently an African-American artist and one of several who displayed their work for tips. This boardwalk tradition was eventually banned from the beaches in 1944. Postcards of the era (both real photo postcards and more widely sold printed versions) were common. This pair are among the few actual snapshots which have turned up. More information on the art and artists is found HERE in the magazine of the American Folk Art Museum. Note monkey gazing at his reflection in a mirror!

African-American Folk Art Sand Sculpture from the New Jersey Shore Pair of Snapshots c. 1915
Collection Jim Linderman courtesy Invisible Commute.

Georgia Folk Artist R. A. Miller paints a Snake. Outsider Art

Georgia Folk Artist R. A. Miller paints a Snake.
Original Photo Jim Linderman c. 1995

Handmade Folk Art Ventriloquist Vent Figure

Freckles the Vent.  Composite materials over wood frame.  Circa 1960.  Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb.  Books and Affordable Ebooks by the author HERE.

Time and Death Pair of salvaged Fraternal Society Paintings from a Banner

 Time and Death.  Pair of salvaged Fraternal Society Paintings from a Banner.  Likely early 20th century.  Oil Paint on Linen.  Signed as M. K. Mengle.  Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb

 

Antique Folk Art Drawing 19th Century Primitive Therorem Urn with Flowers Pennsylvania

Antique Folk Art Drawing 19th Century Naive Therorem Urn with Flowers. Pennsylvania origin.  Pencil on Paper. Signed Job Wagner dated 1883.  6" x 7".  
Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Duckwalking man Vintage photograph

A duck walking man.  
Original Snapshot no date (c. 1935?)  
Missouri Lee Jellum Photo Shop.
Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Folk Art Postage Stamp Collage (detail) Spinning Wheel circa 1910

Postage stamp collage (detail) circa 1910.  Hand-drawn ink features and early 20th Century postage stamps on postcard size card.  Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb.  See also the book "Eccentric Folk Art Drawings of the 19th and 20th Centuries" for several similar examples of the craft. 

Vintage Amateur Original Drawings for Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazine

Vintage Amateur Original Drawings for Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazine submitted by a boy.  Famous Monsters was started in 1958 and ran until 1983 with 191 issues.  Later, a revival from 1993 brought it back and it continues today.  These drawings were submitted for publication in a "submitted by fans" section of the magazine.  While I do not know if any were printed, the editor Forrest J. Ackerman kept this collection for decades in his private collection until passing.  There are some 50 drawings which reveal a young talent under the spell of prominent monsters (and monster films) of the 1950s and 1960s.

Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Antique Folk Art Jesus Drawing 19th century Collection Jim Linderman

Antique Folk Art Drawing of Jesus 19th century   Pencil on paper dated 1882
Collection Jim Linderman

Vintage Folk Art Birdhouse with Galvanized Steel Roof

Vintage Folk Art Birdhouse with Galvanized Steel Roof, a metal perch and a leather belt.  Circa 1950 Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb.

Postage Stamp Folk Art Collage World's Fair 1939

Folk Art collage made of postage stamps, c. 1939.
Collection Jim Linderman 

19th Century Folk Art Train Drawing Forty Miles an Hour

19th Century Folk Art Train Drawing goes Forty Miles an Hour.  Edward Brown, 1883.
Courtesy Curley Antiques. 

Three Big Bears Antique Folk Art Bear Masks

Three Big Bears  Antique Folk Art Bear Masks.   Height 16" - 18"
Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb / Jim Linderman

Portrait of a Dummy Original snapshot c. 1960 Handmade Ventriloquist Folk Art Figure

Portrait of a Dummy  Original snapshot c. 1960 Handmade Ventriloquist Folk Art Figure
Collection Jim Linderman

Reefer Madness Comics by Craig Yoe and Steven Thompson A smoking good review!

Reefer Madness Comics is hilarious!  Craig Yoe and Steven Thompson have pulled together over 200 pages of rare comic book parables from the 1940s and 1950s in full color!  Plus a few later "public safety" comic book warnings to the nation's youth.  This in the era of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions the Third, our miniature porcine "law and order" top gun.  He won't get the joke, and he wouldn't understand the value or humor of these vintage "don't do it" publications.  Full of horror stories and comic book illustrator's attempts to show the effects of the first toke on Satan's Cigarettes. Dreamy!  That is, until they are hooked.   

I write this on 4/20 day.  Another year of celebration and mourning for the 1,522,579 who were arrested for stinkweed in the United States last year.  84% were arrested for possession only.  This while 22 states have lenient marijuana laws and others have medical licenses for those who need treatment.  How about this?  200,000 students have lost their federal financial aid eligibility because of drug convictions.  Local police budgets benefit, of course.

Want to set a kid out on his future in the job market with a drug conviction?  That is like recruiting for the cartels.  

Reefer Madness Comics includes an informed historical essay and some twenty full stories from the past for (currently) $13.59 on Amazon. You will not regret the purchase.  This book is hilarious, and your friends caught up in the dope menace will think so too.    

Craig Yoe is HERE.
 
Reefer Madness Comics on Amazon is HERE

A Folk Art Carved Parsnip! Ephemeral Folk Art

A Folk Art Carved Parsnip!  From "American Scenery Lake George Views Stereoview card
Lamson and Smith Photographers. 19th Century.  Collection Jim Linderman
Thanks to Invisible Commute.

Vernacular Architecture Folk Art Environment Unknown Location Vintage Snapshot

Location Unknown.  Snapshot collection Jim Linderman

Antique Folk Art Room Mural Cabinet Card Photograph

Antique Folk Art Room Mural Cabinet Card Photograph.  Likely in or near Merrimac, MA.  Original photograph by "View Photographer" C. E  Sawyer circa 1880.  
Collection Jim Linderman

Antique Wooden Matchbox Covers from Russia

Antique Wooden Matchbox Covers from Russia.  
Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Things to MAKE Seal Kaps Milk Bottle Tops

Things to MAKE  Seal Kaps Milk Bottle Tops.  1931 
Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb