TWO NEW TATTERED AND LOST VOLUMES and remembering GIVE A SHOW PROJECTORS

I'm happy to finally be able to announce the publication of two more books in the Tattered and Lost series. I would have loved to have announced them before Christmas, but then those that were receiving them as gifts would have lost their surprise.

Volume 1, Tattered and Lost: Vernacular Photographs, which was originally published via Blurb, is now at a larger trim size with more content. You can peruse the volume at Amazon.

Volume 4, Tattered and Lost: Cakes, Picnics, and Watermelon, is a fine example of my "obsession" with silly categories. Wander on over to Amazon and take a look.

Also still available are volume 2, Tattered and Lost: Childhood and volume 3, Tattered and Lost: Telling Stories. Each are available at CreateSpace and Amazon. You'll find links to all four in the column to the left.

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Raise Your Hand If You Remember GIVE A SHOW PROJECTOR

I'm guessing it would be hard for a kid today to get excited by a Give a Show Projector, but at one time this was a very sought after toy. Think of it as a bit like a Viewmaster that projected images onto a wall. In the days when kids programming on tv was limited to only a few hours each day, one of these projectors would allow you to watch The Flintstones anytime. Oh sure, it was just a single image projected onto a wall, but seriously, we enjoyed this. I personally never had one of these and I was probably a bit too old for one by the time they were marketed, but that didn't stop me from wanting one.

As you'll see in the image below the projector didn't work so great if the lights were on in the room. That or the kids haven't turned it on yet, or these kids simply were thrilled to stare at a blank wall. Take that X-box!


Click on image to see it larger.

All dressed up with NO PLACE TO GO

Part of the fun of vernacular snapshots is to see what locations people decided were the best spots to pose. We've all been through it. "Stand over here. No wait, over here would look nicer. Okay wait, the sun is behind you. You're just a big shadow. Go back to where you first were." And so it goes. In the case of these two shots all of the people had to do a little bit of climbing on rough surfaces in shoes not meant for climbing.

I posted at my ephemera site about having photos taken on downed trees, specifically redwoods. These lovely ladies, from probably sometime around 1915, are not on a redwood. I'd say pine, several pines. Not only did the lady on the log need a lift up, but I imagine the other one needed to tip-toe gently amongst the logs so as to not get things rolling under her feet. And that odd feather/flower/bird thingie on her shoulder...I really don't know. Looking at the shot through my loop it looks to be drawn on...but not really. However the black is much blacker than all other blacks in the shot and the white tip is whiter than all other whites. Usually by looking through my loop I can figure these things out easily, but not this time. There is also a small "v" in black ink on the sitting woman's left arm, her left arm, not the left arm when we look at her. Okay, not vital information.

Click on image to see it larger.

Then there's this couple from probably the 40s or 50s. Clearly not dressed for mountain climbing, but sometimes we forget how rural people's lives were. If they were bedecked in their Sunday finest and lived in the countryside of course they'd be posed next to plants or rocks if not next to a building. What I find funny is that they climbed up this little incline and sat down. What was it about those rocks that made them so gosh darn fascinatin' to require climbing up on them and settin' down? I mean, I like the shot, but I would have loved to hear the discussion that took place while they sat on the rocks in their nice clothes and then dusted off their fannies when standing. And there is the oh so small hint of a shadow on the right so there were at least two people watching them. Did they then change places and have this couple in the photo take a shot of the other two? We'll never know.

Click on image to see it larger.

These photos were bought on vacation in a small antique store in Weaverville, California. I scoured the shop hunting for anything when I finally spotted a small basket with a stack of photographs. All were shots taken in the countryside, nothing taken in any cities. Now whether or not they were taken in or around Weaverville I don't know. Weaverville is still a pretty rural place located in the Trinity Alps of Northern California. A fine little gold mining town with a wonderful Chinese temple that is a state historic site. All 'n' all a good time was had in Weaverville.

Bill & Dick's EXCELLENT ADVENTURE

I have an old photo album full of wonderful vernacular photographs that also contains a typed journal. The majority of the photos show two friends, Bill and Dick, who travelled all over the United States in 1914. They left San Francisco on May 5th and returned June 5th. During that month they traveled mostly by train across country arriving in Washington D.C. on May 12th. Below you will find a photo of Dick with a Mrs. Nolan, a sturdy woman if I ever saw one. Mrs. Nolan is referenced in the journal entry. It's fun seeing how formal the people dressed in contrast to the slobs most of us are today when traveling.

Bill and Dick seemed to have remained friends for many years after the trip and the album contains photos of them with wives and children.

Though nothing particularly interesting seems to have happened on the trip, at least not by our 21st century voyeuristic standards, Bill and Dick did have a good time. It's fun to read the journal and look at the photos of the two of them standing in front of buildings/trees/water and sitting/standing near different modes of transportation. I've also used some of the photos in my Blurb book and will be including more in the next book.

I previously posted a photo from this album under the entry "Giddyup Ostrich."

KODAK ADVERTISEMENT 1937

A break from photos in my collection to look at an ad from Kodak in 1937. Without Kodak there simply wouldn't be so many wonderful vernacular / found photos to collect.

Interesting advertisement, especially taken out of its time period. The whole thing comes off a little creepy because of the headline and the heavily browed gentleman on the right. Okay, even the copy under him comes off a little creepy. I dug a little deeper and discovered he was actually a very popular author named Irvin S. Cobb. It's unfortunate it looks like a mug shot.

To see even more Kodak advertisements check out this gentleman's Flickr site. He has posted hundreds of wonderful old ads. Normally I would have posted this at my ephemera site, but I think this adds to the enjoyment of vernacular photography. 

Click on the image to see it larger at Flickr.

SERIOUS about tinsel

Now this is a woman who is SERIOUS about tinsel! Saddleshoes on the chair, tinsel hanging like delicate silver chains in her hand, caught in the act. Was she home alone, hanging each strand, humming White Christmas? In her own little world, the zen of the tinsel. And then somebody comes in with flash blazing and documents the moment like a tabloid photographer. It is an odd picture. Not too odd. Just odd enough.

And about that painting hanging in the frame...no nudging necessary, though it seems a bit high on the wall. I'll leave it alone

LEADED, not unleaded

A few years ago I found a box in the attic that contained the old fashioned leaded tinsel. Tinsel used on Christmas trees when I was a child. Another box contained the type of tinsel that followed in the 60s. The leaded was heavy and when it fell through the branches of the tree it made a noise. You knew tinsel had fallen. The later tinsel would move when you walked by the tree creating a breeze, but would rarely fall from its branches. The leaded just hung there. The Christmas tree in this found photo has leaded tinsel. It's heavy and lovely, each piece hung separately. You couldn't throw a wad of leaded onto a tree because it would usually fall through the branches, plus if it stuck it looked like a shiny birds nest. 

Do people still put tinsel on a tree? I haven't seen any in years. I don't think we have the time for tinsel anymore and that's a shame. Strand by strand, it takes time. I don't have the time.

Thank you to whoever took this photo because it brings back memories.

ASSEMBLY LINE Santa

Now this is how to handle a meet-and-greet with Santa in the 1940s. Keep it moving, keep it organized, everybody goes home happy. I'm not sure what the fellow might be doing with the microphone. Announcing the names of the wee tots as they pass by? Singing Christmas carols ala Sinatra? Perhaps doing a stand-up bit popular with the under 7 crowd. I do believe it's the first time I've ever seen the elves dressing quite so corporate.

NEWS or noise?

Is it possible to travel through time without denting every decade you go through? I'm not sure. But if this photo is any indication one person has managed to bounce around at least through the last four decades in clear sight, even leaving a rather pitiful dent in Al Capone's vault. Foxy devil that he is I think this might be evidence he was undercover at the turn of the last century or perhaps an underwear model for the Sears catalog? Let's just hope his penchant for drawing maps in the sand didn't occur during WWI . "Journalist" Gerald"o" Rivera..."celebrity time traveler"? Vernacular photography star.