Jim Linderman blog about surface, wear, form and authenticity in self-taught art, outsider art, antique american folk art, antiques and photography.
 Toot Toot! I am back to continue writing my 18 year old blog Dull Tool Dim Bulb. Boy with a flute concrete folk art sculpture circa 1920-1930. Real Photo Postcard Collection Jim Linderman
Hello? It’s for you. Pressed cardboard Walkie Talkie from a game. Circa 1950s. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb
Early Carnival Sideshow Banners circa 1910. I can’t be sure how this snapshot will look online…it’s an odd, tiny size. I THINK taken by a Kodak “Vest Pocket” camera circa 1910 to 1935. They produced a 1 x 4 landscape image, which this little fellow is. A scarce early sideshow photograph from an early camera onceknown as “The Soldiers camera” from being used during WW1. I can’t find anything on the…
MAGA followers. Three articulated figures, Mid 20th Century Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb
I’ve posted the monumental totem of N. E. Galloway before (shown also) but I have also learned he.was quite the woodcarver. Here’s a carving he made from a tree adorned with a snake and owls! I’m not sure the size, but appears to be a massive tree with a snake with a bunch of owls. It’s on costers allowing it to be wheeled around, so It must be be huge. N. E. Galloway wood carving postcard 1930s -…
Drugstore Cowboys et cie. (Drugstore Cowboys and Company) A 12 page collaboration with Halo digest (#3) and Jim Linderman of Dull Tool Dim Bulb the Blog. Photographs, ephemera, postcards and what not depicting the myth of the American West and Cowboy Culture. Halo is a beautiful large sized Digest / Book devoted to exceptional art and magic. Halo blends diverse high and low art with considerable…
A Kicking Ass. Primitive handcarved wired motion toy late 19th, early 20th century. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb
Sometimes things come with provenance. A 19th century cupboard in original paint once owned by Howard Campbell, noted North Carolina Roustabout and folk art collector. I was able to purchase it in 1998, and asked Kimball Sterling, the auctioneer who had handled it wayback what he knew about it. “That piece came from a black home In Hawkins County Tennessee. The Town was Rogersville. I bought it…
Do all artists copy? Carol did. Fashion drawings by a schoolgirl who appears to have “knocked off” her designs. That’s not a negative…I like everything about these drawings, especially the crusty scrapbook borders which add a ragged frame to each work by our young artist, and the positioning of the original drawings from contemporary media. Carol has no last name indicated, but I also have some…
Canada’s big wooden automobile safety head reminds us about safe driving on the July 4th weekend. If you drive the speed limit (or slightly below to save gas) and avoid tailgating (the most stupid thing drivers do) your chances of getting home safely are far increased. If you speed and/or tailgate you are a fool. Speeding typically only saves you about 2 to 3 minutes over a 15-mile drive, and…
Whew,temperatures might reach 100 here today. It’s even too hot for the ol’swimmin’ hole. It will keep me inside and I’m not happy having to stay inside. Trends indicate I might have to get used to it. Original Anonymous Snapshot, circa 1940 - 1950 Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb
These are the delicate drawings of one Effie Long. One of the drawings is dated 1914. From a large group of 50 they are literally drawn on scraps of paper. I have collected quite a number of works by school girls from the late 19th and earl 20th century, and one thing we forget is the scarcity of paper then. Nearly every one of these are on scraps and from the backs of letters and advertisements,…
Follower Tony Spalding sent a link to an auction of 95 lots from a previous unknown (?) UK folk art environment The Branxton Cement Menagerie. Great stuff! You should be able to find it. Thanks Tony! "Hi, Jim. I saw this (it's in the UK) and thought you might enjoy some of the photos/items. It's a link for an imminent auction of pieces from something called the Branxton Cement Menagerie"
My big cement head faces left for the election Large Cement head collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb
As a walker I come across these painted rocks (and objects) from time to time. I’m supposed to carry them home, look them up on the web and re-hide them. I guess I’ve found about ten of them over the years but I am not much of a game player or joiner…but maybe one day I’ll look these up and plant again as I am supposed to. The painted rocks left in random places are part of a global, viral…
Cigarette Holder, Hard carved (I believe a Scrimshaw piece or carved from a bone?) Striations are visible which would indicate some nature material. Origin unknown. Weigh in with expertise, Only 3 1/2” with a small Metal insert for the cigarette. I’ve am guessing also the paint was added later. Hand Carved Cigarette holder, late 19th - early 20th Century. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim…
Whew. It’s Sunday, but I decided not to touch this one. Let’s see what AI has to say about Chester the Goatman: He traveled for over four decades (primarily the 1940s–1960s) in a ramshackle wagon pulled by a team of goats. He claimed to have traveled to every state except Hawaii, covering over 100,000 miles. He dressed in goatskins, lived off goat's milk, and supported himself by selling scrap…
Real Photo Postcad c. 1940. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb From the book IN SITU: AMERICAN FOLK ART IN PLACE available from Blurb.com
Dull Tool Dim Bulb on Blogger has now reached 6 MILLION views! The blog is approaching 3,000 posts since 2007. Many of the posts on the blog contain additional photos, longer articles or descriptions of the material Than the Facebook Page. Make sure to like and follow both the Facebook page and the Regular blog.Thanks for supporting and participating! There is a whole lot of material not covered…
Something different today. A piece I wrote for my defunct Vintage Sleaze blog over ten years ago. If ever there was a cartoonist from the 1950s deserving a retrospective showing at the Drawing Center, it would be Bill Kresse. As modern as a Herman Miller Eames chair and just as timeless, his early gag work for sleazy digests stands out for many reasons. Lush and creative, the women all sharp,…
As promised, the rest of the Schoolchild’s abstract crayon drawings 1939 Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb
One of four magnificent child’s crayon drawings recently obtained from the most highly recommended antiques (and simpatico) dealers on the web, Kate at CRITICAL EYE ANTIQUES. Google it up and I believe you will see, love and purchase something too!Whether this third grader in 1939 knew how good he/she was,I can’t say. We might not even agree on the gender of the artist (Joan or John? I love it and…
I am proud to be included among the contributors to HALO 3 the French Publication HALO 3. Scroll down for credits and a video of the content! HALO n°3 – VENUS D'AILLEURS https://venusdailleurs.fr/?page_id=4696
Part Two. Original hand painted postcard mailed from Long Island City to St, Joseph, Michigan in 1913. One of a set of four. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb
A church raffle tumbler in original blue paint. Door opens and closes with clasp, crank wheel on one side spins the chamber. This piece mimics commercial tumblers pretty closely. Mid 20th c. Raffle tumbler. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb