Sunday, August 22, 2010

Do The Locomotion With Me


Now that you can do it let's make a chain now
Come on, baby, do the locomotion
Chug-a chug-a motion like a railroad train now
Come on, baby, do the locomotion
Do it nice and easy now and don't lose control
A little bit of rhythm and a lot of soul
Come on, come on, do the locomotion with me

Lyrics by Carole King




Little Eva Performing The Locomotion
Shindig (Early 1960s)

Say Locomotion to me, and the first thing I think of is Little Eva. So when the Festival of Postcards theme was announced as "Locomotion;" it wasn't transportation I went looking for, but dancing.

And I found it! Straight from the Paris Flea Market, eight dancing darlings. Why they even look like they're doing "The Locomotion."



They were a set of three postcards of the same eight children in dancing poses that was purchased in the Paris Flea Market several years ago by a gentleman in Oregon. He cleaned out his collections and offered them for sale. I loved them, I bought them, and now I get to share them with you!

There was a stamp on one card for the photographer, see inset below.


Inset:
H. Katzer
Wien XVII
Kulm Gasse #13

Translation
H. Katzer (Photographic Studio)
Vienna 17 (Perhaps Vienna 1917)
Kulm Alley #13

The card material is very thin. The back of the postcard, seen below, is divided with a space for the address, but no stamp box. As this was made in Austria, I have very little information to share, just a great RPPC.



~ Wander The World & The Web ~




Other Postcard Articles:

Shedding Light On - Whist

Water, Water, Everywhere - From Chile

A Sign Of The Times - The Candlestick Telephone In A Postcard

Big Wheels - President Theodore Roosevelt and Family.

Sometimes Main Street Is The Whole Town - Glendive, Montana

Papa Can You Hear Me - A young girl in Montana looks for her father.

From A Simple Postcard - Grace Mathewson and her collection.


Sources:


Books:


Vaule, Rosamond. As We Were: American Photographic Postcards, 1905-1930. Boston: David R. Godine, 2004.


Postcard:

Eight Dancing Darlings. H. Katzer. Real Photo Postcard. 1917?. Privately held by the footnoteMaven, Preston, WA. 2008.

Websites:

The Festival of Postcards. 2010.

5 Comments

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Web Wandering Wednesday - Wandering The World and The Web



When wandering the web you meet some of the most wonderful real world people. Take Kathi Mayor for example. She found me, struck up a conversation via email, and we became fast friends.

Then Kathi orchestrated a lovely surprise for the photographically addicted footnoteMaven. She had found some very interesting photographs in an antiques store in Denham Springs, Louisianna. Wanting to make a gift of the photographs, she conspired with one of Maven's real world friends, Sheri Fenley, The Educated Genealogist, to secure Maven's real world address. Thank you, Sheri. Sheri is a former agent for the CIA.

What a lovely surprise appeared in the old mailbox on the post out by the road. Photographs, lovely photographs. Both Kathi and I are drawn to "the vamp" below. A true glamor shot.

Unknown Woman
Mathews Photo Studio

613 N. 6th St.

Kansas City, Kansas


Those smoky eyes.


Those "gotta be" red lips.


This photograph reminded me so much of Theda Bara in a similar pose.



Theda Bara was a silent film actress. She was one of the most popular screen actresses of her era, and one of cinema's earliest sex symbols. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname "The Vamp" (short for vampire). "Vamp" soon became a popular slang term for a sexually predatory woman.

Yes, I think Kathi's glamor gift was vamping for the camera and may have seen one of Theda's publicity shots. (Check out the hands.) Isn't she fantastic?

Thank you, Kathi, I loved every photograph you were kind enough to send. Another of the photographs Kathi sent will be featured in "The Memento Mori Edition" of Shades The Magazine.

The web and the world continue to delight and amaze me.

Sources:

The Vamp. Mathews. Unknown. Privately held by the footnoteMaven, Preston, WA.

Theda Bara in the Broadway Show the Blue Flame
. Unknown. 1920. AllPosters.com

7 Comments

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Twice Told Tuesday - Marvels in Matchboxes

Twice Told Tuesday features a photography related article reprinted
from old photography books, magazines, and newspapers.

In the August 11, 2010, "Wordless Wednesday" article at Genea-Musings, Randy Seaver posted a very intriguing photograph. Two beautiful models of buildings made from match boxes by his relative, Edgar Carringer in ca. 1896. It was love at first sight for me and I wanted to know more about the subject matter of this photograph. Was this another form of art of the common man, similar to tramp art? Was it every artist for himself, or was the art form so popular that patterns had been produced? Randy very graciously allowed me to use his family photograph, seen below and in the three insets.


Matchbox Masterpiece




Another curiosity? Did Edgar Carringer do wood work on a lathe and want to display this talent in the photograph as well? Look at the wood cup displayed on top of one of the houses.


A MATCH


Friction matches were invented in 1829 and made their appearance in the United States sometime after 1830, but were not generally used until several years later.

The estimated consumption per individual in the United States in 1883, was seven matches per day. Matches were made for special uses, — the parlor match, which used no sulphur and was free from the chocking sulphur fumes; the smoker's match, which had a strong flame and could be used to light a cigar in the wind or rain; and the wax match, which burned a long time, and was an elegant affair for dainty uses. Matches were called Lucifers, Locofocos, and Congreves and sold for a half-penny each.

The matches were placed in small paper or strawboard boxes varying in size, capable of containing from 65 to 500 matches. It would seem Edgar Carringer had a lot of material to work with based on the amount of matches that were being used in the United States when he built his models.
In 1889, there were eighty establishments in the match making business. The manufacture was enormous, reaching about 15,000,000,000 matches a year. The most famous match manufacturer being Diamond Matches.

Research indicated that match box classes were taught in woodworking classes in the schools. What isn't indicated is whether the classes taught you to make a match box, or to make something with a match box.

I found no match box model patterns, so it would seem the construction was in the mind and hand of the artist. The houses constructed by Carringer were probably of places he knew well such that he could make an accurate representation.

The article below was reproduced in many magazines in the United States and was probably inspiration for those who engaged in match box model making. While the match company below created and staged competitions, I have yet to find such competitions in the United States.

It would appear Carringer was proud enough of his art work to memorialize it in a photograph.


Marvels in Matchboxes
By S. L. Neville-Dixon
The Strand Magazine
London - 1898



THESE pages are an eloquent testimony to the extraordinary skill and ingenuity of artisans and others in the Midland districts. Two or three years ago a particularly enterprising firm of match-manufacturers, Messrs. S. I. Moreland and Sons, of Gloucester and Birmingham, hit upon the excellent idea of getting up public competitions on entirely original lines. Of course, the firm's primary motive was the sale and general advertisement of their wares; but they also considered how they should best tap the wonderful fund of originality which they knew the average British workman does possess, no matter what his traducers say.

It was at length resolved that the competition should take the form of model-making— "the greatest novelty of any sort that can be made with not less than 1,000 of our matchboxes." The conditions were widely advertised in Birmingham and its environs.

Competent judges—architects, chiefly—were appointed. The first prize was ,£50, the second, £25, third £10, and then came three other prizes of £5 each. In subsequent competitions, however, the amounts were slightly varied, but in all cases the prize money aggregated £100. Models were to be sent carriage paid to Messrs. Moreland and Sons' Birmingham depot, 155, Great Charles Street, and those winning a prize became the absolute property of the firm. Messrs. Moreland hired a shop in Birmingham for the express purpose of exhibiting to the public the prize-winning models.

In this article, then, will be found a representative collection of photographs of these "marvels in match-boxes." In some cases the model occupied the spare time of its creator for six months or more; and the effect of the whole was heightened by clockwork arrangements and similar contrivances.

It is to Messrs. Morelands' Birmingham manager, Mr. George Blakely, that we are indebted for most of the photographs.

The wonderful piano seen in the first photograph is actually full size, being 5ft. in height, and constructed entirely of matchboxes, which, according to the rules of the competition, must have contained Messrs. Morelands' wares. The instrument was awarded first prize in the third competition, so that it may be said to have fetched the price of a real cottage piano. The judges were Messrs. Gately and Parsons, well-known architects in Birmingham.

The maker of the piano was Mr. G. W. Roberts, of 2 Wenman Street, Birmingham. Mr. Roberts served as tuner for many years with the well-known house of Broadwood, so that a piano suggested itself naturally to him. He tells me that he used upwards of 3,200 ordinary match-boxes, and 576 boxes that had contained small wax-vestas. The only other thing he used was 51b. of glue.

Originality seems to run in the Roberts family, for we next show a marvellous model of the great Laxey Wheel, in the Isle of Man, made by Miss L. W. Roberts, sister to the designer of the piano. "The Laxey Wheel," writes Mr. Roberts, "was 6ft. in length and 4ft. high. It took a little less than six months to make, and used up about 3,000 match-boxes."



In some cases more than one competitor took the same original for his model. For instance, the Laxey Wheel was also adopted by Mr. James Shaw, of 56, Dickinson Street, Nottingham. Mr. Shaw's model, which won the first prize, was no less than 6ft. 74in. in height, 2ft. in depth, and 8ft. in length. It contained 4,500 boxes, and took five months to complete. The wheel itself was 5ft. 6in. in diameter, and went by clockwork.

Another competitor, Mr. Lewis Sheldon, of 49,Foundry Road, Winson Green, Birmingham, constructed a double masted turret ship-of-war, 8ft. 3m. long. The completeness of this model was astonishing; the ship carried fifteen guns (all made out of match-boxes), and there were six lifeboats.


The next two models shown are the work of Mr. F. Marshall, of 13, Manor Avenue, Sneinton, Nottingham. The first of Mr. Marshall's models depicted gained the third prize in the second competition. It is a very faithful reproduction of the Forth Bridge, and is, of course, made entirely out of match-boxes. The height of the model is 1 ft. 10 in., the width 12 in., and the length no less than 10ft. 6in. The model contained about 3,000 boxes.

I may here repeat the statement, that according to the rules governing the competitions models were to contain at least 1,000 boxes. "Other than match-boxes," writes Mr. Marshall, "no material whatever is used in the construction of the bridge—not even in the stays. When completed it stood the test of 421b. weight in the centre of either arch. I never saw the original bridge, but got an idea of it from a lithograph in a railway guide. The model contains 241 stays and twelve principal pillars. Seven rows of match-boxes form the roadway over the bridge, and on this roadway are laid the sleepers and rails."


Mr. Marshall's second model is what is known as an Eiffel bicycle. When complete, this model was in full working order. It contains 1,100 match-boxes, and stands a little more than 6ft. in height. The diamond stays are two boxes thick. The driving chain is 9ft. long, and was made from the sides of the matchbox-drawers glued on to tape. The wheels are 24m. in diameter. Another model of Mr. Marshall's was a reproduction of the lighthouse near New Brighton. This model was fitted with a revolving lantern, and the whole contained 2,900 matchboxes.

The next model reproduced is a highly elaborate affair, made by Mr. Grubb, of Grendon Terrace, Atherstone. This is supposed to represent Nelson's famous ship Victory passing a large lighthouse. As will be seen, the ship, the lighthouse, and the entire background, with its wings, are all composed of match-boxes.


Working three hours a night, Mr. Grubb finished his model in five months. The ship is 3ft. 6in. long; and the lighthouse, 5ft. 2in. high, and nearly 2ft. square. To build a circular lighthouse, with the awkward material at his disposal, was a little beyond Mr. Grubb. The designer, it should be said, is very well acquainted with nautical matters, having served as steward for some years on board a little vessel of 400 tons.

Thus it will be seen that each competitor prudently followed his own bent. The next match-box model shown is an even more elaborate and ambitious original design, worked out by Mr. Joseph Bray, of Coleshill Street, Atherstone. Mr. Bray writes as follows: " I am sending you a photograph of my model of a tower with elevated circular railway, made with 1,120 empty match-boxes. This was entered in Messrs. Morelands' competition held last January, and gained the fourth prize of £10. The model was 36m. long, 39m. high, and 24m. wide. The boxes were put together with glue, and the model was very firm and substantial.


I worked upon it at night after I had finished my day's work. You will see that even the foundation of the platform is made of match-boxes. The bottom of the tower is supposed to contain shops; and it has four entrances and sixteen windows. The railway track around the tower was laid with rails and sleepers, and a clockwork train was run upon it at intervals. The platform for the station is on the right hand side of the model, where I also built a booking-office and signal-box with levers.

On the left-hand side are a promenade, a bandstand, and a refreshment-room. Railway station, promenade, etc., were all worked round with brass wire, so as to represent railings, and the whole model had small lamps for electric lights."

The next match - box model to be shown is one representing the stately old red-brick gateway of St. James's Palace, as viewed from St. James's Street. You will see from the label that it gained the fourth prize of £10. It is the work of Mr. J. H. Round, of Holly 
Hall, Dudley.

Mr. Round writes to say that his model contains 2,380 common match-boxes and 620 wax - vesta boxes. He took particular note of the time occupied in its construction — 106 hours. From the ground to the top of the flag on the tower measured no less than 6ft. 4m. The clock was a very real one, working twenty-four hours with one winding. The dial was 8 in. in diameter. The very dial figures and hands were made of parts inevitable match-box. There was a surrounded by flowers, "Long live the Queen." It only remains to be said that both the letters and flowers were made from bits of match-box or the paper covering thereon.

Yet another of these wonderful little models. This design is an ideal one, and is supposed to represent a desirable "Home for Old Soldiers and Sailors." Upwards of 3,000 match-boxes were used in the construction of this model, and it was made in its designer's spare time after he had worked ten hours a day at his own occupation. This model is the work of Mr. Evan H. Jordan, of Oakamoor Mills, near Cheadle, Staffs. Mr. Jordan says, "It took me about a thousand hours; the only things I used were an old razor and a pot of glue."


Another fancy design was sent in by Mr. J. Leavesley, of Nottingham, and it gained the second prize, this was supposed to represent, on a small but perfectly accurate scale, Messrs. Morelands' new premises. The model contained 6,000 empty matchboxes, the sand-papered edges of the boxes themselves forming the stone dressings of the building. Other striking instances of ingenuity were that the front of the boxes went to make the red brick facade: whilst the tiling on the roof was composed of the blue and amber of the insides of the boxes This model was nearly 6ft. square.

A particularly good and accurate representation of the Great Wheel at Earl's Court is next reproduced. This model gained a first prize of £50. Mr. S. Jennings, of 32, Richmond Street, Walsall, was the designer. The wheel contains 2,110 match-boxes, every one of which had to be cut, carved, and dovetailed into shape. The wheel has twenty - four cars, and each car has eight windows made out of mica. By a clockwork arrangement the wheel will work for fifteen minutes after being wound up. The model is 4ft. high; and Mr. Jennings tells me that no fewer than 500 of his neighbors came to see it at his house.











Sources: Books:

Bolles, Albert Sydney. Industrial History of The United States. The Henry Bill Publishing Company : 1889.

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. Locomotive Engineers Journal. Cleveland, Ohio : Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers : 1886.


The Strand. Marvels In Matchboxes. G. Nenues. New York. 1898.

Photographs:


Carringer Match Box Models. Cabinet Card. ca. 1896. Digital image. Privately held by Randy Seaver, San Diego, California. 2010.

Got A Light? Tintype. Unknown.
Privately held by the footnoteMaven, Preston, Washington. 2010.

All photographs contained in the Twice Told were a part of the original article.

7 Comments

Monday, August 16, 2010

Digital Magazine Awards Entrant



Shades The Magazine's entry into the Digital Magazine Awards has been accepted. Below is a description of the awards, our category, and the judging panel.

As you know, if you spend much time on the net, all the big boys have a digital version of their magazine. The competition is stiff. So we have crossed everything including our eyes. Please wish us luck! We do it for the love of it!


Celebrating The Best Magazines and Individuals From
The
Digital Magazine Publishing Industry


The Digital Magazine Awards are the awards rewarding outstanding achievement in the Digital Magazine Industry.

The burgeoning Digital Magazine Industry is a fast growing, quickly evolving industry.

A leading publishing site since launching, in 2007, has achieved “more than 50 million monthly users and more than 50,000 documents uploaded daily” another hosts “over 50,000 magazines and books”.

The Digital Magazine Industry has exploded onto the scene.

The entry into the market of the Ebook (with one App, from a leading publisher, containing 2400 magazine titles) combined with other influential publishing sites holding significant market share and the broadening of the market into mobile and cell phones confirm the Digital Magazine Industry, in a very short period, has become a massively influential and significant market.

The Digital Magazine Awards will for the first time recognise outstanding achievement in the Digital Magazine Industry with 20 awards across sectors ranging from best magazines in fashion, news and sport to individual awards for editor, designer and photographer of the year.

The DMAs will showcase top class performance and innovation, reward achievement and continue to raise the bar on industry standards.

The DMAs are THE award to win in the Digital Magazine Industry.

Members of the judging panel can be found here.

Shades is entered in the following category - Specialist & Hobby Magazine of the Year:

This Award is for the outstanding magazine in the Specialist & Hobby sector.

The magazine will fore mostly contain brilliant editorial content and design, combined with an innate understanding of its target readership. The outstanding magazine will have significant market share as well as a solid readership base for its sector.

Overall the magazine that wins will have impacted on its sector and have an influence others are taking their lead from.

The judging panel will be influenced by how the magazine is embracing innovation, is delivering content that is impacting on its own and other sectors.

9 Comments

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Has It Happened Again, PennyD?

Twice Told Tuesday features a photography related article reprinted
from old photography books, magazines, newspapers, and today a letter


This is a "Twice Told Tuesday" told twice, but this year on Wednesday. A story told to you last year by a very special guest and reprinted because it and the subject are my favorites. A birthday celebration and another year PennyD!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Dear Daughter,

Miss Penelope and your Shades and Curator fans want to share this special day with you. A Curator, as you have learned, is a person responsible for managing, organizing and preserving historical and treasured items. You have always been good at keeping things. You certainly have the experience for this since you've hung on to friends, animals, letters, pictures, clothes, and even an old pork chop bone which we found under your bed. I wonder what the history of that bone would have been? I hate to imagine.

As far as Miss Penelope is concerned, I am sure she was first born during the many childhood books you read and the stories which you heard from your Grandma Arline. In fact, sometimes I believe you are talking about your Grandma and all the adventures she had and the men who had been in her life.

I will never be sorry now that I dumped 5 large boxes of Mama's pictures and letters on you when I moved to Arizona.

I think Mama knew that her life in the early 1900's would be of interest to others in this day and age. Mama would be thrilled that you have shared her life with others in such a unique way.

Have a Great Birthday and never stop your writing as you continue to enrich and entertain others.

Love Mom


Mom is the beautiful Suzanne. Denise Levenick (Penelope Dreadful and The Family Curator) is her daughter.

Your happy birthday now is here.

I hope you're well and hearty! If I lived near you, my dear,

I'd surprise you with a party.

Happy Birthday BFF from all your fans!

We lift our glasses!



Sources:

Photograph:

Denise & Mom. 2009. Digital Image. Anonymous. Acquired from Denise Levenick's Facebook page. 2009.

1 Comments