Johnson OutboardsTo see an old Johnson Sea-Horse neon sign click here.
Johnson Outboards was a US based manufacturer of outboard motors. The original company to make Johnson inboard motors and outboard motors was the Johnson Bros. Motor Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. A few years after the Johnson brothers' factory in Terre Haute was destroyed by a tornado in March 1913, the brothers relocated to South Bend, Indiana and then Waukegan, Illinois. The company was first acquired by Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) and then later by Bombardier Recreational Products.
Today
Bombardier Recreational Products no longer sells outboards under the Johnson brand, as they have moved all sales entirely to Evinrude Outboard Motors. They support existing Johnson outboard motors through servicing and parts. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)
The jockstrap was invented in 1874 by C. F. Bennett of a Chicago sporting goods company, Sharp & Smith, to provide comfort and support for bicycle jockeys riding the cobblestone streets of Boston. In 1897 Bennett's newly-formed Bike Web Company patented and began mass-producing the Bike Jockey Strap. The Bike Web Company later became known as the Bike Company. Today, Bike is still the market leader in jockstrap sales. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)
The first, Brown Angels, is a small book of original poetry by Walter Dean Myers coupled with really wonderful photos of African-American children from the early 20th century. I found it in a used bookstore after Christmas and fell in love with the images before I'd even read the poems. It’s a really sweet and joyous children’s book, but being a collector of vernacular photography I knew I needed to add it to my collection of photo books, not just my children’s book collection.
The second, The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures, is simply a lot of fun. Author Caroline Preston has taken ephemera from her collection and created a “novel” telling the story of young Frankie Pratt from her teen years to early 20s. Page after page of what appears to be her scrapbook, a story unfolds of young Frankie’s life as she longs to be a writer. Love, college, Paris, and again love provide the storyline. I really can’t say enough about it. Wonderful images throughout and a real treasure trove for artists looking for inspiration.
New book available on Amazon.
John Hartford, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Doc Watson, Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, Bonnie Koloc, Stephane Grappelli and New Grass Revival
Flying Fish played a major role in bringing traditionally oriented American music to a wider audience in the 1970s. At the time Kaplan started the label, most similarly oriented companies produced albums with decidedly "homemade" packaging (e.g. cover art, etc.) and marketed the albums to a relatively narrow audience of aficionados. Kaplan realized that music of this sort had the potential to reach a wider audience, but needed to be packaged in a professional manner; people not already devotees were unlikely to take a chance on something that did not look like it came from a "real" record company. Kaplan also invested in broader promotion of the music (wide provision of albums to radio; targeted advertising to back up tours). Essentially, he located a niche between the hit-based promotion model of the major labels and the faith of the small independents that the music would find its own audience. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)
