Anyone for BISCUITS?

MrCachet, from Old Paper Art, gifted me this wonderful 1902 Royal Baking Powder booklet. I love both illustrations. And I love those cheery buttery biscuits!

Click on images to see them larger.

The Royal Baking Powder Company was one of the largest producers of baking powder in the US. It was started by both Joseph Christoffel Hoagland and William Ziegler in 1866. In 1929 the Royal Baking Powder Co. along with four other companies including the Fleischmann's Yeast Company merged to form Standard Brands, the number two brand of packaged foods in America after General Foods. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

"I get plenty of ideas...I JUST CAN'T SEEM TO GET THEM ON PAPER."

When I started my career in publishing I worked for a large publisher in a small office. It was a regional office where we cranked out around 50-60 books a year with a small staff. It was a two person art department and one of my jobs was maintaining and using the stat camera.

This image is from a book I worked on. I have no idea what the book was called or what it was about. I liked the image and, since I had access to the stat camera, I made myself a large print which I had hanging on my wall for several decades. I thought it time to dust it off and put it online hoping someone someday will be able to provide me with some information about it. I have no idea who did the drawing or why, but I understand the sentiment.


Click on image to see it larger.

WE PICK THE TICKS...

so you don't have to. Lyme disease free zone.






Click on two images above to see them larger.

Giving DIRECTIONS

"Go three miles down this road until you get to the Texaco station. Turn left at the Texaco station and continue another two miles until you come to the orange juice stand. Drive around the back of the orange juice stand to the dirt road. Take the dirt road around sixteen miles until you come to the old house with the rooster on the roof. If the rooster isn't on the roof knock on the door and ask why the rooster isn't on the roof. Turn left after the rooster and go a quarter mile to the palmetto plant. Whatever you do, don't touch the palmetto. Turn right at the palmetto and drive until you come to the paved road. Cross over the paved road and drive through the tunnel of trees, but watch out for the snakes hanging in the trees. Turn left right after the tunnel of trees and continue on a quarter of a mile until...."

"Grandpa, where did you send those people?"

"I have no idea."




Click on images to see them larger.

SEMINOLE INDIANS in Florida

The word Seminole is a corruption of cimarrón, a Spanish term for "runaway" or "wild one", historically used for certain Native American groups in Florida. The Indians who constituted the nucleus of this Florida group either chose to leave their tribe or were banished. At one time the terms "renegade" and "outcast" were used to describe this status, but the terms have fallen into disuse because of a negative connotation. They identify as yat'siminoli or "free people," because for centuries their ancestors had resisted Spanish efforts to conquer and convert them, as well as English efforts to take their lands and use them in their wars. They never signed a peace treaty with the United States. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)




Click on images to see them larger.

Check the labels below to see other post cards from the Asheville Post Card Company or to see more cards showing Native Americans.

GREETINGS from Cedar Ridge Trading Post

If you've never been to the Navajo Nation you've missed some of the most interesting and beautiful places in this country. Much of the land is desert, which for many would seem boring and ugly. I guess I'm different, because I find a beauty in the mile after mile of nothingness.

But it's in places like Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly where you will find your breath taken away. If you haven't seen Monument Valley at dawn you've missed an incredible experience. No man made church can compete with the spiritual beauty of this place. Canyon de Chelly will make your heart beat a little faster. To see the wing shadow of a raven flying across a canyon wall is stunning. To hear the sound of a native flute echoing across the walls of Anasazi ruins as the leaves of a poplar tree quietly rustle...incredible.

I believe this post card photo was taken in Monument Valley. This particular Navajo/Diné woman appeared on many post cards and in many books. Her name was Happy Cly. It is believed that she was the most photographed Native American. If you have seen the movie The Return of Navajo Boy you will know about the Cly family and what happened to them at the hands of unregulated uranium mining in Monument Valley. It's a powerful movie. Click here and here to see more photos of Happy Cly. The photo below the card is from the book Kayenta and Monument Valley authored by Carolyn O'Bagy Davis, Harvey Leakes, and Richard Paul Mike.




Click on images to see them larger.

Click on image to see it larger.

You might not be able to read it, but on the front of the card it says "Greetings from Cedar Ridge Trading Post." You can see an old photo of the trading post here. It was located on the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona. I don't believe it still exists. But there is a wonderful historical trading post that you can visit called the Hubbell Trading Post. Well worth the stop and make sure you take the tour. So many beautiful hand woven rugs available to buy. It had my head spinning and wishing I had a ton of money.

This card was published by Bob Petley. You can see more about him by clicking on his name in the labels below.

HAPPY COUPLE

There's such a sweetness to this man's face. He makes me smile.

Photographer LAURA GILPIN

I've had this post card sitting on my bookcase for many years. I've always been drawn to this couple, wanting to know something about them.





So far I've found out nothing about the couple, but the photographer, Laura Gilpin, was quite well known.

Laura Gilpin (April 22, 1891– November 30, 1979) was an American photographer known for her photographs of Native Americans, particularly the Navajo and Pueblo, and her Southwestern landscapes.

Gilpin said she made her earliest dated autochome in 1908 when she was 17 years old. Since this process had only become widely available the year, she showed remarkable interest in photography for a teenage girl at that time. When she decided she wanted to seriously study photography, Käsebier advised her to go to at the Clarence White School in New York City. She moved there from 1916–1918 and learned the techniques and craft of her trade. She deeply admired White, whom she later called "one of the greatest teachers I have ever known in any field". Her early work was in the Pictorialist style, but by the 1930s she had moved away from the soft-focus look of that style. She found her true vision in the peoples and landscapes of the American Southwest, and she published several books on the region. Like her mentor Käsebier she made her living taking portraits, but in the mid-1930s she began to receive critical acclaim for her photographs of the Navajo and Pueblo peoples and for her landscapes. By the end of that decade she was exhibiting photos in shows throughout the United States and in Europe.

She went to become one of the great masters of the art of platinum printing, and many of her platinum prints are now in museums around the world. She said "I have always loved the platinum printing process. It's the most beautiful image one can get. It has the longest scale and one can get the greatest degree of contrast. It's not a difficult process; it just takes time."

Over a thirty-year period from 1945-1975 her work was seen in more than one hundred one-person and group exhibits.

In 1974 the governor of New Mexico awarded her one of the first Annual Awards for Excellence in the Arts. She continued to be very active as a photographer and as a participant in the Santa Fe arts scene until her death in 1979.

Gilpin's photographic and literary archives are now housed at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

To see a selection of her work click here for a Google image page.

All of her books selling at Amazon are out of print, but this one looks promising, Laura Gilpin: An Enduring Grace. I'll put this on my wish list for when I have spare cash which means I'll probably actually never see this book.

Meet Author Peter Beagle at THE LAST UNICORN screening

If you’re a fan of author Peter Beagle and his classic The Last Unicorn, you have a chance to meet him and see the newly remastered 2kDigital Cinema Print of the animated feature this coming Saturday, April 20th, in San Francisco.

This is the kick off of what will be a year long tour around the US, and hopefully the world. You can find more information at the official site Last Unicorn Screening Tour.

DOLLS OF MANY LANDS greeting cards

To see other doll cards from this series click on "Dolls of Many Lands" in the labels below. This is the last of the cards in the box.

DOLLS OF MANY LANDS greeting cards

To see other doll cards from this series click on "Dolls of Many Lands" in the labels below.

DOLLS OF MANY LANDS greeting cards

To see other doll cards from this series click on "Dolls of Many Lands" in the labels below.

DOLLS OF MANY LANDS greeting cards

Every once in a while my best friend puts together a fun box that she ships to me. I never know what will be inside. This past week I received such a box and I have gone through it layer by layer, taking my time, a little bit each day. She said I was treating it like an archaeological dig. That describes it perfectly. It has wonderful items, many of which I will share. The first is below.

Dolls of Many Lands greeting cards made by Tichnor Brothers of Boston were a gift to my friend from her grandparents when she was little. They are lovely and remind me a bit of the Hallmark cards that are so popular to collect. Over the next few posts I will feature the cards.

Sadly I cannot find any information about who illustrated these cards.

Click on any image to see it larger.








Is it just me or does the Eskimo doll look like singer Keely Smith?

NOVEMBER 20, 1939 from Tacoma, Washington

Just a mysterious old envelope mailed from Tacoma, Washington on November 20, 1939. I wonder what was so important as to need being registered? The envelope is empty. It's a lovely old piece of paper.


Click on image to see it larger.

Another item from Bert's collection.

Fun in the sun SILHOUETTE

I have no information about this silhouette other than my friend Bert gave it to me.