Happy Birthday Edward!

In celebration of Edward Gorey’s Birthday today I thought I’d post some fun images to my lonely blog…it’s been awhile.

I was sort of a late bloomer when it came to Gorey’s work. It wasn’t until I found myself in Philadelphia going to art school that I stumbled across a dusty little bookstore on Walnut Street between 12th & Broad Streets…can’t remember the name for the life of me but it was the sort of bookstore that had that old musky paper smell (partially due to the fact that they had racks and racks of vintage men’s magazine from the early 50′s thru the 70′s in the back), and old rotten wood…it was great. One day while poking around looking for old art books I came across a stack of small books with an amazing little pen & ink illustration on the cover of a skeleton holding an umbrella and bunch of weird Edwardian/Victorian clothed children all around him. Naturally I scooped it up and began to look through it-I was instantly hooked. I found myself laughing and giggling like an idiot reading this sing-songy creepy alphabet book about 26 kids dying in weird and tragic ways…The Gashleycrumb Tinies became my favorite children’s book right there and then. So I went to one of those ‘new’ money dispensing machines outside (this was 1984 people, and ATMs were kinda new back then) and took out that oh, so precious food money-to buy the book. It cost me $15.00 at the time, which was crazy for a book of this size, BUT it was signed by HIM and I wasn’t really smart with my money back then…

So, 28 years later that book has gone up in value considerably, and the guilt of that purchase has been purged from me. Unfortunately, it ignited the desire to collect his works – something I still do to this day. Searching old bookstores is a thing of the past sadly, now I do it all online, so the thrill of actually finding one, picking it up, smelling the ink & paper (yes, I do that) and staring at the delicate little ink drawings is gone…now I wait for them to arrive via Fed Ex…and it’s not the same thrill.

So Happy Birthday Edward Gorey! and thanx for that thrill in 1984.

Uncle Boris & Fang

Since I was (and am) still ‘jonzin’ from doing the October Shadows IV Art Show, I decided to bang out another quick painting based on Mad Monster Party? of Uncle Boris and Fang (Approx: 11″ x 14″ Acrylic on Board).

The movie is one of my favorites from childhood; with a script from Harvey Kurtzman (along with Len Korobkin) and character designs by Jack Davis it’s a great source of inspiration for little paintings…It also provides me with some desperately needed drawing/painting practice.

Anyway, here’s my second painting based on the classic film (and I use that term loosely), in what I hope will be an ongoing series.

Till Death Do Us Part…

‘Dia de los Muertos’ or as we Gringo’s like to call it , Day of the Dead, is primarily a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and Southern California.  Taking place on November 1-2, (All Saint’s Day and All Souls Day) it’s a wonderful little holiday that focuses on families and friends getting together and celebrating the lives of family members and/or friends who have died.  Aside from some of the coolest folk art you’ll ever see, some of the other traditions include building private alters honoring the dead using sugar skulls, roses, flowers, favorite foods and beverages of the dead and visiting the graveyards and partying.

…Good Times!

Soooooo, since my wedding anniversary is November 3, I thought it would be fitting to create a small homage to this wonderful holiday AND celebrate our little milestone in the process.   I based it on your typical Dia de los Muertos  Folk Art, specifically that of Jose Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913)…complete with that simulated ‘engraved/woodcut’ look and feel.

From Wikipedia:

Posada was born in Aguascalientes, on February 2, 1852. His education in his early years was drawn from his older brother Cirilo, a country schoolteacher, who taught him reading, writing, as well as drawing. As a young teenager he went to work in the workshop of Trinidad Pedroso, who taught him lithography and engraving. In 1871, before he was out of his teens, his career began with a job as the political cartoonist for a local newspaper in Aguascalientes, El Jicote (“The Bumblebee”). The newspaper closed after 11 issues, reputedly because one of Posada’s cartoons had offended a powerful local politician.^[1] He then moved to the nearby city of León, Guanajuato. There he was married to Maria de Jesús Vela on September 20, 1875. In Leon, a former associate of his from Aguascalientes assisted him in starting a printing and commercial illustration shop. They focused on commercial and advertising work, book illustrations, and the printing of posters and other representations of historical and religious figures. Included among these figures were the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Virgin, the Holy Child of Atocha and Saint Sebastian. In 1883, following his success, he was hired as a teacher of lithography at the local Preparatory School. The shop flourished until 1888 when a disastrous flood hit the city. He subsequently moved to Mexico City. His first regular employment in the capital was with La Patria Ilustrada, whose editor was Ireneo Paz, the grandfather of the later famed writer Octavio Paz. He later joined the staff of a publishing firm owned by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and while at this firm he created a prolific number of book covers and illustrations. Much of his work was also published in sensationalistic broadsides depicting various current events.

“Gran calavera eléctrica” (Grand electric skull) by José Guadalupe Posada, 1900-1913. Restored reproduction.

Posada’s best known works are his calaveras, which often assume various costumes, such as the Calavera de la Catrina, the “Calavera of the Female Dandy“, which was meant to satirize the life of the upper classes during the reign of Porfirio Díaz. Most of his imagery was meant to make areligious or satirical point. Since his death, however, his images have become associated with the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos, the “Day of the Dead“.

Largely forgotten by the end of his life, Posada’s engravings were brought to a wider audience in the 1920s by the French artist Jean Charlot, who encountered them while visiting Diego Rivera. While Posada died in poverty, his images are well known today as examples of folk art. The muralistJosé Clemente Orozco knew Posada when he was young, and credited Posada’s work as an influence on his own.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Here’s a holiday illustration from one of the pre-eminent American Illustrators of the early 20th century - Joseph Christian Leyendecker, or good ol’ J.C. Leyendecker as we like to say in the biz. Until Norman Rockwell came around 20 years later, J.C. was the guy when it came  The Saturday Evening Post covers. I always liked the way he painted fabric folds…it always reminded me of aluminum foil.

Happy Halloween Everybody!

You’ll Die Laughing 1959

I thought I share some more images that I have snatched off the internet. These are some images of the first wave of Horror/Sci Fi Trading cards from 1959, illustrated by the great Jack Davis of MAD Magazine fame. Unfortunately, I do not own a complete set…yet – but I will someday, mark my words! These were you’re typical trading cards of the ‘Golden Age of Horror Collectibles’, wax packed with a stick of horrible bubble gum-that was more like a pink cracker than anything else. There were 66 cards to the set and produced by TOPPS…although the copyright says Bubble, Inc. on the actual card! (That’s because TOPPS felt ‘uneasy’ about putting their own name on this particular card set, and as a result they could distance themselves from any anticipated controversy.) 

You’ll Die Laughing (also called Funny Monsters) basically set the tone for the many monster card series that would follow by parodying it’s monsters. This would prove to be a highly popular formula since parodies always seem to be a hit with the kiddies…and by parodying them, all the gruesome elements could be avoided and no one would get in trouble.

The fronts would have a awesome little Jack Davis drawing, and the backs would contain some insipid pun or joke and together it was MAGIC. I hope you enjoy these as much as do, Jack Davis rules.

A Post for Don Post

I thought it would only be fair to do a quick and dirty post for Don Post Studios today.

This is a scan of my personal copy of the famous 1966 Monster Calendar, which pretty much serves as the ‘official’ collector guide for the Classic Universal Monster Masks-because it’s in color. Most of us saw these masks for the first time in the back pages of Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazine in the 60′s and 70′s…AND HAD TO HAVE THEM!!!

Don Post started his Company around 1939 and soon started making Latex Masks of Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini – which he dubbed the ‘The Dictator Line’…and they were incredibly successful. But as we all know – that’s not why WE remember him…it was his Monster Masks that had all of us drooling like little maniacs. During the ‘Golden Age’ of Horror & Monster merchandise of the 1960′s, Don Post Studios began to produce some of the most sought after Monster Masks ever created. But alas, they were well out of my price range ESPECIALLY  in the 70′s when I desperately wanted to own them…I had to wait until the early 90′s when they reissued them to finally get my hands on a few.

It was worth the wait.

(The ads are from my copy of Famous Monsters of Filmland issue 49 May 1968)

Vintage German Halloween Decorations

Ah, Halloween…my absolute favorite time of year.

I could write endlessly about the joys of Halloween, the history of Halloween, the Candy of Halloween – but I’ll leave that crap to the ‘professional Bloggers’ out there, and focus on stuff that I think is kinda cool and doesn’t require a lot of work or thought…

A few years ago, I think it was 2001, I was doing a little online research for some ‘new’ inspiration for Halloween decor. I was looking for something different than the classic Universal Monsters stuff which has been done to death, and items more in the vein of ‘vintage-antique’ decor. This was before companies started reproducing ‘vintage’ decor for the trendy boutiques, and it was really hard to find. Before long I stumbled upon some German Die-Cut Paper Decorations, and they blew my mind! They were everything I was looking for: primitive, creepy, cartoony having that classic 1920′s Fleischer Studioslook and feel. They were amazing…and out of my price range. Once again I came too late to the party to actually start collecting these little jewels as prices can range into the hundreds of dollars for an 8-12 inch tall Die-Cut Pumpkin. So I had to settle on scouring the internet and ‘collect’ images of them instead. So, here are a few of the many images I have collected over the years, along with some text written by Mark B. Ledenbach (who has ben called ‘The Dean of Halloween’ and uber collector of the holiday) that sheds some light onto this whole German Die Cut Paper thing…I hope you get a kick out of them as much as I do. (Feel free to swipe them from this Blog, click -twice on the image to see larger versions.)

Mark B. Ledenbach:

“I innocently stumbled into the world of collecting vintage Halloween memorabilia in the 1980s. I was in a local store, Blue Eagle Antiques, when the proprietor asked if I would help her move out several boxes containing Halloween decorations for her seasonal displays. Being curious I went and opened the boxes and was dazzled by the strong imagery found on those vintage pieces. Instantly hooked, I recall writing a check for nearly $350.00 that day, which bought quite a lot from those boxes! Among my first purchases was a complete set of eight early 1940′s Beistle’s (HE Luhrs’ Mark) black cat die-cut band for $16.00. Those were indeed the days!

I was fortunate to have started collecting Halloween when I did. This “Golden Age” of relative plenty, coupled with low prices and quizzical looks from shopkeepers when asked about the availability of vintage Halloween in months other than October, lasted until about 1995. Being an avid collector, I was able to amass a nice assortment of material priced quite reasonably during this interlude. Then, in 1995, the first references devoted solely to Halloween collectibles were published. The first was “Halloween in America” written by Stuart Schneider. The second was “Halloween Collectables” written by Dan/Pauline Campanelli. These works contributed greatly to the meager knowledge base available to Halloween collectors at the time. Once these were published, prices – already on a fairly steep trajectory since 1991 – truly exploded.

Halloween, as a commonly celebrated US event, truly came into its own in the very early 1920s. Parties then were primarily for adults, with guests settling in to play mahjong, bridge or other games. Tables and walls would be decorated with a wide array of Halloween-themed items, really setting the party’s mood. The games’ winners would be given prizes to take home, like candy containers, lanterns or noisemakers. Only later did “trick or treating” come into vogue, with the holiday becoming then more firmly oriented toward children. I tend to savor those items made in the interlude before Halloween became so child-focused.

Halloween is the quintessential American holiday, although many of the most prized items today were manufactured in Germany. How did this come about? After World War I, Germany was devastated by the follies of their own foreign policy but hampered in its recovery efforts by the Versailles Treaty. Forced to pay reparations to the victorious allies for the devastation of WWI, an outlet earlier used assumed greater importance. Several American discount-merchandising magnates like Frank W. Woolworth and Sebastian S. Kresge more strongly encouraged German artisans at this time to use their creative expertise to craft unique and wondrous items for export to the vast and growing American holiday market. What I consider to be the zenith of German Halloween production in terms of variety and design is from ~1919 until 1935, when the expansive tendencies of the new German Reich brought this kind of trade to a close, not to resume until after the partition in the late 1940s. We shouldn’t think of the German production of Halloween memorabilia from this early era in modern terms. Many, if not all, of the lanterns, candy containers and figurals were made in homes or very small firms, from either a fixed design or a mold, and all hand decorated. The overall quantity of items produced was quite small given the conditions present at the time of their creation.

There were two premier American die-cut and party supply manufacturers from this era: the Beistle Company of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania and the Dennison Manufacturing Company of Framingham, Massachusetts. Both are still in business today. Many collectors will note a mark on some of the better die-cuts from about 1940 through the early 1950s as “H.E. Luhrs.” The Beistle Company exclusively used this mark. Mr. Luhrs worked his way up through the firm, becoming president of Beistle in 1941. Beistle was known for making very detailed paper die-cuts, lanterns and table items. They were made in smaller quantities and are much desired by today’s collectors. Although often not marked, the Beistle imagery and design are certain indicators of their origin.

One thing I truly thank Dennison for was their nearly always annual publication of their Halloween Bogie Books. Beginning in 1909 and continuing through the mid 1930s (later incarnations were sized and titled differently – but all followed the same format), these magazines served as the primary sales and marketing tool for Dennison’s Halloween products. For today’s collectors they serve an entirely different purpose altogether: a primary source of determining the manufacture date of items. Halloween items are, by and large, difficult to accurately date beyond a typical range of years. The Bogie Books help provide solid parameters for the dating of Dennison products. (One note: many collectors assume the first Bogie Book was issued in 1912. However, the very first was issued in 1909, with a three season gap until the 1912 edition was released.)

Tin noisemakers of an astonishing variety and ingenuity were made by a number of American firms. Among the most sought after tin items are those made by Bugle Toy, a company about which little is known. Other manufacturers included Chein, Kirchhof and T. Cohn. You can find tambourines, clangers, rattlers, ratchets and so on. Earlier tin items will have sculpted wooden handles, with later items or versions having plastic handles.

The imagery of vintage Halloween items through the 1940s is compelling and memorable. The hierarchy of imagery has always been fairly logical: the pumpkin, or its more humanized incarnation, the Jack-O-Lantern, forms the bottom of the pyramid as the most common image. Ascending this pyramid, the middle layers would encompass black cats, skeletons and owls. The upper-most layers would consist of witches, veggie people and bats, with the pinnacle surely being occupied by devils. This means that within any given genre, devil imagery is the rarest to find. Although not always true, this rarity generally means that devil imagery commands very  high prices. The imagery of the older Halloween pieces is significantly at odds with imagery common from the 1950s through today. This is certainly one of the most important factors escalating the prices for Halloween memorabilia. The imagery then was meant to provoke a reaction – generally a horrific one! The pieces were, in many instances, meant to scare. More recent Halloween imagery is, by and large, pedestrian, cute and dull. Since Halloween items are notoriously hard to accurately date, one rule of thumb I use is this: the scarier the imagery, the older the item!

The main factor behind the swift rise in prices since 1995 for vintage material is the true scarcity of display-quality items. Unlike Christmas decorations that almost always became heirlooms to be packed carefully away as the New Year dawned, Halloween decorations were generally used once at a party, and then discarded with no sentiment. Lanterns were designed to be illuminated by a flame that either consumed the lantern or made it undesirable for display. Die-cuts were often affixed to walls with liberal use of tape, which through the years causes damage affecting their display-worthiness. Games were designed so that in the playing of them, pieces would be torn from backing or cut away. Party table decorations would be scooped up by a tired host and thrown in the trash. Consequently, there is a true scarcity of quality, near-mint condition, vintage Halloween memorabilia.”