Month: August 2014

Felix Mask-a-rama

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Pam Pictorama Photo Post:  There are times when you really do wish you knew what the heck was going on in a photo and this is one of them – although the speculation is entertaining too.  Halcyon days of the past when people got together and all dressed up like Felix.  (Over time I have come to realize that this was much more common with Mickey Mouse masks – people seemed to put those on at the drop of a hat.)  I always think of these guys as a glee club or something like that – of course I would like it better if they were all wearing their Felix masks – maybe I will find that variation some day if I am very lucky.

 

Match safe – Ya Gotta Make Calls

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Pam Pictorama Post:  This match safe is a favorite and I have a postcard from the same era (side two drawing or at least a similar one) pinned above my desk at the office. Everything else aside, I believe it is true, Ya Gotta Make Calls if You Want Results!  I like to be reminded.

I missed the match safe era by several decades.  I gather the small box of wooden matches slipped in the middle – keeping them, well, safe I guess.  I have seen photos of match safes that held loose matches – some cat ones too although I don’t own any and the general theme seems to run more to dogs for some reason.  These are standing affairs of heavy metal which I imagine lived next to the stove. Many of the ones meant to be carried around are of silver and sometimes parts of sets.  Cigarette or cigar case and tools, and match safe.  The occasional cat there.

This match safe, the only celluloid cat one I have seen of this type – I’d have a whole collection if I could find them – was purchased on eBay a number of years ago. (Although this blog is having the effect of reminding me that I should go back to ferreting out this and that I haven’t looked for lately.  Just what I need – more stuff!)  Much to my surprise, it came from the collection of and was sold to me by Sally Cruickshank. She did not, ummm, acknowledge the Kim Deitch connection when the purchase was made, despite his name on the email.  Probably for the best. I guess it is a small world of cat collectibles. Anyway, this is on a shelf at the foot of our bed and I am very fond of it indeed. Now get out there and make some calls!

Cat Costume – Photo Album Pages Continue

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Pam Photo Album Page Post:  These were an anniversary gift, back in ’12 I think.  Ain’t I the lucky girl?  And weren’t these folks having a high old time?

A short post since these speak for themselves, I think.  This is one of a few groups I will ultimately share of catty costumes from more or less the same period.  (Although my all time favorite is a series of Devils in Brooklyn…and I have one strange story about buying photos that appear to be from the same session from different sellers in different states at different times.)  I like to keep photos of a group together when possible, even if I don’t display all of them.  I am sad that the one has damage – in some ways it is the best one.

Not much else to say except, Halloween sure isn’t as cool as it used to be!

Happy Hooligan

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Pam Photo Post:  People love to take photos of themselves with their cats (look through the paper and see how many people, when having their photo taken, grab up the cat for the portrait or family photo – as they should of course!) but the other impulse is to immortalize the family cat.  From blurry tintype and daguerreotype (those cats just wouldn’t stay still long enough for slow exposure) to the several hundred of Blackie and Cookie on my iPad today, it is an irresistible inclination for cat lovers.

Cyanotypes like this one had speedier exposures and were less expensive than the processes of even a few years before, so they were very popular and the family cat was a frequent subject.  This card of Happy Hooligan and the little story about having moved into the new house nearby – but most importantly that it ends with Happy as Happy can be! – is a great little cat tale.  I have tried to buy others similar to this, but always get outbid – everyone loves a cat with a little story I guess.

Cat Photo Collage

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Pam Photo Post:  Early cat comics?

I have long been interested in the period where the carefully arranged photo album page morphs into these photo collages done with negatives and artful printing.  I was very excited about an exhibit a few years ago, Playing with Pictures: The Art of Victorian Photocollage, which originated at the Chicago Art Institute (’09) and made a stop here in New York at the Met.  (The catalogue is still available, for a price, on Amazon.)  It was an amazing opportunity to see the best of these, many featuring skilled watercolor and ink drawings, most often executed by woman. However, there is a lot to be said for the less spectacular examples too. Just look at these hard-working kitties on the USS Mississippi!

To date this is the only one in my collection and the only cat one of this kind I have ever seen, despite some pretty thorough ongoing scouring. You do find the whole, elaborate collages reproduced on Victorian or later period cards, and I have seen a number of cat themed ones that way. While I have been tempted by early albums and whole pages from albums, I tend to think my limited storage is not the best home for these fragile artifacts, but I do find them fascinating – windows into whole lost worlds.  Of course, if one devoted to cats came along I assume I would change my mind!

Lucky Star

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Check out some of Lucky Star:

 

Pam Pictorama photo post, From one of my all time favorite films, Frank Borzage’s silent, Lucky Star.  I say silent, although evidently a part talkie was also made which I have not seen, but may exist at least partially.  I have seen stills from it.  I do not think this still represents a scene that actually made it into the film, although the appropriate part of the film is in the outtake YouTube I have linked to here.  Take a stroll through it – or even better, tuck in and watch the whole film!  I can and have watched it again and again.

The Back Pay still is one we’ve had for a while – framed up on the wall right next to our computer where I am sitting right now.  I have never seen the film and it may be lost.  Both of these stills embody what I like best about Frank Borzage films – a sort of magical artificial world.  For me, Frank Borzage is one of the more or less unsung heroes of film – working shoulder to shoulder with the likes of John Ford in those early years.  Another favorite to look out for Lazy Bones stars Buck Jones – as sweet a movie as you could ever want to see! While these are not yet entirely common place viewing, a giant Frank Borzage set put out a few years ago has made some of these available.  And I think my friends over at TCM are starting to promote at least his later work a bit.

Although my first viewing of Lucky Star was at MoMA we were lucky enough to catch up with a multi-day Borzage fest at the Museum of the Moving Image.  (Where we also attended several days of William S. Hart films – bliss!) Sadly that venue doesn’t seem to be showing many silents any longer, let alone those glorious festivals!  However, I hope I have done my part to introduce Lucky Star to even a few more people.  Enjoy!

Cat Hat

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post:  Found this the other day and snatched it up – like something I would have dreamed up!  Brooklyn 1923 was a hot place to be if you could see women sporting stuffed black cats on their hats!  For some reason superstition gave way to a black cat fad in the early twenties and even beyond and those who know my collection know I have a lot of toy cats from this period as a result.  The little guy above was actually my very first eBay purchase and I thought he deserved to come out since he’s a pretty good mate for the hat cat.

As you can see from the painted in area, as well as the text on the back, this was a press photo and a well used one. Don’t know where (or if!) Dally Petit is today, but I salute her sartorial splendor!

Me-ow! Kitty Sing-a-long

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Pam’s Pictorama Cat Sheet Music Post:  When I first branched out of collecting beyond toys, cat sheet music was one of the first things I started to acquire.  Shown above is a sampling from my collection.  I especially liked that the Leo Feist company liked the cat art work so much, or was so cheap, that he used it in ’24 and again in ’29.  The Cat on Hot Bricks has not made it up onto the wall which is a pity – however The Black Cat Rag, which I adore and came to me via Chris Ware years ago is up, as is the Cat’s Whiskers and the Felix sheet music.  Kim is not a fan of the Felix image – says it is lousy art and he’s right. Nonetheless, it was the first Felix music I ever saw and purchased so I have a soft spot for it.  Felix sheet music really could (and will) be its own post, but I offer this as a placeholder for now.

My collecting in this area has slowed – we don’t have the room to hang all of it – but occasionally I find something I must have and tuck it away for future display.  Part of the point of this blog is to help me sort through some of my collection and have a look at everything I have so I hope you enjoy the trip!

Along those lines, a special thanks and a tip of the hat to those of you who have withstood and/or helped me through the early technical challenges of set-up.  (Seth and Eileen – this means you!)  The Contact page now seems to function and I hope to have lots of comments in the future. Hopefully we have all pistons more or less firing.

The Giant Cat Chair

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post – Having had a quick look at the Felix-y postcards yesterday and continuing on something of a summer holiday theme, I offer an equally (if more scarce) alternative – the giant cat chair.  I only learned of the existence of these a couple of years ago and it was thanks to a FB post of a google image.  As chance would have it, I did a search on ebay shortly after and turned up this fellow! As far as I can tell, these only existed in England – although frankly I could be wrong as I have only seen about four or five – I own three of them – the most recently acquired I used to kick off this blog.  (In my mind I have this really great image of Great Britain in the ’20’s and ’30’s as this very jolly place where folks were having their photos taking with giant cat dolls every day of the week – what was wrong with the US?)  These were some lucky children!

If you are feeling overwhelmed with posts to this new blog – I am on vacation and enjoying the opportunity to get things rolling, as well as finding my way technically.  Once I am back at work I am sure things will slow considerably.

Let the Cats Begin!

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Pam photo postcard blog post.  So today I start at square one for me and a pleasant August beach-y theme to suit our vacation mode; folks posing with Felix.  The first one I ever saw was in a wonderful book on the history of Felix that Kim gave me when we first got together.  There is this single amazing image from a museum in Australia, I think (Australia, New Zealand and the UK is where they all seem to originate from – which begs the question – why the heck weren’t they being made here?  Coney Island?  I’ve never seen one taken in the US – anyone?) and man, if you had told me in those pre-eBay days that I would own 40 or so of these I would have figured I had died and gone to heaven!  To even see one in person seemed unlikely – I didn’t even know that they were running around in the world, although I should have suspected.  As you can see from the one in the bottom, this also embraces the too cheap to purchase a real stuffed Felix photo – these are fun too.  People also liked to pose with their own Felix – the same as they liked to pose with their own cats.

Obviously this is a theme I will be returning to – I intend to get the whole collection up over time! There are lots of stories to tell and we’ll get to them all eventually!