Tulip Time: Part Two

Pam’s Pictorama Post: I continue my second part, tulip treatise today with an odd alignment that came out of tulip talk recently here at Deitch Studio. As occasionally occurs here over leisurely morning work, reading and discussion sessions, Kim and I meandered through both my tulip triumphs in New Jersey and his interest in this book and comic as outlined below and these posts were born. Welcome to The Black Tulip and part two of the Pictorama post.

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I commence with a full admission that before I met Kim Classics Illustrated comics were at best known to me in a theoretical way – a sort of punchline to a joke about not having read a school book assignment – as in clearly they read the comic book version. I confess I have never actually read one to date.

*A pile of the comics within eyeshot, next to Kim’s desk, while I write this morning.*

A number of years back Kim discovered a guy on 86th Street who was selling them. Not every day of the week, but most weekend days and maybe a few others piles of them on a table with their bright yellow logos being hawked. Over time they began their siren song and Kim was lured into slowly acquiring both those remembered from his youth and then ones he had missed along the way. Slowly his collection grew if haphazardly. I can’t remember now if the fellow gave up before Covid or it was the pandemic that did his periodic business in. And it wasn’t a constant flow, but an occasional addition would be made via eBay. Although he might give a quick look when I was with him it was generally a mission he completed on his own – an excuse for a walk on a nice day and presumably some comics chat.

*A better look at that pile. This is just the tip of the iceberg of Kim’s collection.*

Kim, a voracious reader and particularly of classic literature, seems like an unlikely candidate however most recently he uses these as sort of massive supplemental illustrations to something he is reading. (The man is devoted to illustrated fiction in all its guises.) A large trade paperback on the history of Classics Illustrated found its way into the house recently and, although he is a committed Dumas fan, his purchase of The Black Tulip I believe was a result of his reading of that. The novel is on its way so he has not commenced reading it yet.

Classics Illustrated (which has lodged in my brain as Classic Comics) had a 30 year run, from 1941-1971, launching with The Three Musketeers. With printing and reprinting and the collecting of them, it can be a deep and largely affordable vein of comics collecting. If Kim were writing this there would be color and lore I cannot provide – thoughtful observations about the various artists who illustrated them, some who were wrapping up a career during the heyday of comics.

*The opening pages of our rather tatty copy.*

The Black Tulip (based as noted on the novel by Alexandre Dumas) was illustrated by Alex A. Blum (1889-1969) and I would say his illustrations are definitely part of the appeal of the comic. The story takes place during the tulip craze in the Netherlands of the 1600’s after the introduction of the plant from the near east in the preceding century. As you probably know, tulips were wildly sought after and the bulbs traded like gold or cocoa on a world exchange. Fortunes were made and lost in tulips and even poor and middle class families might stake their fortunes on the waxing and waning of them.

*Queen of the Night variety of tulip – appears to be pretty much as close as we come to black.*

The plot of the novel is the race to develop a truly black tulip and the nefarious individuals who would do anything to capture a $100k guilder prize for the development of it. (For the record, a true black tulip does not exist even today and a very dark purple one called black is as close as one comes.) Since Kim is planning to read the original novel as well so I will have to ask him if they explain why black seemed so desirable – I prefer red and orange among others myself. (It should be noted that blue does not exist either – only a sort of lavender to blue.)

The jolly cover caught my imagination and a stroll through the comic is not disappointing. For the record, there is a column in the front cover called Student Boners which claims to be funny mistakes made on regional state exams – along the lines of Name two explorers of the Mississippi – answer: Romeo and Juliet. There is a bio of Dumas and encouragement to read the full novel at the back. Throughout there seems to be a layer of an in the service of sort of self-conscious educational mission.

*The back of the book – free comics tattoos with your purchase of 10 issues.*

Along those lines also included at the back is a plot summary of the opera Boris Gudenof (what did kids make of that?); a bio of Alfred Nobel (Inventor of Dynamite!); and an unrelated short story about a dog. Kim informs me that the books had to be weighted with a certain amount of text in order to get a book rate for mailing. (This is part of the eventual undoing of the company as they ultimately lost this status.) There is an emphasis on the great literature these are based on (There have been no greater story-tellers than these immortal authors) and on reading in general.

A page from a story to be published next year called **Apocalypso.**

As I alluded to above, these comics were a fixture of Kim’s childhood and a recently completed page from an upcoming story for his next book shows a young Kim and a friend in a room littered with them. (We had some discussion over which covers would be featured.) As for me, well my generation had Cliff Notes (which also took a final bite out of these comics) instead. I never read them, but I am sure they were far less romantic and potentially interesting as Classics Illustrated and in addition I doubt that anyone collects them today.

Puzzling Felix

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post: Today’s toy has languished on a shelf for quite a while. It came in the big box of Felix purchased from an obscure auction last year which spewed out everything Felix related from a rare kerchief to a pile of annuals. (Tidbits and treasures from this box in previous posts can be found here and here. Some annuals remain as future posts!)

These hand puzzles are not exactly rare and I have seen some come and go on eBay over time and somehow it was a long time before I got into the game. I finally purchased the one shown here in 2019 and wrote about it here. I couldn’t resist it with its graphic image of an angry Felix with mice.

*Pams-Pictorama Collection from a prior post.*

Today’s is a joyful dancing Felix of dreadfully sloppy execution. Like the other, it was made in Germany and is marked as such. How these cardboard and cheap metal bits have lasted through a century of pockets and playing I cannot imagine. The cheap metal inside and out is pitted and rusty.

For some reason for me these toys always conjure up an image of a young newsboy taking a break and pulling it out of his pocket to play with circa sort of 1927 or so. Sometimes it is an errant night watchman killing time. I don’t know why – it is always men and boys I imagine in this role.

I find the two small metal mice quite cunning as are the metal traps I guess they are? I hadn’t actually thought of them quite that way, but am now as I really consider it. In addition there are two small balls and I would think the challenge is a ball and a mouse in each trap. I have attempted it and it is both engrossing and difficult. I discovered that the mice only go into the traps nose first, can’t back them in, or at least that is true of one which, incidentally, has a slight upward curl to his tail. Ha! Someone was thinking when they designed this.

*The cardboard back, worn from use and handling. Hard to believe it is around 100 years old!*

I know I had dexterity puzzles like this as a child although for the life of me I cannot remember the images on them or the tasks required; I suspect they were simpler. I have a dim memory of them mostly being rolling small balls into a face or something along that line. This would have seemed quite sophisticated to my then pint-sized mind.

I suspect that now that two of these have entered the Pictorama collection of course more may follow. We’ll just see about that.

Tiled

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Post: Today’s item was one of those now you see it now you don’t – and back again items on eBay. I was surprised and disappointed when it was pulled from sale and equally delighted when mysteriously it was relisted. Evidently it was from an estate sale of tiles. It was listed as from the 1930’s and it is in very good condition so it is hard to say.

I immediately had a vision of a fireplace in an Arts and Crafts style cottage somewhere lost in time, decorated with cheerful Felix tiles! Clearly I would buy the house just for that. (I have a friend whose father heard of a house being torn down with great fireplace tiles and he got permission to go and take them out. They are at the Met Museum now.)

Felix appears to be going somewhere and pointing in that direction, and he has an umbrella which seriously makes me wonder about what the other ones in a series might have looked like. Were they all weather related? Felix in the sun and snow? There are a few minor imperfections in the tile, a small chip or two where the glaze bubbled. It is a very good likeness of the cat though, I must say.

In all my years of looking at vast amounts of Felix items I have never seen another. I have, in my years of collecting, seen an odd thing where sometimes you find something you never saw before and then you start seeing a few more. That happened with the these Felix holiday cards below which I wrote about here.

One other cartoon tile was being sold and I am sorry I didn’t try to snatch it up, but I got so confused by this one being pulled off I lost my focus. It is below and sold for about the same price. This one (is it Betty Boop’s sidekick Bimbo?) was identified as being from Mission Art Tile California. I can’t really find tracks on that either however. It appears to be in similar mint condition.

*Not in the Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.*

I grew up in a house with two massive brick fireplaces. My parents purchased old bricks before that was popular in building and they also bought an enormous beam from a barn which was halved and used as mantels for both. The ancient wood fascinated me, full of worm holes!

We used the downstairs fireplace constantly in the winter months and I do really love sitting by an open fire. My mom later converted it to gas which was somewhat disappointing, but we still used it a lot. The house she left me in NJ has a small brick fireplace, but to reline the chimney (it seems they would pour a ceramic liner into it?) and make it truly safe would cost a bundle so I doubt we will have fires there. I have purchased and set a small fire pit in the backyard to make up for this loss and I hope to be able to engage in using it in the coming warming months.

It makes me happy to imagine a world where fireplaces might have been decorated with jolly cartoon characters. Now that I know about these I will look for more – you never know, I might be able to remodel mine one day!

Yearly Felix, the Annuals: Part One

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Post: Today’s Pictorama post is brought to you with love and thanks to our friend Bruce Simon who contributed this to the Pictorama archive recently. (Yay and thank you Bruce!) Bruce, involved in all things cartoon, comic and animation has been a decades long friend to Deitch Studio, but known Kim even longer. He has previously plied me with a supply of wonderful early cartoons – Felix, Krazy and others.

Bruce, his wife Jackie and their peppy pup live on the west coast so we are mostly online and postal pals these days, although we look forward to their upcoming sojourn to NYC in June and also perhaps seeing them at our trip to Comic Con in July. (Kim and I heading out to Comic Con this year as he is receiving an Eisner lifetime achievement award – certainly a future travel post there!)

Onto Felix however and this wonderful little item. An interesting Pictorama secret is that I actually own several of these annuals, three came in the group buy from an auction last year. In addition, I own a few other extremely rarified ones that are not Felix related and all of these will likely make their way into future posts.

*Endpapers for this 1925 Felix Annual. Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.*

While I have tackled my Pip, Squeak and Wilfred annuals (one early post can be found here and another here) I am a bit confounded by conveying the wealth of Felix entertainment in one of these volumes. Virtually every page is sort of a gem – either early Messmer strips or those beloved boxy off-model Felix-es supplied by a British artist. Felix’s British alter ego. I don’t mean to be stingy, just a bit overwhelming to feel I am doing them justice. Let’s see how I do today.

I think Felix is Easter ready on the cover of this 1925 annual (a nod to those of you who are celebrating today) with his basket of fish instead of Easter eggs! This is the great squared off Felix which I note above and ongoing readers know how much I like a square Felix! He is stealing away with the fisherman’s catch, the fisherman is either so deeply involved in his rod or nodding off – I can’t tell.

1925 appears to be the second year of the annuals and for some reason it is said to be less available, although you could buy one right now from what I can see. They are said to have lasted at least through 1929, which would give me all but one of them if true. Published through the Daily Sketch and Sunday Herald Ltd. the years of publication are nowhere in evidence in these books. For the devoted reader these can be had if a tad dear.

*Title page. Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.*

*Damaged back page. Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.*

While the book is made up largely of black and white, presumably Sunday, strips, there are what I assume are British produced full color plates throughout which almost, loosely tell a story too. Then there is a center spread of four or so strips which are printed in red and black. This seems to roughly be the format of these annuals. It is interesting to me that the Pip, Squeak and Wilfred ones ran so much longer than Felix, despite his popularity. Those have a run from roughly ’22-’39. The British comics reading public did love their annuals however.

This volume also has hand painted embellishments on a few pages from a well meaning child. This is also very common indeed and not a surprise to anyone who collects children’s volumes of any kind.

The inside front and back covers are the same goofy design where Felix seems to have ascended to the heavens where he is surrounded by good things to eat (including mice) and admired by an anonymous cat below. There is also a front and back plate of him – sadly the back one is marred by a strange remnant of something unidentified which is on several pages of the book.

These annuals were sturdy in their construction – well bound and with thick pages. Even with that some of the pages in this 100 year old volume are worn right through with years of thumbing. The back outside cover is a not especially interesting ad for Ovaltine.

The comics within are worthy and I am enjoying reading them in bits here and there. I am more a fan of daily strips than Sundays in general, but these are fun and very much like the cartoons.

I promise more to come on these, but I hope today has been a tantalizing taste.

Bill, Benron, Iowa

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Post: This fine fat furry fellow hails to us from 1910 Diagonal, Iowa. He found his way to me via the wonderfully thoughtful Sandi Outland (@curiositiesantique, an antiques emporium in Texas) who sent me this. Some of you readers might remember that Sandi sent me an utter great holiday card with a period photo on it which inspired a post found here. She is also of the fascinating angry snowman collection which inspired the purchase of a card I wrote about here.

Sandi tucked this in this nice reproduction Felix valentine, shown below. I have often thought I should have a specimen example of this card and she has saved me the trouble of doing so. Thank you again Sandi!

*This Valentine based on a popular period one of Felix.*

Bill, the cat of our card, appears to be a solid citizen of the tabby cat category. Although I have not had a personal association with a tabby since childhood, they are dependably nice cats. The two that graced my childhood were Zipper and Tigger.

I wrote a bit about how Zipper and I as a small child would watch our fish tank together and he would “pat” the fish on the glass, guilty thoughts going through is mind! (Post found here.) He came to us as a starved and tormented stray, so small he was in danger of slipping into the crack in the backseat of the car. He grew into a swaggering dominant male of the neighborhood, holding parties with his kitty cronies in the garage, late night raids on a neighbors eel box! (Zipper’s story can be found here.)

Zipper was gone by the time Tigger came into our lives. He was one of a litter of kittens of our cat Winkie, a great tortoiseshell. My mom was generally a responsible and determined neuter and spay-er of our cats, but somehow Winkie got away from her in advance of being spayed. We kept the four kittens: the tiger Tigger, a marmalade named Squash, and two grays – Ping and Pong.

Tigger who had rather perfect markings was a good natured cat. She ran away once and was found in a neighbor’s barn, but sadly eventually wandered away again not to be found. I have always hoped she found another home, perhaps less bustling and with fewer cats than we had claim to at the time. I think she wanted to be an only cat.

Bill, the fellow in this card, appears to be in charge of a store. My guess is that he spent many a contented hour chasing mice (perhaps even the occasional rat) there and was soundly rewarded for his work in this area. Still, he does not appear to have lived on mice alone. I don’t know if he is just sitting on his tail oddly or if it was docked for some reason, but he is a splendid looking fellow, evidently in his prime here. Behind him is a wonderful wooden box emblazoned with Independent Baking Co. Crackers(?), Biscuits, Etc. Davenport, Iowa. I would claim it for my collection any day offered.

The card is addressed to Miss Sarah Stock, Storm Lake Iowa, Box 734, written in the most beautiful script. It was postmarked and dated April 26, 1910 from Diagonal, Iowa.

*Back of card. Beautiful hand – look at how the “t” in storm forms the “L” in Lake! Still, is hard to read!*

Despite the beauty of the script I am having some trouble reading it, however it appears to say, Dear Sarah, I read another letter from you this morning. I spose I’ll have to answer that to I just finished one last night, let me introduce you to Bill police patrol of Benton Ia. He looks wise. I presume to you like cats as well as I do. I can’t read his name (and no, he didn’t seem fond of periods) and I am open to suggestions. (For some reason I have assigned the sender to be a man, but it could be a woman.)

Although I have come close on several occasions as it happens I have never traveled to Iowa. The university there was under brief consideration for grad school, but life intervened before it got to the visiting stage and my grad school education never materialized. The Jazz at Lincoln Center orchestra played there on tour and that was the most likely way I would have found myself there as an adult, but alas it never happened. The animal hospital I work for now is highly unlikely to send me there, although I guess you never know in life – I could make it there yet.

A Big Kitty Family Affair

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: I guess Pictorama rules are made to be broken, although there aren’t really many. Generally speaking the cardinal rule of Pictoama is that I own the object under discussion. I had barely set the parameter when I broke it back in the earliest days of this venture. (That post, devoted to some wonderful Norakuro toys can be found here.) However, since then I have pretty much stuck to my guns on that and if I have done it subsequent before today, I cannot remember when.

*From a very early, not in my collection post!*

However, I have an excellent reason for bending the rules today. An email came to me via the blog asking about what I call the giant cat chair photo postcards. I own several of these – many fewer than my photos of folks posing with Felix which seem to have started earlier (a few Felix tintype posts here and here), gone longer and reached the shores of Australia where folks posed with him in Katoomba among other resorts. (One of these posts can be found here.) I even have evidence of a giant Felix who appears to be directing traffic in Kualo Lumpur. (Here!)

*Pams-Pictorama.com collection. Felix in Kuala Lumpur.*

However, folks with the big kitty seem to have been exclusively in Great Britain. (We were simply backward here in the US, weren’t we? I haven’t seen the slightest evidence of any of the above. Nary even an early Mickey. Huh.)

Back to our story. Chay Hawes, a denizen of Great Britain wrote to say, My mum was looking through some albums and said “here’s my dad on this weird black cat thing at the seaside” (he’s the boy in the middle of the cat leaning towards his mother) so I typed “weird black cat photo margate” and amazingly your site came up as the first hit. I didn’t expect to find out about the cat so quickly! (Pictorama is always here to help with the important things. Posts about Margate and black cat goodness, including this very kitty, can be found here and here.)

Margate as a beach resort seems to have been redolent in photo ops and looking over my collection and former posts there seems to have been more than one of these giant black cats, an outsized Felix and an odd unidentified clownish character at a minimum. Black cat luck seems to also be particular to sailors so perhaps its seaside location upped the ante on black cat fortune.

*I have a bit of a weakness for these, especially as plates, but not in my collection.*

He asked if there was anything in particular affiliating black cats with Margate. There are copious postcards and bits of souvenir china which feature the felines and boast good luck. While I can find nothing which specifically ties good luck black cats to Margate, I am reminded that the Brits are well ahead of us in their affection for black kitties. I believe I have opined before on the subject of black cats representing good luck there whereas we take the very backward position that they are bad luck.

*One of many Margate lucky black cat postcards. Not in my collection.*

One particular superstition I discovered this morning is that in parts of England if a bride receives a black cat as a gift on her wedding day it is believed she will have luck in her marriage. I say let’s all move there! Happy black cats must abound. They are also thought to bring prosperity in Scotland if found on your doorstep or porch. (I’ll add that with Blackie and Beau in the family, we know we are lucky and prosperous indeed!)

*Not a great photo but here Blackie and Beau meet for the first time last summer. Recognition that they are indeed both black cats seemed to be in the air.*

I believe that Mr. Hawes’s photo is the first that I found in the wild so to speak – not being sold but a family photo, still being enjoyed by the family. It is also rare in that it is dated and noted on the back as below.

Chay says his mom is good about labeling photos and they have nice albums full as well as some wall space devoted to them. It has inspired me to do more with some of the family photos found in Jersey as I organize the house there. Mom and I went through many, but of course have found a bunch of them since she died and now no one to help me identify the folks within. (In fact, heading to NJ now.)

Few of my photo postcards of this genre have any notes and none have been mailed. I go on record by stating that I controlled myself admirably and did not beg him to sell it to me. It is a gem though!

The photographer was having a splendid day in the way he set the kids up on the chair, presumably between their parents. Mom wears a lovely fashionable outfit and an especially nice hat. Dad sports his cap and a pipe. Dad is in front of some sort of sign I am a bit curious about. The children all have a remarkable family likeness. It really is a wonderful family photo! The kitty might be a different actual one than any of the others I have as his white mouth (almost bejeweled looking!) and toes are very prominent – claw paws on this kitty. He has nice whiskers as well.

Chay also noted that his still young grandfather was shown clad in uniform a few short photos later. A sobering reminder that our family photos are snatches of time, a story told in pieces but a story nonetheless.

It gives me great pleasure to know that this photo resides with the family and enjoys status as part of family lore. Thank you so much Chay for writing in and sharing this photo!

Rolling Along

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post: Today may mark the end of the birthday post fiesta – I have dinner with my friend Eileen Monday night and that technically marks the ends the annual month of shared birthday festivities with my Aquarian brethren. There was a time when there were several other members of the fold, but sadly folks have moved or are gone now so the February birthday dinners are less numerous. (Incidentally, for anyone just in this post for the toy, skip down to the bottom! Books and birthday at the top.)

In addition to the February birthdays, there’s always a nice day spent with Kim roaming somewhere in the city. This year we ended up spending most of the day book shopping. We made a quick visit to Alabaster Books (on the ever mysterious 4th Avenue which exists as a stretch of street in that part of town around 13th Street) where we were intrigued, but the prices on the early juveniles volumes that appealed were too high for our blood, although I admit titles stayed with us and Kim later found another copy of The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come by John Fox, Jr. illustrated by N.C. Wyeth, shown below.

*Discovered at Alabaster Books in the East Village,but purchased elsewhere.*

I have only had a backseat to Kim’s subsequent reading of it which seemed to veer from thinking it was amazing to a distinct sense of it falling off a bit. I will mention that he was particularly impressed with the illustration below and the song (Sourwood Mountain which can be heard on Youtube here) that it illustrates.

*One of the N.C. Wyeth illustrations in the above volume. Link to the song being played above.*

I, on the other hand, was tempted by The Boy Showman and Entertainer which essentially gives instruction on how to put on a show. These instructions were meant for someone much more handy than me (think of a kid who eventually grows up to work for NASA), but fascinate me nonetheless. I have another book of this type, How to Put on a Circus which I am very fond of and have written about here. Maybe I will go back for it.

*Another almost purchase. Maybe eventually.*

Sad that we did not feel inclined and able to support this bookstore on this particular day (they used to have the very most charming calico cat I liked to visit) we moved around the corner to The Strand. Much to our surprise and delight The Strand has re-opened their Rare Book Room upstairs. We scored a few interesting ratty volumes on the first floor before making our way up.

*The Rare Book Room – welcome back old friend!*

However among the purchases on the first floor was this interesting illustrated volume, A Captured Santa Claus which is a children’s chapter book, evidently about the Civil War. It is by Thomas Nelson Page and illustrated by someone named W. L. Jacobs. Perhaps more to come when I read this volume.

*Purchsed downstairs at The Strand, merely old but not rare?*

We were pleased to find some additional volumes in the old but not quite rarified enough to be truly rare. My significant purchase was the second volume in a series of three about Pixie O’Shaughnessy by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey, aka More About Pixie. I was able to download volume one, simply Pixie O’Shaughnessy, and read it first. (Project Gutenberg and an illustrated version can be found here.) As Pictorama readers may know, I have a real soft spot for a certain kind of early 20th Century series book and this fits the bill gloriously. I think I owe Pixie and Mrs. de Horne Vaizey their own future post, but it all started here.

*I’m already into this volume and I am a fan.*

After a trip to the art supply store where Kim bought a new light board – a festive purchase; Kim loves this piece of equipment in his arsenal. Kim and I wandered over to The Smith where Kim treated me to a lovely lunch. I discovered a photobooth in the basement and we took the pics below – first photo strip in a long time.

*The Smith in the East Village – a nice lunch and photobooth in the basement!*

Meanwhile, I have buried the lead and toy folks are wondering when the heck I was going to get to this wonderful cat toy! I have lusted ongoing over toys on wheels and someday I will have (at least one) wonderful wheeled toy large enough for a small child to ride. There are wonderful elephant ones and many bears. We shall see about that!

Anyway, this is a very early cat and he came to me via Brussels. I purchased him via an online sale on Facebook and Kim bought him for my birthday. He is the first wheeled fellow of this sort in my collection. He is missing one of his four wheels otherwise he is remarkably intact. The wheels are nicely made bits of wood with good hardware so I doubt that I can make or find much of a substitute, but luckily he will spend his days quietly.

*A glorious and sturdy device he sits upon, ready to take turns as needed.*

If you look at the front wheels you see that there is a nice bit where you could attach a lead of some sort to pull him around and the ability to turn the front and direct him that way. His ears are a bit less pert than they probably were in the day, but fully intact, as is his tail. He has a few tiger-y stripes and his stitched mouth and news were likely very red originally. He’s a solid citizen and is heavier and perhaps a tad larger than you might think he is.

There is evidence that at one time he had a bow around his neck which may have been red or pink, just a few faded orange threads. There’s something about his neck which made me wonder if his head moved at one time, but if so no longer.

Not surprisingly for a toy of this type there is no marking so I do not know if he was native to Brussels (a place which does oddly seem to cough up antique toys – one prior post to something I bought from a very sweet dealer there can be found here, Brussels may turn out to be an El Dorado of antique toys) or an import. I am looking at him and have decided he has a very sweet face. A beloved toy, probably from the earliest part of the 20th century which has made his way to me. My birthday may make me feel old, but I am a youngster compared to this fine fellow.

Love’s Old Sweet Song

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Post: Perhaps some of you wonder what kind of valentine I give Kim considering the very special one he produces for me annually. Since clearly there is no competing with that and love is a two way street here at Deitch Studio, I usually purchase a card and perhaps a specific token of my affection. This year I ran across this great vintage valentine a few weeks before the holiday and had time to secure it to give to Kim.

Of course it was the singing (yowling) kitty on a fence post that caught my attention, but it really is a nifty little item. This cat trilling on a fence is very close to the cover of a piece of popular sheet music simply called Meow which currently decorates my new office, while another copy hangs next to my kitchen door here at home. Shown below, I have written about it and my collection of cat related sheet music previously. A few of those many posts can be found here and here.

This miniature sheet music card has heart shaped notes emerging from kitty’s mouth, who has a perfectly curled tail and a few stars and moon thrown around for decoration. It boasts Words by – N Webster and Music by – HY Pitched, while at the bottom the credit goes to Ima Gossip – Publishers – Inc. Anytown, U.S.A.

The inside has music (maybe someone who reads music can tell me if the notes are nonsense or not) and the heart shaped musical notes continue within. Beee Myyyy Valentine-ine-ine-ine! You are reminded to intone Romantically at the top. At the bottom it declares, Note* Practice until you know it by heart! It was sent by Ruth Abrams although alas, we know not who to. It was printed on a sheet of paper and folded into quarters, rather than printed as a card. There is no publisher or printer’s information on it.

There is in fact a real song of this title. First published in 1884 it was composed by James Lynam Molloy and lyricist Graham Clifton Bingham. It was introduced that year by Antoinette Sterling at the St. James Hall in London.

Because the chorus starts with Just a song at twilight it is evidently frequently identified that way. It is evidently known for being referred to in James Joyce’s Ullysses where Molly Bloom sings it. Arthur Sullivan (he of Gilbert and Sullivan) was accused of using the first two bars for When a merry maiden marries in The Gondoliers, which he denied.

The lyrics are below:

Once in the dear dead days beyond recall,
When on the world the mists began to fall,
Out of the dreams that rose in happy throng
Low to our hearts Love sang an old sweet song;
And in the dusk where fell the firelight gleam,
Softly it wove itself into our dream.

Just a song a twilight, when the lights are low,
And the flick’ring shadows softly come and go,
Tho’ the heart be weary, sad the day and long,
Still to us at twilight comes Love’s old song,
comes Love’s old sweet song.

Even today we hear Love’s song of yore,
Deep in our hearts it dwells forevermore.
Footsteps may falter, weary grow the way,
Still we can hear it at the close of day.
So till the end, when life’s dim shadows fall,
Love will be found the sweetest song of all.

Just a song a twilight, when the lights are low,
And the flick’ring shadows softly come and go,
Tho’ the heart be weary, sad the day and long,
Still to us at twilight comes Love’s old song,
comes Love’s old sweet song.

There are numerous recordings and I am sharing two very different ones here. (For future readers apologies – these links are available at the time of writing although may not be in the future!) The first is by John McCormack, recorded in 1927. He is a favorite of Kim’s and we listened to this version this morning.

The other is from Bing Crosby’s radio show and it is a very different arrangement. Also note that Bing says it was written in 1882, not ’84 which is Wikipedia’s thought on the subject as above.

This is a super little card and I intend to frame it up for display – where Deitch Studio and the Pictorama archive align! I see a small spot above Kim’s desk, right at eye level where he can be reminded of my affection daily.

Dog Days

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Post: As someone who has a publicly professed love of cats, my affection for dogs should not be denied. Even when it comes to toys I frequently have to shake my head with regret that I do not have space (or resources) to collect those as well. In reality, there are probably more great antique toy dogs than cats. I occasionally give in and purchase a canine toy, Bonzo is a favorite! (Some doggone good posts can be found here, here and here.)

Kim bought me this little metal painted fellow at an antique store in New Jersey over the Christmas holiday. I like his erect, watchful attitude. Despite his paint loss, he is still a chipper white with a jolly red collar and somehow still has a little gleam in his eye. He’s got a nubbin of a tail. From one profile he looks ready to play and from the other side more guard pup. I sort of wonder if he was considered a toy or if he was more of a collectible even in his day.

*Playful profile. Pams-Pictorama.com collection.*

I have written some about the dogs of my past, my German Shepard Duchess in particular as a kid. (A post for a favorite photo postcard where I also talk about her can be found here.) Other dogs of my childhood included a beagle mixed named Charlie Brown (a bit of a miscreant mutt), and a terribly frighten cockapoo rescue named Pooch who you could never get near. So for all the many cats there was a fairly constant background of dogs too. My childhood was a cheerful parade of animals, all found by my mother with the exception of a few who found us.

As ongoing Pictorama readers know, I recently made a wholesale change in jobs and I now oversee fundraising for a large veterinary hospital and my dog petting time has skyrocketed overnight. Thus far I have met many more dogs than cats and while some of the dogs are clearly (if understandably) unhappy about being there, a surprising number are perfectly happy to be petted and even climb in my lap. (It’s a wash and wear life these days, lots of drool and fur.)

I do not know what Cookie and Blackie think of the smell of me when I come home now. (Goodness, what trash has she been associating with today?) Cookie did give my shoes a major sniffy going over the other evening. However, since I began regular visits to the five cats in New Jersey I think they have adjusted their idea of exactly what I do when I leave the house in the morning. I used to speculate that they thought I went to the vet every day since it was the only place out of the apartment they had ever been – now that appears to be true.

*A photo of some boxes arriving at the new office – picture was taken to thank Daniel at JALC who sent them over.*

This little metal mascot may come to work with me and guard me there. I am thinking that maybe the office will be a bit of a repository of doggie items. I have finally moved some of the essential items over, such as the elephant box Kim made (post about that and other office desk items can be found here) and bevy of plastic pigs and a cat given to me by my friend Eileen, and of course a gold lucky waving cat. (My penchant for those is penned about here.) I concentrate better when surrounded by these familiar items, although I am getting used to storing dog beds and cat toys from Galas past too.

I Dream of Thee at Night

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Post: I am in New Jersey and mulling through a few postcards and photos that I have here, deciding what I want to treat you all to today. This postcard comes from a friend in Canada who occasionally releases a few tidbits from his collection for purchase. This postcard was in a small lot I purchased a few months back. It has an unfortunate tear. Think of it as a Valentine’s Day warm up.

There is writing all over this card but I am unable to decode much of it. It appears that it was sent by someone’s Aunt Brik? The back is addressed to a Miss Ruthie Thompson at an illegible address in Toronto, Canada. Despite the address, there is no postmark and just a spot where a one cent stamp was requested.

*Another example of Sullivan’s work. Not in Pams-Pictorama.com collection.*

The title at the top is a big high toned for the scrappy black cat pictured as the love interest of this beribboned white haired boy kitty who says, Come and Kiss Me. An irate fellow (perhaps trying to sleep) is at the window getting ready to pitch something at them. An anthropomorphic moon looks on, concerned. A cartoon balloon over the white cat says, Come and kiss me!

*Another pithy postcard by Sullivan. Not in my collection.*

This card is one in a series of cards by the artist, P. D. Sullivan. As below, each of the cards in this series has a pithy phrase at the top. While these other cards turned up, no biographical information appeared on the same search. However, it seems like he was quite prolific.

*Tiny stickers, largest is about two inches high. Pams-Pictorama.com collection*.

Packed in with this card and a few other things, were these two small but sort of wonderful cat stickers. While both are common images, they are small but nice! Back in the day I would have wanted tons of these to decorate envelopes, cards and notes! They have glue on the back and would have become sticky with a bit of water from a sponge or tip of the tongue, a somewhat antiquated idea I guess too – in a world where even postage stamps peel and press on.