When I'm all tensed up, blogging relaxes me

Jesus Christ, Mobil. (Found in a 1972 CRM textbook.)

I'm making postcards of my favorite images from the archives -- vintage oddities and also the work of the living. (The creators were kind enough to give permission.) Contribute $10 and receive a postcard pack as a thank you.

The first set of 10 designs (the "December 2017 edition") is now gone. Thanks! The February 2018 is now available.

Postcard Pack 1.2 (Feb 2018 edition)

For United States $10.00 USD Outside the US (includes extra shipping fee) $12.00 USD

Image: Preview of 8 of the 10 cards in the February 2018 postcard pack. Includes work by

CAZA, 
Mahendra Singh, 
Bette Burgoyne, 
Lewis Heriz, 
Alenka Sottler, 
Samplerman, and 
Julian Montague.

Introducing 50wattsBooks

I'm now selling books from my collection. I put some info here. Please follow @50wattsBooks on Instagram. Thanks!

Jo Daemen cover designs

From the collection of Anne Aalders

I read about Johanna Maria Hendrika Daemen (1891–1944) on feuilleton and then found some book covers she designed. These are from 1928 to 1930.

Der Widiwondelwald

I try not to think about how much I would pay for a copy of Hilde Krüger's 1924 children's book Der Widiwondelwald. Some links (in German): one, two, three -- see the full book as smaller images at the last link to the kibook blog.

I kept coming across this book when working on my Kinderbuch series over the years.

Mr. Frog Went A-Courting

Mr. Frog Went A-Courting by Evelyn Lambart, National Film Board of Canada

Also see: The Frog Who Would A Wooing Go

SEKIJI NO KUBI WO KIRU

Bookseller's description: "[AVANT-GARDE POETRY] HINO Shunsuke. Shishû SEKIJI NO KUBI WO KIRU. Tôkyô, Erosu-dô. Shôwa 4 [1929]. 18.5 x 12.7, bound Western-style in wrappers with illustrated covers, book design and illustrations throughout by Iguchi Masao. A product of the Nagoya avant-garde. The illustrations and design of this "CUTTING THE BABY'S THROAT" are jarring, some of the poems sound and feel like they were written while falling down a flight of stairs. The paper is browned and some pages a bit edgeworn but a very good copy overall of this ephemeral production."

H. C. Andersen decorations by Shigeru Hatsuyama

 See the big post at 50 Watts:

 

 Shigeru Hatsuyama for Thumbelina (and other tales) (Japan, 1925)

1920s textbook covers from Japan

Back cover, 1929, Japan, back cover of "Little Lord Fauntleroy," illustrator unknown

See my big post on 50 Watts: Children’s Textbook Covers in 1920s Japan

Two by Massimo Scolari

Massimo Scolari, The Sick Square, 1971

See my Scolari post on But Does it Float. I'm looking forward to the recent book collecting these works (Amaz link) -- these come from the old book (most b/w). 

Massimo Scolari, Sardinia North East, Cape Boi, 1973

Weltkrieg

Willi Geiger, 1914

See the new post on recto-verso: Weltkrieg: German Artists Respond to the Great War

Bettina von Arnim

Manhole, 1972

La ligne jaune, 1972

Labyrinth, 1980

Auf Polls Spuren, 1976

Die Eisenbahnen haben einen Schnupfen, 1983

A, 1976

Most of these works by Bettina von Arnim (b. 1940) come from Galerie Poll, though I have trouble navigating to them directly from their website. The rest come from expired auction listings. I gave titles when I could find them. I would love to see more of her work (and proper reproductions).

Not related (as far as I know) to previous poster-boys of this blog, Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim (unlike this Bettina von Arnim).

update: Thomas Kümmel (@klbkultur on twitter) left a comment about the artist. Thank you!

Bettina von Arnim (born 1940 at Zernikow) is related to the widely branching noble lineage "von Arnim" although it is not easy to trace her roots.

She is the daughter of Friedmund and Clara von Arnim. Her parents managed the family estate "Gut Zernikow" until it was expropriated by the Soviets. They then fled Eastern Germany for West Berlin in 1945.

Her father, Friedmund von Arnim, was a great-grandchild of Ludwig Achim and Bettina von Arnim (German writer and novelist, Countess of Arnim and sister of Clemens Bretano). Friedmund von Arnim died as a prisoner of war in Russia in January 1946. Her mother, Clara von Arnim, died on May 7, 2009 at the age of 99.

The Future Is Now, 1984

Filmstudio Limelight / Space Girl 
(Schlieren / Schweiz; 1984)
www.vannutt.ch

Click for larger versions at Micky the Pixel's flickr (his light show company is Vannutt)

Those Tinderbox Eyes

Axel Mathiesen's illustration for H. C. Andersen's "Tinderbox," circa 1928 via twincovercollector.

I apparently can't get enough of bug-eyed dogs...perhaps because the Boston Terrier runt of my teenage years was crazy bug-eyed. See these previous posts: one, two, three.

In the land of dwarfs

BibliOdyssey mentioned this one way back in 2008 but I keep coming across it and had to feature it. The scans are by flickr user Tomasz and the book is called... W Krainie Karzełków, which Google confidently translates as "In the land of dwarfs." I can't find a date. 1940s? And the sig... Ajo?

Book collector Arthur van Kruining cleared up the mystery: "This book is of Dutch origin. The title is DWERGENLAND (1923). "Ajo" was the pseudonym of Henriëtte Fox-Borel. Unfortunately her books are quite rare." Thanks Arthur!

Google translates "Dwergenland" as "Dwarf Country." See more Ajo here.

Staring Contest

 

I'm winning. Tintype from the collection of Frank Suvari via John Demetrick.