E-List #15 - Squarespace

E-List #15: 19 Recent Arrivals, January 2018 220 W. Lima St. Findlay, Ohio 45840 309-825-0443 [email protected] email directly to order or reserve items All items subject to prior sale. All guaranteed as described and returnable within 30 days for any reason. Institutions may be billed according to their needs. Payment via paypal ([email protected]) or check. We issue periodic, illustrated e-catalogs, typically of new arrivals in our specialty subject areas of transporation, vernauclar photography and the Midwest, about 7 times per year. Please email us to be added to our direct list.

1. [Snapshots of Ohio Roller Rinks] [Vernacular Photography] : [Roller Skating] [Toledo, Ohio]: [ca. 1950's]

$250

50 black and white silver print photographs (various dimensions, from approximatley 3 1/2" square to 4" x 3 1/2"). Some with mild handling wear, edge curling. Overall contents about very good. A snapshot archive of Ohio roller skating rinks, compiled by longtime rink organist, a Bill Zopfi of Toledo and Cleveland. Most images appear to capture the Toledo Rollercade, once a thriving spot first opened in 1944 and located in a now rather blighted section of the city near the corners of N. Detroit Ave. and N. Berdan Ave.

The images capture the post-War social scene in an alluring vernacular style and include several fantastic views of rather advanced, possibly competition skating, capturing young men performing mid-air splits and other wheeled stunts. The balance of rink facilites, employees, some provocative social scenes, etc... A charming and rich vernauclar Americana record of a circa-1950's leisure subculture. Images here.

2. [Provocative Diary of a Young Woman, Illustrated by Snapshots] MASON, Carmen : [Manuscripts] [Hammond, Indiana]: [1955-1958]

$600

12mo. [383]pp. Glossy, red, embossed paper covered boards with cover title: "FIVE YEAR DIARY." Standard printed date blanks with entries for five years on each page. An additional section of blanks for memorandums, addressess, etc... at rear. Contents full of entries in ink holograph. Handwriting becomes smaller as volume progresses, some later entries difficult to decipher, though overall, fairly easily legible. Paper board covering worn at spine. Else about very good. [WITH] 24 snapshot photographs, most about 3 1/2" square deckle edge prints (11 prints contained in 2 small paper drugstore albums, the balance loose ; 20 black and white, 1 color). Some tape remnants and residue to a few of the loose prints. Overall photographs about very good.

The revealing personal diary of a young Midwestern woman coming of age in the mid-1950's in some 30,000 words of original content, illustrated by more than 20 original (and occasionally provocative) snapshot photographs: the manuscript record of the high school years of a Carmen Louella Mason (b.1940) of Hammond, Indiana (a Lake County, Indiana city about contiguous with the southeastern suburbs of Chicago). Mason's writings are rather gossipy, almost sterotypical of a 1950's middle-class American teen, and focus heavily on her dating life, which is summarized by a list and brief evaluations found towards the end of the volume, some 50 different young men listed by name with notations like: "stares at me" ; "Why did I ever date him?" : "stupid to ask me out" ; "jealous lover" ; "what a build!" ; etc... She dates rather prolifically, though is enamored chiefly with two different young men, a Bill and a Terry. Bill, her "first love" asks her to go steady in August of 1955, a rather tumultuous month for Mason. Her world is shattered, for instance, when the unforgiving teenage rumor mill of Hammond produces this entry: “Dear diary, today was one of the most miserable days I ever spent. Cork told me that Bill broke the 8th Commandment with a girl name Liz for $15. Bill told Pat he didn’t like me & everything. I just hope he didn’t do that & I just hope I can get him back.” (August 20, 1955)

Shortly after, perhaps feeling the need to complete with "Liz," she and two other girls record a series of rather provocative photographs during a slumber party. 6 of these photos, presumaby of Carmen, are included, each with a printed date of August, 1955 in the margins: “Tonight Jo Ann & Barb were over and we took real sexy pictures in our pajamas then they stayed all night.” (August 28, 1955) Her first recorded sexual encounter is experienced with a young man called Terry (who seems to have later become her husband, according to a 2017 archived obituary for her brother, Von): “All my morals, everything I’d promised myself I’d wait for – were broke tonight. Today was Labor Day & me, Terry & 3 other couples went on a picnic at Sweet Woods. It was lots of fun then tonite me & Terry went to a carnival in Whiting, then to one in Cal[umet]. City. Then we went & parked & that’s when it all happened. (September 2, 1957) Shortly after this, she experiences first-hand a dramatic bit of marital conflict between her parents: "Dear diary, sometimes we all meet problems which seem to be so large that wknow that only a miracle from heaven can make ends meet. Today [...] I came home & that’s when things really started happening. My Dad was supposed to take Von to school & he was late & the war began. I’ve never seen my mother like she was today. She’s been crying all day & saying that my Dad doesn’t really love her & never has & that he’s going to leave her when us kids get through school. I only hope and pray with all my heart that things will work out O.K.” (September 10, 1957) Some of the more compelling content is to the memorandum blanks at the rear of the volume. Much of it appears to be continuations of narratives from the dated blanks, or possibly journalling of dreams, or simply random thoughts, etc... , though they are typically undated. For instance: "When we sat down I was on his lap & his hand kept going up & down my leg & then where it shouldn't have. I squirmed a whole lot. He did that about 3 or 4 times & I just squirmed. I like him but I don't want him going that far." [AND] “Then he came back & I ran behind the fence & started screaming “Help! Help!” and he started washing my face again. The girls I was with, first, just stood there, too scared to move or do anything. We got his license & my Dad went to Chuck’s. Golly was I ever scared though!” Overall a dense and uncommonly revealing primary record of a young midwestern woman's experience in the American 1950's, replete with frank writing on sexual experiences and domestic conflict.

3. [Photo Album and Typescript Diary of Western American Travel] [Photo Albums] : [Travel] [Various, including Dayton, Ohio ; Salt Lake City, Utah, etc...]: [1952]

$200

4to. Commercial album. Smooth green cloth over boards. Thin gilt ruling to front. 31 thick paper leaves with several postcards and pieces of ephemera, along with 98 black and white snapshot photographs (loosely mounted) to rectos and versos, along with 5 typed leaves of travel narrative (totalling approximately 4000 words) adhesive mounted in intervals to rectos (additional captions in ink throughout contents). A few mounts with apparently perished prints or ephemeral scraps, otherwise clean, well preserved. About very good or better.

A uncommonly detailed travel album composing the earnest Midwestern impressions of a Dayton, Ohio man (Eldridge Schilling, Jr. (1921-2011) during his August 1952 trip through the American West in nearly 100 clear, well executed black and white views and an approximately 4000 word personal narrative. The journey, primarily undertaken by train, departed Dayton for Colorado Springs, then Utah (Ogden, Bingham, and Salt Lake City), then onto California (mainly San Francisco and Los Angeles), and finally Chicago on the return leg. Images primarily typical tourist views, though a few images of Downtowns Ogden and Salt Lake City stand out, as do several clear views of trains, including the Royal Gorge's Cog Railway (Colorado Springs), the Mt. Manitou Incline Railway, an observation car of the Colorado Special running between Colorado Springs and Salt Lake, and the inter-urban cars which ran between Ogden and Salt Lake.

The narrative is exacting, recording his impressions of The Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo held at the "Million Dollar Penrose Stadium" (and starring Gene Autry), a tour of the salt mines in Bingham Canyon, the Saltair Amusement Park outside of Salt Lake, Downtown Salt Lake (including his hearing a performance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from Temple Square), numerous tourist and cultural sites in San Francisco, and the California coast all the way down to Los Angeles, etc... A particularly charming observation of Catalina Island and its famed tourist ambassador, "The Duke of Catalina" :

"As the boat neared Catalina a couple of speedboats came out and circled the boat. The speedboats were filled with girls and they waved and yelled words of welcome to the passengers on the boat. / When the boat was nera the pier some of the boys and girls from the island were alongside diving for coins that the people would throw to them. After diving for the coins, and any that they caught they would put in their mouth so they could use their hands in diving for more coins. Some of them really had puffed out cheeks from all the coins they had taken from the water. / The boat finally docked and the passengers started to disembark. Hal of the town was at the edge of the pier to welcome them. They had a small band playing girls singing and everyone yelling words of welcome. They were led by one of the lifeguards called the "Duke of Catalina." / Just as the last group was comind down the pier the Duke called to the girls to grab a partner for the Catalina Shuffle. This they did and then the band played and some of the younger folks danced on the street." The trip concludes after a brief stop in Chicago where he writes of and photographs trips to the city's Lakefront museums. A detailed and well preserved, written and visual record of travel in the American West at Mid-Century.

4. CHARACTER-CULTURE-CITIZENSHIP GUIDES [Portfolio of 32 Original Classroom Posters] [Posters] : [WPA] Kansas City, Missouri: T.G. Nichols Co., Inc., 1937

$750

32 serigraph poster prints on thin card. Each approximately 17 1/4" x 12 1/2." With original, posted folding card mailer present. 4 of the original 36 (Nos. 8, 14, 15, and 18) perished. Some margin tearing to a few (nos. 25 and 27 the most substantial), frequent, discrete pinholes at corners. Overall most about very good. A near complete 1937 edition of the coveted WPA-era CHARACTER-CULTURE-CITIZENSHIP GUIDES series of classroom posters promoting etiquette, hygiene, education, etc... and issued by the T.G. Nichols Co. of Kansas City. These include their original cardboard mailer from the publisher. Attractive designs, attractively priced, with individual examples often commanding $100-200 each in commerce and Swann's showing a complete set realizing about $2000 in a 2015 sale. Images here.

5. THE HISTORICAL AND ILLUSTRATED OHIO PENITENTIARY: A Complete Work on the Big Prison - All

Departments, The Manufacturing Industries, Escapes, Famous Prisoners, Executions by Hanging and Electrocution, Punishments, Rules, Etc., Fully Described $150 FORNSHELL, Marvin E. : [Prisons] : [Ohioana] [Columbus, Ohio]: [1907] 8vo. 158pp. Illustrated paper wraps. Side stapled through textblock. 8 photo-offset leaves before text with photograph reproductions to rectos and versos. Mild chipping from edges, otherwise sound, ucommonly clean. About very good. A scarce illustrated history of the Ohio Penitentiary, authored and published by Columbus printer Marvin E. Fornshell. Copyright date and library holdings suggest the volume was first published in 1903 and reprinted about 4 times in the decade following. This state with color-illustrated paper wraps and 16pp. worth of photo-offset reproductions showing varied aspects of the institution, including "Inmates of the Female Department," numerous views of the interior and exterior of prison buildings, a 10-part series of images showing the process of the "Bertillon System of Measurement and Identification of Criminals," etc... A 1907 blurb in Volume 31 of THE TYPOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL, publication of the International Typographical Union of North America, identifies the author as then superintendent of printing at the Penitentiary and notes, amusingly, a chronic scarcity of experienced printers behind bars: "Compared with professional men, criminal printers are very, very few, while bankers far outnumber them, and only ministers have a similar showing." (pp. 657)

Opened in 1834 and in use through to the 1980's, the massive, Meideval-like stone facility was reputedly one of the country's most brutal and primitive penal institutions and one of the first to utilize the electric chair for executions (beginning in1897). WorldCat entries a bit scattered, though we locate about 8 copies held institutionally, with only one outside of Ohio (at LSU), and a single, poor copy currently in commerce (as of January 2018).

6. [Exeter Township Auxiliary Police Scrapbook] [Crime] : [Law Enforcement] Reading, Pennsylvania: (ca. 1958-1967) Folio. Commercial black paper album. Approximately 17" x 14." Black pebbled cloth over boards. Screw-bound at left margin. 38 original photographs (most snapshot, a mixture of black and white and color) and various clippings and ephemeral scrap to rectos and versos of 7 paper leaves. An additional 11 prints laid-in loose. Most scrap adhered to pages, most prints dry-fit into corner mounts. Many additional leaves at end of booklet blank. Some contents coming loose from mounts. Overall contents well preserved. About very good. A scrapbook album compiled by a member of the Exeter Township Auxiliary Police, a volunteer unit of wannabe cops located just outside Reading in Berks County, Pennsylvania.The photographs are about evenly divided between images of training (most often on a firing range) and the social/fundraising activities of the group. The roots of volunteer policing in the United States date back to the Colonial-era and the inclusion of wording on "A well regulated militia [...]" in the 2nd Ammendment is thought by many to have been drafted with protection of these contemporary community police organizations in mind.

That the contents of this album showcase primarily the firearms training activity of these particular "militia" men raises a number of interesting questions in the mind of this catalouger, including the thought that police could likely use help with things like clerical work or automobile maintenance before they would with shooting people, the racial dynamics of nearly all-white Exeter Township when compared to those of adjacent Reading, and the historical interpretation of the 2nd Ammendment in relation to firearms and these sorts of groups. An uncommon record, visual and written, of American law enforcement. More images here.

$250

7. [Operation Crime Alert Materials]

[Crime] : [Ohioana] Mansfield, Ohio: Mansfield Poilice Department, 1987. A single, standard sized printed mailing envelope containing: 1 TLS ; 1 folding illustrated brochure ; 1 unusued adhesive decal ; 1 printed membership card. Contents about near fine. The membership mailer contents for "Operation Crime Alert," a Reagan-era neighborhood watch campaign organized by the Mansfield Police Department (Ohio) and targeted at the city's elderly residents in an apparent effort to enlist them in crime prevention and reporting efforts.

The contents include a detailed pamphlet on reporting suspicious behavior to police, a striking black and red window decal, a "Senior Power" membership card, and a letter describing the program (the pamphlet also mentions the program was funded by a Department of Justice grant). The materials lean toward the alarming and sensational with their target demographic clearly the city's white, elderly population. A highly empheral group on community policing.

$25

8. [Scrapbook of the Winchester Rifle Co. at the 1964 NRA Convention]

[Photography] : [Guns] : [Africana] [Los Angeles, California]: Winchester Co., 1964

Folio. Metal snap-ring binder album. Textured brown cloth over flexible card wraps. 23 black paper leaves with 45 original photographs (39 black and white ; 6 color) ranging in size from approximately 3 1/2" x 5" snapshots to 8" x 10" enlargements (the 17 enlargements are all black and white) as well as dozens of internal schedule documents, ephemeral scrap, clippings, etc... mounted to rectos and versos beneath clear platic overlays. Most contents free from original adhesive mountings with light areas of shadowing to versos. Plastic overlays frequently disbound from snap rings and a bit cumbersome to navigate, though overall contents well preserved, clean. About very good overall, photographs about near fine. A photographic scrapbook documenting the presence of the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. at the 93rd annual National Rifle Association Convention in Los Angeles, in April of 1964, highlighted by more than 20 clear, well-executed views of its safari-themed trade booth which focused on a made-for-television film launch by the company for its African-set hunting movie, WINCHESTER ON SAFARI, starring "Great Whie Hunter," David Ommanney, the firm's much touted guest of honor for the event. Ommanney was a professional hunter of some note, leading hunts for the Ker, Downy, and Salby Ltd. guide firm in Kenya. He mentored under famed man-eating-tiger hunter Jim Corbett as a young man and in 1964, was only a few years removed from winning the prestigious East African Professional Hunters Award (1958), as well as a much-publicized 1959 leopard attack which be barely survived. A striking and rich primary record, both visual and print, of American firearms marketing in the 1960's. Images here.

$450

9. [Small Archive of Satirical Cartoon Drawings from an Uranium Enrichment Facility] [ANONYMOUS] : [Political Cartoons] : [Cold War] : [Nuclear Weapons] [Paducah, Kentucy]: [ca. 1957]

$200

6 diazo prints of original pencil drawings on paper, 4 approximately 24" x 18" ; 1 approximately 24" x 36." ; 1 approximately 18" x 12." Folds from storage. Largest with small area of discolor, overall about near fine. Nuclear gallows humor: A curious assembly of large satirical cartoon drawings, reproductions of original pencil works, likely executed by an anonymous employee of the Union Carbide Gasseous Diffusion Plant, a U.S. Government-contracted, uranium enrichment facility located in Paducah, Kentucky affiliated with the Oak Ridge National Laborabory in Tennessee, and in operation from about 1952-2013.

Acquired from the estate of a Robert A. Winkel, longtime manager of Plant Operations who later moved on to a similar position at Oak Ridge (Winkel's ownership inscription appears to the verso of the 1957 dated drawing and a detailed timeline of his career can be found as part of the K-25 Oral History Project, which documented oral histories of former Oak Ridge employees in about 2005). Scenes lampoon what appear to be various department heads at the lab in accomplished, humorous drawings. An uncommon glimpse into the internal bureacratic politics of an integral facility in the operations-chain of the highly-sensitive, Cold War-era U.S. nuclear program. Images here.

10. [The Scrapbook of an Accomplished Woman Foxhunter] CHAPLEAU, Pearl : [Scrapbooks] : [Dogs] Various, incl. Memphis, TN: [ca. 1937-1939] Folio. Commercial brown paper scrapbook album. Approximately 14 1/2" x 12 1/2." Relief proflie design of a Native American man in head dress to front with "Scrapbook" lettered in gold ink above. String bound through two plastic posts at left margin. 33 leaves with 16 original photographs, various clippings, ribbons, ephemeral scrap, etc... adhesive mounted at rectos and versos. Some active flaking from page edges, corners. One leaf loose from binding. Exterior clean, bright. Contents well preserved. About very good overall. The scrapbook of a Mrs. Pearl Polk Chapleau, a champion woman foxhunter of Tennessee. Born Pearl Polk in 1887, she was a prominent figure in the Southern and Gulf Coast foxhunting circuit, mainting a rotating pack of some 20-25 of the finest bred fox hounds in the United States from her family plantation in Hardeman County (just east of Memphis). Contents of the scrapbook record her activities from about 1937 to 1939 at AKC sponsored national events, as well as regional hunts and exhibitions staged by sanctioning bodies like the Gulf Coast Foxhunters' Association, Tri-State Foxhunters' Association, Southern States Foxhunters' Association, etc... largely in Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee.

The contents provide a rich and varied primary glimpse into pre-War foxhunting in the South as well as the pursuits of a woman active in a traditionally male dominated Southern subculture and include: 16 original photographs, including many enlarged views, capturing Pearl, her dogs, hunts, shows, etc... ; more than 70 prize ribbons from various shows ; dozens of article clippings on shows and her activities, etc... More images here.

$400

11. [Toledo Scales Photograph Album]

[Photography] : [BEL GEDDES, Norman] Various, including Toledo, Ohio: Toledo Scale Co., [ca. 1933]

4to. Commercial album. Smooth pebbled cloth over card boards. Single card leaf bound in front with manuscript note mounted and reading: "Photographs taken / No. 1000 - August 29, 1933 / No. 1100 - December 6, 1933" 100 silver print black and white photographs (each approximately 8" x 10") cloth hinged and clipped to adjustable binding straps at left margin (an unusual assembly and each print is easily removable). About 9 also cloth backed. Prints noticeably curled, the first three substantially so (to the point of being damaged). Otherwise, about good overall. Images here. A striking album of industrial, product, and commercial photography likely compiled as a salesman's album by the Toledo Scale Co. of Toledo, Ohio in 1933. Contents are about evenly divided between product images and retail and industrial settings for the company's line of scales with many evocative and rich views of general and grocery store interiors on the East Coast in Washington, D.C., Rhode Island, New Jersey and New York well represented.

The scale in a retail setting, particularly a Toledo brand scale, with its sterling reputation for accuracy touted by its ad slogan "No springs, honest weight," became an integral element of American commerce in the early part of the 20th Century and established a trust between merchant and customer, even if standardized weights and measures enforcement by governments lagged behind. Of note, important designer Norman Bel Geddes was employed by the Co. from about 1929-1933 in varios roles, including a reimagining of its flagship countertop scale. While his more ambitious designs seem to have never made it into production, his modernist contributions to the Toledo Scale are clearly evident in the product views and settings shown here. An accomplished and thorough visual document of an important American brand and product with relevance to multiple areas of interest during a specifically defined period of time (with a few exceptions, nearly all prints appear to have been executed in about September to November, 1933).

$950

12. THE PATRICIAN WE USED TO GO TO CALIFORNIA IN MAY 1955 [Outer Envelope Title - 13 Original Photographs]

[Photography] : [Automobilia] [Detroit]: [Packard Motor Car Company], 1955

$250

13 silver print black and white photographs. Single weight, bordered prints. Each approximately 8" x 10." In original outer manila envelope with a manusript descriptive sheet and business card laid-in. Discrete notations to prints versos in ink. Some mild, unobtrusive curling to print edges. Overall about near fine overall. Stark, likely professionally captured photographs, composed of a single side view of a 1955 Packard Patrician, followed by 12 detailed images of its various undercarriage componenets after an endurance test drive to California (likely departing from Detroit) in May of 1955. A single page of manuscript descriptive notes corresponds to internal catalog numbers written to print versos (11 of 13 with further info. on the sheet), likely compiled by a George H. Joly, a research project engineer with the Packard Co. whose business card is laid-in the envelope. The car, a short-lived luxury model in the then-struggling Packard line, experienced multiple mechanical issues on the trip, including a suspension failure and loss of power steering. General wear, along with images and descriptions of individual issues are pictured and recorded in the notes. Striking images. A clearly utilitarian visual record, though with an inherent and skillfully crafted brutalism emerging. Images here.

13. [Photo Albums of Dean Van Lines Indy Car Team, Jimmy Bryan Driver] [Photography] : [Auto Racing] [Indianapolis, Indiana]: O'Dell and Shields Studios, 1955-1956

$1000

Oblong 4tos. 2 matching albums. Black pebbled cloth over boards. Each lettered in light green ink to fronts. Holding a total of 32 (30 black and white ; 2 Kodacolor) photographs, each approximately 8" x 10." FIRST: 11 black and white silver print photographs, each approximately 8" x 10" ; each backed on cloth with cloth hinged through 2 metal screw binder posts at left margin. 1 Kodacolor 8" x 10" print under plastic overlay and adhesive mounted to cloth in same fashion. 4 prints with photographer's ink stamps to versos. Pastedown to interior of rear board heavily discolored. Otherwise contents clean. About very good. SECOND: 19 black and white silver print photographs, each approximately 8" x 10" ; each backed on cloth with cloth hinged through 2 metal screw binder posts at left margin. 1 Kodacolor 8" x 10" print under plastic overlay and adhesive mounted to cloth in same fashion. 3 prints with photographer's ink stamps to versos. Prints clean. About very good.

An engaging pair of photograph albums from the roadster-era at IndIanapolis capturing the 19551956 Indy and Champ car seasons of important car owner and California moving company magnate, Al Dean, with legendary driver Jimmy Bryan at the helm. Presumably Dean's albums, each is executed in a matching cloth with several photos stamped by the O'Dell and Shields Studios of Indianapolis, longtime contract photographers at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (majority of unstamped prints likely the work of O'Dell and Shields as well).

The 1955 album opens with last minute preparations for the 500 being performed on the newly built roadster (ordered by Dean, from West Coast car builder, Eddie Kuzma specifically for the '55 race) followed by several action views of the race itself, which saw Bryan lead 31 laps before a fuel pump failure put the car out of competition. A single print shows the #7 Champ car of Dean's (also with Bryan at the helm).

The 1956 album, with about twice as many photos as the first, captures the team's day at the 500 in similar fashion and includes an evocative shot of Bryan standing over the car, staring at the result of a blown tire around lap 100, which spun the #2 into the south infield, effectively ending any shot winning the race. 2 prints capture an awards banquet and the album's final 5 prints show the Dean/Bryan Champ Car team, which won the USAC Championship that year. While our photos here end with the 1956 season, Bryan and Dean notably took the same car across the Atlantic the year following to win the inaugural running of the 1957 Race of Two Worlds at Monza (Italy). a short-lived event which pitted the top drivers of Europe's F1 circuit against the American drivers of Indy. Bryan and Dean parted ways soon after and a rookie driver from Texas named A.J. Foyt went on to drive the car in 1958. It was damaged in Indy qualifying in 1959, then retired from competition. The car was restored sometime later and is currently on display as part of the permanent collection of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and Hall of Fame.

Bryan would go on to win the 1958 ‘500 for a different team and Dean would continue as one of the most successful and influential car owners in Indy history, launching the careers of Foyt and Mario Andretti in the decade following. Tragically, Bryan was killed in a Champ Car race at Langhorne Speedway in Pennsylvania in 1960 at the age of 34. His untimely demise, larger-than-life persona, and fierce competitive streak earned him a folk hero-like status in the sport. An evocative and, it seems, largely unpublished assembly of photographs with uncommonly intimate views of process and competition with association to multiple important figures in American motorsport history. The market for similar racing photography is tight and notably (and admittedly self-servingly), several Bryan pieces sold by Leland's Auction of Long Island as part of a larger racing collection in early 2017 eviscerated reserves. Images here.

14. [Vernacular Album of Florida Sprint Car Racing] [Florida]: [ca. 1950's]

$700

Oblong 4to. Black paper album. Green pebbled cloth over stiff card wraps. String bound through two plastic posts at left margin. 71 black and white silver print snapshots, each about 4" x 3." 69 prints mounted to rectos and versos of 10 leaves (66 of those loosely fitted into corner mounts, 3 adhered to page) ; 2 prints loose. About two sides with all prints appearing perished. A fantastic vernacular album of circa-1950's open wheel dirt track racing, centered around what appears to be a few different Florida tracks. Contents are undated and with almost no notation, but we believe these would have been some of the early USAC Sprint Car races held in the State in the 1950's dubbed, "The Florida Winter Sprint Car Series" which would become the annual beginnings to the largely Midwestern series' racing seasons. Many clear, fan-level views capture the enduring car designs of the era, racing action, car advertisements, spectators, and more in period black and white. An uncommon surviving visual record of post-War American auto racing. Images here.

15. [Photo Album of a North Carolina Tow Truck Driver]

[Photo Albums] : [Automobilia] : [Disaster] : [WARHOL, Andy] [Burlington, North Carolina]: 1963

$650

Oblong 4to. Black paper album. Padded vinyl over boards. String-bound through left margin. 17 black paper leaves with 41 snapshot photographs (37 black and white ; 4 color) mounted to rectos and versos along with dozens of pieces of ephmeral scrap and article clippings. Notated in white album pen, along with a title page illustration with the owner's monogrammed initials and date ("Dec. 1963"). Several large clippings along with an entire 1966 newspaper issue, laid in about the several blank pages at end. A few prints loose from original tape adhesive mounting, overall about good to very good. Images here.

The photo album-scrapbook of a Kenny Aumont Brown (1943-2016) of Burlington, North Carolina, documenting his circa 1962-1963 work as a tow truck driver for the Cobb Motor Co. and a passion for cars, their modification, amateur drag racing, etc... in more than 40 original vernacular snapshots as well as dozens of ephemeral articles and clippings.

The album's first page is decorated with an original monogram illustration of Brown's initials (KAB) in white album pen, along with the date, "Dec. 1963," at upper right. The verso of this introductory leaf holds a clipping from the May 19, 1963 issue of a local paper (likely the Burlington Daily Times News) which features a dramatic accident scene photograph, one which was appropriated by Andy Warhol in his "Green Car Crash" (also 1963). Brown has notated the image with the text: "WILL THEY EVER LEARN" and frequently notates accident scene clippings and photographs with similar commentary throughout.

Photographs capture the tow truck fleet of Cobb, along with interior views of the operation as well as shots of Brown's own garage he rather tongue-in-cheek-ly identifies as "Brown Speed Shop," site of the modification of his frequently pictured, souped-up 1949 Plymouth he identifies as: "My Own True Love." 2 prints of a likely amateur drag racing scene are opposite a TLS from the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles to Brown (one which he has notated as "NASTY LETTER" to the page), warning of his driver's license being in danger of suspension for speeding charges. A series of 7 photos of a decidedly more rural garage operation features several views of out-of-commission NASCAR racing cars, including a #43 Plymouth notated in Brown's hand as: "Car Witch[sic] Almost Killed Lee Petty." A sincere vernauclar production and rich visual record of Southern cultural association with the automobile, with elements of naive and contemporary overlap to an iconic Warhol.

16. [Depression-era Arkansas Family Photo Album]

[Vernauclar Photography] : [DISFARMER, Mike] [Little Rock, Arkansas]: [ca. 1930's]

$400

Oblong 4to. Commercial black paper album. Cloth decorated with a carnival motif over stiff card boards. String bound through left margin. 23 black paper leaves with about 180 snapshot and smaller black and white silver print photographs to rectos and versos (majority adhesive mounted, though many loosely fit into corner mounts). 10 additional prints laid-in loose (about 190 photographs total). At least 4 prints stamped to versos with: "Guaranteed Permanent / by / Reid's Studio / N. Little Rock, Ark." All leaves laid in album loose, torn from their original 2-hole punches at left margins. Most flaking lightly from edges. Contents about fair to good with many of the prints markedly better.

The Depression-era photograph album of a Little Rock, Arkansas family rich with vernacular portraiture contemporary to and redolent of the field portraits of famed fellow Arkansan, Mike Disfarmer.

A number of the prints bear the stamp of the North Little Rock, Reid's Studio at versos (we count at least 4 of those loosely fit into mounts, with more of the adhered prints likely stamped also). The Arkansas History Commission's online-available list of historic Arkansas photographers identifies a Graden D. Reid (a white male, born about 1899, according to census records) as likely propreitor and photographer. Whether Reid captured or simply processed the prints here is unknown, though the practice of field portraiture was known to have been carried out by Disfarmer. Noted collector Mike Mattis, writing in the afterword of DISFARMER: The Vintage Prints (Edwyn Houk Gallery, 2005), noted that: "Disfarmer's output was not wholly confined to the studio. Long-time residents of Heber Springs recall a gangly, Zorro-like figure in a black cloak riding about town on his horse, view camera and tripod at the ready, offering to photograph families relaxing on their porches [...] And on weekends he frequently set up his camera in Spring Park, a central gathering place for the young and young-at-heart." (pp.232)

The images here compose a rich and frequently striking vernacular record of Depression-era Arkansas. The subjects, dressed in the rural-style common in the era and locale, are often uncommonly commanded by the camera and its operator, Association with no one other than an anonymous photographer is implied by us, though the imagery, time period, and location suggest value worthy of preservation and scholarship to those interested in the work of Disfarmer or Southern vernacular photography in general. Images here.

17. [Diary Written in the Voice of a Three Year Old Child] [WHITWELL, Lois] : [Manuscripts] : [The Ozarks] [Ripley County, Missouri]: 1933

$600

12mo. Commercial diary. Green cloth over flexible card wraps. Title and commercial advertisement for front: "YEAR BOOK / 1933 / SHEMWELL INSURANCE AGENCY / DONIPHAN, MO." Printed, dated blanks for daily entries to rectos and versos of about 185 paper leaves. Entries in ink holograph cursive to about 90% of pages (most of January blank). Approximately 30,000 words in total. Small scuff to exterior lower wrap. Cursive neat, legible. Well preserved. About very good overall.

An unusual, original manuscript diary, kept by a Lois A. Whitwell (1899-1995) of rural Ripley County, Missouri (in the Ozarks region in the very south-central portion of the state near its border with Tennessee), entirely from the point of view of her 3-year old daughter, Maxine. The diary is written anonymously, though, an empty envelope laid in about the pages is addressed to a Maxine Alice Whitwell from an Aunt Bera. An Aunt Bera is mentioned within the contents and census records identify the family (father, Gene) and their location (Ripley County). Further, an archived obituary for Maxine (later Gerber, d.2015) notes her birtdate as February 2, 1930, which also matches to content within the journal. Aside from a brief entry on New Year's Day, the entire month of January is blank. A "Memorandum" page at the end of the month provides an introduction of sorts to the volume, which seems to have been initiated to mark the ocassion of Maxine’s 3rd birthday:

"The desire to tell stories for [Maxine] has greatly developed in the last three weeks. / She also has a series of animal friends (imaginative) her good fox, her bad fox, her wolf, etc, etc." From then on the entries are dutifully filled in, noting each day's activities from the point of view of Maxine:

"This evening as Nellie got supper I was capering[?] about in my new shoes and someway fell against the stove Daddy put up yesterday and burned my face on the left side, also my hand and wrist. Mother and Nellie applied unguentine and tho' I cried for a while I "called" mother for fretting[?] about mother's poor baby instead of Big Kitty's' little kitty. / All this supper I spent most of my time telling various tales of the accident." (February 9, 1933) "Mother and I played in the yard and on the steps with a blanket. She put me to bed earlier than common and lay with me till I went to sleep. This took quite a while as first I had mother tell me all the stories she would, then I told her all the stories she would listen to, and when she would listen no more, I went to sleep. / I told her of my good fox that dies and they "put in the tomb where Jesus was and he came alive again and went away to Jesus' home way up on the high hill." / Also, "my baby had a high fever and I called the doctor, etc, etc." And an old troll lived under a bridge and before I got thru with my story he was a good troll and had cooked dinner for my baby." (Sunday, April 30, 1933) "While Mother was at the store this forenoon I got some chewing gum in my hair. I told grandmother to "go away" when she came to see why I insisted on holding my hand on my head. Finally I got so ill at ease I went out on the front walk and walked back and forth and back and forth. Getting tired of this I at last lay down on the walk but kept my hand over the gum in my hair and at last Miss Eve discovered my trouble. They tried rubbing alcohol and witch hazel in turn and it wouldn't cut the gum so grandmother took me to mother to ask for her advice. She suggested turpentine so that was used next and worked. I got tired but grandmother said I was quite patient thru the whole ordeal of gum extraction and washing." (August 19, 1933) Lois (nee Beauchamp), was born to a farming family near Kansas City. Census records state she graduated high school, though we glean little else of her life in typical reference. Maxine spent a career as a home economics teacher in the region and passed in 2015. A rich and intriguing manuscript from the rural Midwest and one of the more endearingly original womens literary items we’ve handled.

18. THE TILLMAN'S - Their Life and Times 1950-1951 [Interior Title - Original Photograph Album] [African-Americana] : [Photo Albums] Various, including Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 1950-1953

$300

Oblong 4to. Commercial black paper album. 97 black and white silver print photographs (mostly approximately 5" x 3 1/2" snapshots) loosely fit into corner mounts at rectos and versos of 20 leaves. Prints notated to page throughout. 4 pages with text only in large cursive, white album pen holograph. Leaves torn loose from mounting holes, set in loose to album. Original order appears preserved. Leaves flaking from edges. Prints well preserved. Album a bit messy, though photographs remain about very good or better. A well executed visual record of the early 1950's travel and chilhood expereince of a middle class African-American family in Philadelphia: An album of vernacular family and travel photography compiled by the Theodore Tillman family of Philadelphia. The first 20 images captured on a road trip to California, "A delayed honeymoon" as it's referred to in the manuscript introductory leaf. The balance of photographs, 75+ well executed and creatively captioned prints, are of Theodore Jr., from infancy into toddlerhood (about age 3 or 4). The family appears to move from a row house at 6448 Clearview St. (on the city's north side) to a decidedly more suburban home towards the end of the approximatlely 3 years captured here (about 1950-1953). The elder Tillman appeared repeatedly in late 1960's issues of EBONY magazine as one of the nation's top salesman for the New York Life Insurance Company. More images here.

19. [World War II-era African-American Family Photo Album]

[Vernacular Photography] : [African-Americana] [Franklinton, North Carolina]: [ca. 1940's] 12mo. Album. Grey cloth over boards. 50 black and white snapshot photographs, about half loosely fit into mounting corners, about half adhered to rectos and versos of 23 card leaves. Leaves separated by tissue guards. Majority of images captioned, either to page or over print itself. Prints range in size from approximatley 1 1/2" x 2" to 3 1/2" x 5" 3 of the prints hand-tinted ; 1 print appears perished. Outer cloth worn, threadbare at spine. Portion of an original snap-closure assembly appears perished. Overall about good or better. A compact and charming album belonging to an African-American family of the surname Person, likely residing in Franklinton, Franklin County, North Carolina, a small community just north of Raleigh (location is not explicity identified within, though census records seem to provide an accurate match). 50 images, including about 12 portrait studio views, capture family and friends, including a Dawkins family, likely cousins or close friends, of Union, Union County, South Carolina.

Highlights include several military images, a portrait of a pregnant woman revealing her belly, and a couple of lovely, hand-colored "arcade" studio portraits of young women. An uncommon surviving vercacular glimpse into the domestic and military experience of a Southern African-American family the World War II-era.

$500