Poster for the “Rossow Midgets”, printed by H.C. Miner Lithography Co, c. 1897. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LOC #C257486.

Okay, I’m still a little on the dragonfly kick. A search of dragonfly-themed graphics lead me also to this one – a performing arts poster from c. 1897. It advertises the “Rossow Midgets” featuring “Mlle. Chalet – The Bounding Queen”. I think the depiction of her fitting on top of a dragonfly is a bit fanciful, but is a fun graphic none-the-less.

In the 19th c., many dwarfs and midgets and other ‘short people’ (no disrespect meant in the term!) turned to displaying themselves as oddities to make a living. While we might find the idea wrong or degrading – and it likely was degrading  – it was one of the few means of making a living available to them at the time. This image, however, seems more fanciful than anything else – presenting the performers almost as faeries (fairies).

I found this Victorian gem in the Library of Congress digital collections. Click on the image to view it /download it full-sized.

Peace,

Bekka

Lithographed poster ad for ‘Velocipede Tobacco’, 1874. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LOC #LC-USZC4-4307.

Today’s image is from 1874 and is an ad for ‘Velocipede Tobacco’. The velocipede was the precurser to the bicycle, where at first it didn’t have pedals – you pushed along with your feet. Eventually there were foot rests for when you were coasting, and then, as you see here, pedals on the front. But there were no breaks!

This ad was aimed at men – the girl here is being daring – first by riding a velocipede, and then by showing her legs under her skirts. It just goes to show that ‘sexy women’ sell – this woman is the ancestress of the bikini clad women we find in beer ads now.

I put this up today because yesterday I got on a bicycle for the first time in at least15 years. I stopped riding bikes when I developed fibromyalgia. It hurt too much. But now I’m on a better pain med, and my kids all have bikes; so I figured my husband and I could get bikes and we could go for family rides. This is good. It also means I can go on bike rides to try and lower my weight (I’m 60 lbs overweight and the extra weight makes it even harder on my joints).

Well, we’ve been without a second car for awhile, and we finally found one through our local repair shop (RadAir - whom I highly recommend if you live in the Cleveland / Akron OH area). Well, my husband has the van, so I had to find some way to go to the bank (to get a cashier’s check) and then the repair shop to purchase the car. Enter the bicycle….

There I was, cruising down the street, wearing my daughter Ana’s helmet (the only adult helmet we have -I have to get my own yet), and praying I could keep my balance after all this time. After a bit it got better, then it got exhilarating. I even remember my hand signals for left turn, right turn, and stop! I was achy later, but I proved I could ride the bike still.

To see this lovely lady full-size, click on the graphic. I got this image from the Library of Congress digital collections.

Peace,

Bekka

Accordian. Line drawing by Pearson Scott Foresman, released into the public domain via Wiki Commons.

As promised, I’m featuring a few of Pearson Scott Foresman’s public domain line drawings. Foresman has uploaded dozens of drawings to Wikipedia Commons and marked them as ‘Public Domain’, so much so that he has several categories all to himself – including one of his PD art!

I’m going to be featuring a few of my favorites by him that I have saved in my graphics collection, but you are welcome to go and search through them for yourself! Obviously, I don’t have the time or space to feature them all.

Thank you Mr. Foresman!

Peace,

Bekka

Cover of ‘Photoplay’ magazine, featuring Lillian Gish, December, 1921. From Wikipedia Commons.

I thought I would include one more image of Lillian Gish – this time a Photoplay magazine cover from 1921. (I won’t repeat the bio I included yesterday, though). This image I found on Wikipedia Commons. Click to view it / download it full-sized.

Peace,

Bekka

Actress Lillian Gish, 1922. From the Library of Congress, George Grantham Baine Collection, LOC #LC-USZ62-101391.

Lillian Gish (1893-1993) is best known for her silent films. Lillian’s mother and younger sister Dorothy were both actresses as well, and she was born in Springfield, Ohio, in 1993. She became friends with Mary Pickford, another famous silent film actress; and Pickford introduced her to the famous director D. W. Griffith.

During the silent film era, she achieved fame as one of Griffith’s heroines in a slew of his movies, including Birth of a Nation and Orphans of the Storm.

At the advent of talkies in 1928, she moved to stage acting for awhile, including playing Ophelia in Hamlet in 1936 opposite John Gielgud. She returned to the movies in 1946, with a supporting role in Duel in the Sun, for which she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress oscar.

From the 1950s through the 1980s, she appeared periodically on television,  and also appeared occasionally on Broadway.

She remained an advocate for the preservation of silent films until the end of her life, giving speeches and attending screenings of famous silent films. She received a Special Academy Award in 1971 and an American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as well.

Her last film appearance was in 1987 at the age of 93. She died in her sleep of natural causes in 1993, at the age of 99. She never married or had children.

You can read more about her in the Wikipedia article about her (from where I got most of the info in this brief bio).

Click on the image to see it / download it full-sized.

Peace,

Bekka

‘The Lord of the Manor’ by Edmund Blair Leighton (1853-1922). From Wikipedia Commons.

As you’ve probably realized by now, if you’ve read my blog any length of time, Edmund Blair Leighton is one of my favorite artists. I thought this painting by him to be wonderfully appropriate for Mother’s Day. It’s called ‘The Lord of the Manor’. (I found this image on Wikipedia Commons.)

My kids are giving me a very nice Mother’s Day – I hope those of you who are mothers, grandmothers, and aunts are also having a nice one.

Click the image to view / download it full-sized.

Peace,

Bekka

‘Beauty in a Black Kimono’, c. 1710-1720 by Torii Kiyonobu (1664-1729). Found on Wikipedia Commons.

Okay, I’m back. It’s been a long week. I have recovered from having abscessed teeth, an infection, and turning 42. Okay, you don’t exactly ‘recover’ from turning another year older, but since birthdays have never really bothered me, it actually helped me feel better. Besides, according to Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series, I am now ‘the answer’. Just don’t ask me what the question is. *grin*

Today’s image is artwork by one of the great Japanese printmakers of the Edo period, Torii Kiyonobu I, who, along with his father, was one of the founders of the Torii style / school of painting. I found this lady to be elegant and mysterious, which, I have to admit, is how I wish I was. I haven’t exactly reached that goal, but it never hurts to dream.

Torii Kiyonobu was born around 1664 in Osaka, the second son of actor and painter Torii Kiyomoto. He and his father moved to Edo

(modern day Tokoyo) around 1688, where Kiyonobu established himself as a painter and printmaker. The Torii school has had an association from the beginning, which continues to the present day, with the kabuki theaters. Much of Kiyomoto’s style is bold, partially because much of his work was posters and other material for the theaters.

Torii Kiyonobu’s son was also a printmaker and had the same name, and so they are refered to as Torii Kiyonobu I and II to differentiate them.

There is a brief article about him on the English Wikipedia, which you can read here.

Peace,

Bekka

“Portrait of a Young Woman” by Gustave Jean Jacquet (1846-1909), date of painting unknown. From the Public Domain Graphics email list.

Here is a portrait of a lovely young woman by Victorian French artist Gustave Jean Jacquet (1846-1909). I got this from one of my (rather quiet) email lists – Public Domain Art. I have no date for the painting or even who the beautiful lady is, but it was certainly painted before 1909 and thus is public domain. Enjoy!

Click on the image to see it / download it full-sized.

Peace,

Bekka

Ad for ‘Wick Fancy Hat Bands’, showing spectators at a baseball game (all with fancy hat bands), c. 1910. Artist unknown. From the Library of Congress digital collections – LOC #LC-DIG-ppmsca-18476.

Baseball season is upon us (though my team isn’t doing as well as I’d hoped). I found this ad (from c. 1910)  in my collection, advertising ‘Wick Fancy Hat Bands’, and showing spectators at a baseball game. You can tell it’s a baseball game by the catcher in the bottom left of the picture. Of course, everyone in the stands is wearing a hat with a fancy hat band! One woman waves a pennant, and a man in the back row is shouting through a megaphone! At the bottom right it urges the consumer to “Cheer Up- Show your Colors!”, presumably with your hat band!

This poster is from the Library of Congress digital collections, Prints and Photographs Division. Click to download it or view it full-sized.

Peace,

Bekka