Category: Retro & Vintage

Fred G. Johnson’s Contributions To The World: Sideshow Banners

The Picasso of circus art.

Fred G. Johnson’s (1892 – 1990) banners were used to illustrate A Century of Progress for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair His artwork also advertised the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey and Clyde Beatty circuses.

Hired by banner painter Harry Carlton Cummins to clean equipment and stick up banners, Cummins taught Johnson how to paint them, which he did, producing as many as four a day. The art is fast, subjective and made to deadline.

Not to be confused with the great Fred Johnson, bass singer for The Marcels.

[Images and story found here, via here. ]

The .Gif Friday Post No. 746 – Toe Tapping, Ducks Trotting, & Jeannette MacDonald’s Legs

[Found here, here and here.]

Sixth Avenue Between 43rd and 44th Streets, New York, 1948

Todd Webb composed Sixth Avenue Between 43rd and 44th Streets, New York, 1948 from eight separate images. It depicts the west side of Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and 44th Streets, taken on the afternoon of March 24, 1948. Realizing he had to work fast to retain the same light, Webb plotted the shoot beforehand, lining up the edges of each photo with chalk marks on the sidewalk. The image was exhibited at the 1958 Brussels Worlds Fair, and he became internationally recognized as the “historian with a camera.”

“Where am I off to? Gonna check out a record store on 6th. I’ll be back in  a few. Weeks.”

What a treat for the earballs. Imagine what the people of 1948 considered oldies.

[Record store photo found here. Panorama (with caption) and others from here thanks to a Tineye search.]

Farts are funny.

London England: “A Victorian couple trying not to laugh while getting their portraits done, 1890s.”

[Image found here.]

La Historia del Juego de Golf

 

GOLF

The origin of this sport is from India where it was played with hollow balls that were thrown by some players at others by means of wooden clubs. This game was adopted in England, which introduced many modifications, and has been played since the end of the 19th century in almost the entire world.The French claim that it originates from a similar game that was played in France in the fourteenth century, with the Italians, Dutch and us Spaniards also claiming its paternity.

______________________

“TERMOSAN PENCIL”
Against Pain, Shock and Congestion
Modern solid embrocation. Does not take up space. Not stain. Decongests without irritating. No bad smell, it is not fragile and it is applied as it is presented.
Large tube, 4.45 ptas. Small tube, 3 ptas.
J. BARGUÑO ~ BARCELONA

Cha toil leis na h-Albannaich an dreach sin de dh’eachdraidh.

[1920s Spanish trading card found in here.]

Saturday Matinee – Bobby Banas, Booker T. & the M.G.s, Zontar Venus, and MonoNeon w/ Davey Nathan,

He was 30 years old when he ripped up The Judy Garland Show in 1964. From the Utoobage comments:
“The ‘Best Boy Dancer’ happened to be the choreographer for this dance. His name is Bobby Banas. He also played Joyboy in Westside story.”
I’d say the girl did a bang up job but she got no credit.

Al Jackson Jr., Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, Booker T. Jones,
aka Booker T. & the M.G’s, groovin’ in 1971.

Zontar Venus. You’re on you’re own with this one. [h/t Gord S.]

Modern soulfunkgroove (with some serious technical music skills embedded).
MonoNeon: lead vocal, background vocals, guitar, bass;
Davy Nathan: keyboards, drum programming.

Guess that’ll do for now. Hope the summer heat is cooling down to a  more tolerable level for y’all, and remember: it ain’t the heat, it’s the humanity. See you back here tomorrow.

%d bloggers like this: