Sometimes I wish kids DIDN'T play with their toys. "Jazzbo Jim the Dancer on the Roof" 1925

Clockwork tin litho Jazzbo Jim, The Dancer On The Roof manufactured by Unique Art Mfg. Co.

The toy has an interesting and popular history. Tin litho clockwork "jiggers" or dancing toys were produced over a period of nearly 50 years. They were based on similar wooden and composite toys which had been around since after the Civil War.

Following World War I, Ferdinand Strauss became  the first U.S. company to produce the toy. Marx was the first U.S. company to patent the mechanism. Marx purchased the dies from the Strauss company when they went bankrupt in 1921. Marx also briefly produced a coin operated version . As one of their earliest and most popular toys, Marx subcontracted the C.E. Carter company to produce the jigger toy for them under the Carter name. Marx eventually purchased the Carter company in 1922.

Not to be outdone, Unique Art came out with their own version which was identical to the original Strauss toy (the Marx toy did not have a banjo and had some litho differences). Unique Art also copyrighted the Jazzbo Jim name in 1925.

However, the German company Lehmann was the first to produce a tin litho clockwork jigger in 1912. Battery operated and wind-up versions were still being manufactured by Linemar in Japan as late as the mid-1950's. in the early 20's. Of the three U.S. manufacturer's it's been my experience that the clockwork version by Unique Art is the most difficult to find.

Basically, all you do is wind 'er up, switch the side lever from stop to start, and Jim quickly "jumps" and spins (also called "buck and wing"). It works great! The toy is colorfully detailed, however the Unique Art trademark on the bottom of the cabin was the most intricately designed panel.
The box was printed with an illustration of Jim high steppin' on the cabin roof. A short set of instructions was included on the cover. The side panels feature the toy name in quaint, colorful text. (courtesy Grand Old Toys)

I have this much of Jazzbo Jim in stock right now. Perfect for a restoration project because the parts I have are in great condition. It is available for purchase here.

Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (1887-1976)

No question that one of the most important figures in the Allies winning World War II was Field Marshall "Monty" Montgomery. He defeated Erwin Rommel and "The Desert Fox" in North Africa that was made famous in the movie by the same name. He also was a thorn in General Pattons side as they rushed to liberate Italy. They were extremely
competitive. Check out the movie "Patton" to see Pattons thoughts regarding Monty.
This original oil is signed indistinctly on the lower right corner. I have included a couple photos of the signature. It is extremely painterly and well done. A perfect addition to the collection of a World War II, anglophile or British military history buff. I love this painting. It is 6" x 8" and is on masonite. It is available for sale here.

Affordable and stylish mid-century pottery? Try some English-made pieces by The Hornsea Pottery (1949-2012).

When I think of mid-century modern pottery, German and Italian makers come to mind first. Today I learned about The Hornsea Pottery in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They were in business only from 1949-2012 but they hired designers like Dorothy Marion Campbell, Alan Luckham and John Clappison, son of one of the founders Phillip Clappison. From these people, came the stylish and contemporary range of products that are in demand today. In the 1960's the factory could not keep up with production of John Clappisons "Heirloom" collection which had been accepted and won awards from The Design Council.

Heirloom tableware by John Clappison. Photograph: Antique Collectors' Club

The second of their two factories went into receivership in the year 2000 and ultimately closed completely in 2012. The factory buildings no longer exist but there is a Hornsea Pottery Museum.
"Over 2,000 pieces from the pottery's beginnings in 1949 to 2000 are on display in two converted 18th century cottages in Hornsea Museum in Newbegin, the main street of Hornsea. Geoffrey Hindle, (Jolley Geoff); son of Bob Hindle, the driving force behind the very successful sales organisation; also nephew of Desmond Rawson, has spent many hours recording both of their life's work, donated all the family's pieces of pottery and many photographs to help the collection's guardians Carol Harker and Museum founder Dr Stuart Walker tell the full story of the company's success and eventual demise. The Intellectual Properties of Hornsea Potteries including all the designs and trade marks were acquired at the time of receivership by Hornsea Potteries Intellectual Properties Ltd. Most of the designs are digitized and will be reissued both in the original format and as appropriate consumer goods". (courtesy Wiki)

John Clappison obituary

Innovative designer who created bestselling ranges for Hornsea Pottery

John Clappison at work at Hornsea Pottery. Photograph: Antique Collectors' Club

John Clappison, who has died aged 75, was a prolific and innovative designer who came to the forefront of British pottery after the second world war. He wanted to improve the quality of design and production for a mass market, and at Hornsea Pottery created some of the most popular ranges available in the UK from the 1950s through to the 80s.
He later commented that working in the Yorkshire coastal town of Hornsea, while the pottery industry was centred on Stoke-on-Trent, helped him develop his own unique response to contemporary design. John understood the possibilities, but more importantly the limitations, of the Hornsea company and its workforce. Handpainted decoration in the "contemporary" style of the popular Midwinter Pottery was not possible at Hornsea, as it was very costly; and the idea of using transfer-printed sheets was also ruled out as being far too expensive for such a small works. These limitations prompted John to experiment with new shapes, glaze and decorative techniques, which resulted in well-known ranges such as Summit and Home Decor, both from 1960.
John, the son of a butcher, Philip Clappison, and his wife, Enith, was born in Hull, east Yorkshire, into a family that appreciated the arts. After attending the local school, John gained a place at the High School for Arts and Crafts in Hull in 1950, soon followed by studies at the Hull Regional College of Arts and Crafts, where he gained a national diploma in design, specialising in ceramics.
The Hornsea Pottery was a relatively new business, having been established in 1949, by two brothers, Desmond and Colin Rawson. A year later their friend Philip Clappison, having sold his butcher's shop, invested in the pottery. This gave the young John the opportunity to experiment and develop his ideas in ceramics and led to successful lines including his Elegance range of vases, gift wares and dishes, launched in 1955.

John Clappison's Elegance range for Hornsea Pottery. Photograph: Antique Collectors' Club

As trade increased, in 1957 the Rawson brothers arranged for John to spend a year at the Royal College of Art in London, where he specialised in industrial design and ceramics. Having already gained considerable hands-on experience, he felt he learned little at the RCA and instead spent a lot of time studying the collections in the Victoria and Albert Museum and visiting department stores such as Heal's. He was awarded the faculty of industrial design certificate in ceramics, but decided to return to Yorkshire, where in 1958 he was appointed chief designer for the Hornsea Pottery.
John continued to innovate throughout the 60s with different decorative techniques and, importantly, a new printing technique which screen-printed a resist medium on to the biscuit wares before glazing, so that the glaze covered the unprinted parts of the design, creating contrasting semi-matt areas. The thicker glaze created a relief effect that enhanced the design. This technique was successfully exploited by Hornsea to produce bestselling tablewares such as Heirloom, launched in 1967, and Saffron, from 1970. These new ranges were much admired in the trade press and copied by other manufacturers.

Saffron tableware by John Clappison. Photograph: Antique Collectors' Club

In 1972 John resigned his position at Hornsea, becoming the chief designer for Ravenhead Glass in Lancashire, where he created lines including Siesta, Solar and Topaz. His 1973 Barmasters range for licensed premises sold in the hundreds of millions.

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He eventually rejoined Hornsea Pottery in 1976, soon producing the new Impact range which was accepted on to the Design Council Index, quite an achievement for a small pottery manufacturer. But Hornsea suffered in the recession of the early 1980s, and attempts to recover through changes in management and design policy failed to save the company. When Hornsea went into receivership in 1984 John found a new position as head shape designer at Royal Doulton, working for a range of factories such as Royal Albert and Minton. He retired, due to ill-health, in 1998.
I met John when he talked to collectors about his work at a ceramic study weekend in Stoke-on-Trent and later consulted him for my book Twentieth Century Ceramic Designers in Britain (2001).
He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, whom he married in 1966, and their sons, Mark and Jonathan.
• William John Clappison, industrial designer, born 27 June 1937; died 21 February 2013

 (courtesy of The Guardian)
 If you are interested in a great mid-century to 1970's look Hornsea Pottery can be found on all the major online sources and is extremely affordable. Nice pieces can be found for under $20. Here are a few examples I found on Etsy where we have our online store.

Available here for $45

Available here for $32

Available here for $65

Available here for $6.50

Available here for $14

Available here for $25

Incredible mid-century Scandinavian rugs and carpets from the inventory of Doris Leslie Blau.

These are amazing and truly works of modern art. You can see and buy these, and all of Doris' inventory here

 

G.H Davis (1881-1963) Artist for The Illustrated London News.

Last night I came upon a fascinating website JF Ptak Science Books  "A Daily History of Holes, Dots, Lines, Science, History, Math, the Unintentional Absurd & Nothing 11.6 million words, 7000 images". I learned of a fascinating artist I had never heard of, G.H. Davis from Great Britain. If you know me at all, you know I love "obsessiveness" in drawing and painting and this guys "exploded" and cut-away illustrations are awesome. Remember newspapers were the only source of information for most people on a daily basis so these drawings must have really helped people understand what was going on.

The Illustrated First World War website supplied this short bio.

George Horace Davis was born on 8 May 1881 in Kensington, London, and educated at Kensington Park College and Ealing School of Art.
He worked as a freelance artist and during the First World War served with distinction with the Royal Flying Corps (later the Royal Air Force), using his experience to create portrayals of aerial combat, a number of which were published in The Sphere.
He is best known as a “special artist” for The Illustrated London News for whom he began to work in 1923. His first drawing, a visual explanation of the use of wireless in small boats, reflected his speciality, which was in creating diagrammatic drawings that educated and informed readers of advances in science, technology, transport and warfare.
Aside from this, he created fascinating cutaway drawings of buildings such as 10 Downing Street, the Savoy Hotel, Westminster Abbey and even the new reptile house at London Zoo. The scope and detail of his work is utterly without peer.
It is estimated that in the 40 years he worked at ILN, his full-page and double-page illustrations occupied around 2,500 pages of the paper, each one painstakingly researched and requiring an informed understanding of his subject, whether it was a V2 rocket during the Second World War, or the interior of the Queen Mary ocean liner.
George Davis continued to work into his eighties. At the time of his death in late 1963, the ILN had a number of his recently completed drawings in the office, awaiting publication.

Color chart with names from the Russel Wright Pottery, Steubenville, Ohio. Mid-century dinnerware manufacturer.

Vintage Muskie Reel from northern Wisconsin. Pflueger "Rocket" Model 1355. Star drag, anti-reverse ca.1950's.

Picked this up today from an old timer. He had a blue velvet bag in his hand when he came in. This reel has been in that bag for almost 50 years. I didn't clean it or polish it at all, this is how I got it. It's not a rare reel at all but I wanted to show you how clean it is. This reel on a vintage St. Croix rod with a big old bucktail would catch you a muskie today. You can buy this reel here

Important collection of Grateful Dead memorabilia. Nearly 400 items acquired by a former employee of the band. Bidding open right now.

Let me first say I have no interest in the success or failure of this incredible auction. I do not own and am not brokering any of it. Also, I am in no way endorsing the provenance or authenticity of these items. This is a public auction so do your homework.

All that being said this is the most amazing collection of Grateful Dead memorabilia I have ever seen. Original song lyrics, hand painted posters, back stage passes and laminates, original paintings and other artwork, tons of autographs and ephemera, band worn clothes, furniture from the home office in San Francisco and even an old car the band tooled around in back in the day. Here are a few of my favorite items. Be forewarned, stuff is not cheap. To see the items and bid go here

 Bid here 

 Bid here

Bid here

 

Bid here

Bid here

Bid here

Bid here

Bid here

Bid here

Bid here

Bid here

You can see the entire catalog of 391 items here

1893 Columbian Exposition Chicago, Illinois

Aren't these beautiful?

Yikes! Big wreck at the vintage and classic sports car event at Goodwood Racecourse in England.

 Just A Car Guy said it best "Oh Shit"

"Check out these incredible images of the moment Jochen Mass, driving a Mercedes SLS 300 ‘Porter Special’, worth an estimated £4million, crashes into the back of Tony Wood’s Lister-Jaguar Knobbly at Goodwood.

There has been the usual differences of opinion on who is to blame. The accident occurred during qualifying as Wood was entering the pits. Thankfully neither driver was hurt.

A spokesman for Goodwood Motorsport said “Unfortunately, neither car was able to be repaired in time to take part in Sunday’s race and neither driver was able to take any further part in the on-track action.” I found these at justacarguy.com 

you also can read about it at motorsportretro.com

Autoweek.com had these photos from before the wreck and had this to say: