Quote and Credit

Quote and Credit

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Hero Dog Born in Antarctica Tom Pratt (and his buddy Charles Lofgren) Rppc





A Real Photo Post Card circa 1935 of Charles E. Lofgren personnel officer of the Byrd expedition to  Antarctica in 1928. 

I found numerous mentions of C. E. Lofgren, but I was really interested in the dog.  Not only because I used to have a dog named Crispus who looked quite a bit like the husky here, but also because the dog obviously did the real work! 

It appears the dog was one Tom Pratt!  He WAS a hero, and was retired after his super dog achievement to tour the country in a rumble seat!   The Byrd exhibition set up camp at "Little America"  and stayed at the South Pole a while, long enough for Tom Pratt to be born there.  Which would mean Tom Pratt only pulled a sled out, not in. 

Did I say Tom Pratt retired?  Um…nope.  in 1937 it is reported Tom was pulling Santa in a Christmas parade in Lawrence, Kansas!  How embarrassing. They still made him work?  Well, my Malamute loved to pull, so I guess it was alright.  In 1933 Tom  was reported not only to weigh 170 pounds (!) but to be on the road entertaining school children in Pittsburgh.

When Tom Pratt "…was a pup he played with the penguins" according to the Pittsburgh Press of March 15, 1933.  He tugged supplies from a boat 800 miles to the camp.  I've made plenty of 800 mile drives.  It takes two days, and in the hotel room halfway through I'm exhausted.  Tom had to do the whole trip, more than once, with his paws!

Lofgren kept Tom on the road a long time.  They toured the country for years by automobile, covering some 100,000 miles. All I can say is "GOOD dog!"  My dog had the same grin.  


As you can see here, Lofgren liked his dogs…he was breeding them ten years before the exhibition according to the Field Dog Stud Book.
C.E. Lofgren and his hero dog Tom Pratt Real Photo Postcard circa 1935 
collection Jim Linderman

Folk Art Sculpture Vintage Red-Headed Woodpecker

Folk Art Sculpture Vintage Red-Headed Woodpecker Collection Jim Linderman
Books and Ebooks by the author HERE

The Miniature Dollhouse Murder Scenes of Frances Glessner Lee Folk Art Forensics

I don't think anyone will mind me posting the entire Police Detective article from the 1950s which tells the story of the amazing murder scene reconstructions Francess Glessner Lee created to help train detectives.  Amazing little works, and each costing around three grand to make!  There was a nice documentary produced some 50 years after this article was written.  It's a good show, and it is streaming in meticulous mayhem color.  Movie trailer at end.



The film Of Dolls and Murder tells the story, and it is streaming on Netflix.  Never have dollhouses
looked do gruesome.  
It's a good story.

Folk Art Carving Miniature Sculpture Family Tree


A folk art miniature carving entirely from one piece of wood, even the tree.  Dated 1945, and likely a gift to honor a soldier home, or to encourage the start of a family tree!  A mere 3 inches tall, with original paint.  

Folk Art Carving of a Couple  1945 Collection Jim Linderman

My Balls in a Cage Folk Art Sculpture of Wooden Whimsy


Folk Art Whittled Whimsy.  How to carve a ball in a cage?  Step number one is turn off the TV. The rest is HERE
Collection of Folk Art Carvings Mid 20th Century Collection Jim Linderman

Halloween at Dull Tool Dim Bulb Jim Linderman Self-Portrait 2014


 
This Halloween, I'm going with Big Baby...
Self-Portrait Jim Linderman 2014

A Family Tree of Tintypes



Friend Deanna Dahlsad wrote to share this family tree made of tintypes(!)  You can read about the object HERE on the Fair Oaks Antiques website.  The link tells the story of the find, other "tree" photographs and the availability.

Essential New Projects on Vernacular Photography and Arkansas Roots Music from Dust to Digital




I have always speculated (to myself) that Arkansas is one of the last undiscovered regions for the study of American folk art, vernacular art forms and music.  Not the traditional South, not the traditional West...but a state rich with a fascinating history and fascinating people.  Dust to Digital once again has hit the mark with a pair of beautiful releases which go a long way towards revealing the secrets of Arkansas. The Book?  Making Pictures: Three for a Dime.

"In the 1930s, the Massengill family of rural Arkansas built three portable photography studios on old truck frames, attached each to the back of any car that would run, and started a mobile photo booth business that would last for a decade. Without formal training or help, the Massengill family invented and improvised ways to mimic the popular photo booths they had seen in drugstores and brought their business to the dirt roads and open fields they knew well. Making Pictures: Three for a Dime, featuring Massengill family prints and photo albums collected by the artist Maxine Payne, illuminates a sliver of the Depression-era South previously unseen by the public."

The Music?  Corn Dodgers &  Hoss Hair Pullers.

“For the traveling recording men of the late 1920s, Arkansas offered enticing pickings. The region was thronged with vigorous, idiosyncratic stringbands… Scarcely more than a decade, but a period, in music as in all American life, of galvanic change.” – Tony Russell, from the album’s liner notes 

I can only say ESSENTIAL.  Be you collector, library, museum?  This pair of high-quality packages from Dust to Digital are required.