Summertime in Detroit: The Sun is shinning & the humidity is climbing!
In town, between working on the road, and checking out an occasional estate sale. Thought I'd give one near my original residence a chance.
I'm interested in anything that was "....made in Detroit." From a cultural perspective as well as a personal one.
Viola! Old Detroit neighborhood....old house....what more could ya ask for?
Clothing & furniture(some very nice stuff, by the way) on the ground floor. Upstairs off limits.....no garage....so into the basement I went....with my trusty flashlight I braved the musty cellar.....
And what was waiting for me you ask? Tucked away in a secluded closet was this gem: a J. L. Hudson's bottle of "double distilled" Witch Hazel!
Label is a bit wrinkled....but in grand shape despite its buried environment...
Even the original price tag....price long ago faded into oblivion!
Another piece of DETROIT history: "Love Poem to a Black Junkie" by Paulette C. White!
Mrs. White's 1st published book of poetry....1975 1st edition.....and signed to boot!
Pulled out of an old suitcase!
And lastly...an ancient Merck & Co benzocaine medicine bottle!
Merck & Co has been around since 1891,,,and is still one of the drug companies in the world!
Benzocaine is used in cough drops & is a pain killer! Dig the "old-school" cork stopper!
I was (and still will) going to blog about some of the other relics I've come across in the past few weeks....but todays finds demanded that I give them "their due" ASAP.
It was a hoarder sale....one of those houses practically exploding with junk. Packed to the rafters with treasures of all sorts.
As ramshackle a sale as I've ever been too....the upstairs packed with old newspapers and magazines from days of old to the present.
I braved the mildewy stench, as did a few brave others, just to see what may have been hidden beneath the rubble...and there I found it.
Cover design by Rex Cleveland of Rhinelaner, WI (Home of the HODAG!)
An "Art" magazine of sorts. "Success" from 1933.....never heard of any such mag....for a buck who could go wrong?
Well....a little research filled in the blanks....remember those adds in the back of old comic books & Sports Illustrated that asked "Do you like to draw?" Yuppers, this magazine was basically an advertisement for the company selling the home course teaching a person to become a "Commercial Artist."
The front cover has the remnants of some 1968 "Happy Easter" stamps stuck to it....I'm not going to attempt to remove them....why damage the cover?
"The Federal School of Applied Cartooning, founded in 1914 as a branch of the Bureau of Engraving, Inc., to train illustrators for both the growing printing industry and the Bureau itself. Artists who received this training through these home study courses entered the fields of newspapers, printing and advertising.[1] Joseph Almars (1884–1948), who was born in Minneapolis, was both the vice president of the Bureau of Engraving and the president of Art Instruction, Inc."
A pretty snazzy way to show off the people who had actually completed the courses and gone on to a career as an artist! Charles M.Schulz, the creator of the PEANUTS comics (Charlie Brown & Snoopy....you blockhead!) was an instructor for the school at one time!
Anywhoo....this ancient mag is from 1933 and has some awesome art in its pages....some brilliant examples of "Art Deco" and "Art Nouveau"!
Lets assume the magazine was sent to a "Ms. Jean A. Watch" of apartment 12B
And now...the art! Enjoy!
Magazine is in great shape.
