© Frank H. Jump
February, 2008:
Plexiglass – before graffiti – South Williamsburg, Brooklyn
© Frank H. Jump
I’ve recently posted this ad and have noticed that it has gotten some traffic. Here is the sign before the “graffiti artist” got to it. Hurry advertisers!
©Frank H. Jump
Baptista Search Uncovers Vintage Gems
Above are images Robert Baptista (colorantshistory.org) found while commenting on some of my Pearline Soap postings. Pearline Soap ad: Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Baptista’s invaluable comments on this blog are worth being their own postings. Hey Robert- let me just make you a co-editor already! Below are his comments.
James Pyle made soap at 350 Washington St. in Manhattan in the 1860s. The product was sold in grocery stores as Pyle’s O.K. Soap. He later moved the factory to 414 Washington St. and sold Pearline Soap in one-pound packages at 15 cents per package. It was a coarse white powder formulated with sodium carbonate for washing clothes. A colorful vintage ad can be seen at the link:
A fascinating period photo is at the Library of Congress which depicts a little girl sitting on opened crates of Pearline washing compound, crying. She apparently mistook the small boxes for Crackerjacks!
The Pearline Soap factory is being converted to condominiums with a cool $5 million starting price. Photos, a map, and more old Pearline ads
Photo Basement's Forty-One Hilarious Science Fair Experiments
© Frank H. Jump
A couple of days ago, a colleague forwarded this hilarious blog posting at Photo Basement: 41 Hilarious Science Fair Experiments. We had put our dog ThelmaLu down and it was the first time I had laughed (or stopped crying) since. Since I do teach elementary science, I am a bit biased about my students’ science fair projects. The above images are from the Flatlands Amersfort School Science Fair 2007 and are not part of the 41 spoof. But I must say, for elementary school aged kids, they really rank amongst the Middle & High School calibre projects I’ve seen. And do they know their audience when they use vintage images of products or don’t they know their audience?
Henry L. Schorndorfer of Cleveland OH was a chemist and went into business with founder of Zipp Manufacturing Company – John Zipp in 1885 – the makers of Root Beer. Click here for a detailed PDF of the Zipp company. Schorndorfer later opened the Schorndorfer & Eberhard Co. Schorndorfer’s company was also known for making food extracts and in this image above, ammonia and cleaning products. Below are two Google Books archives citing the Schorndorfer & Eberhard Co:
According to the Annual Statistical Report of the Secretary General of Ohio – 1921, the Schorndorfer company name was officially changed to the Stern Bros. Co.
The trail ends there. Any leads?
Vintage Emigrant Bank Ad Shot @ The Virtual Dime Museum
The Weekend's Feature Fade: The Art of Walldog Jerry "Orange" Johnson
Seattle WA
Cincinnati OH
all images © Jerry Johnson
Here are ten images from Jerry “Orange Outdoor” Johnson’s private collection. Before establishing Orange as Brooklyn’s premiere hand-painted sign company in 1977, Johnson worked as a walldog for Seaboard Outdoor. These ads represent some of the work he did while at Seaboard and some of his signature murals like “Cash.”
Here is a response from Sam Roberts @ UK Brick Ads to Jerry Johnson’s work:
Frank Jump over in NYC has just posted a collection of ten outstanding images from the work of experienced signwriter (or “wall dog” in USA) Jerry Johnson. Some of these are genuine pieces of advertising and some, like the one pictured, are spoofs. The craftsmanship, or ‘art’ (?), is exceptional and so is the photography. It must be really satisfying finishing off a piece of work and then stepping back to take the first photo.
Mikva-Tikva and other holy rollers – Marine Park & Flatbush, Brooklyn
© Frank H. Jump
All within a few blocks from one another in Brooklyn are moving vans as prostheletizing vehicles – literally. My Vincenzo has a great contractor’s joke: “The Lord is coming – REPAINT!”
