Jurassic Jack

 

                                       

There was a Sand & Gravel and Concrete business in Shelby, Montana, where I grew up. Jim Horner had a business with another fellow on the banks of the Marias River five miles South of Shelby. Jack Horner, who is the subject of this post, grew up with dyslexia, which is also an issue which troubled him immensely.  The dyslexia was a source of Jack's reading issues, but making the most of his early childhood, was a matter of just barely making it through school. 

Although barely graduating from High School, he was drafted into the Marines, and served in Vietnam as a Special Forces Recon. The sand and gravel business led Jack to be inquisative about rocks in general, and fossils especially. After living in a tent on the river, Jack's parents moved into a nice brick home in Shelby, on the side of a hill overlooking town. Later, he and his brother would take over the sand and gravel business. While building rockets, which he launched at the airport, he also managed to blowout the basement windows in the brick family home. 

He never did obtain a PHD, but he did know where to look for fossils, including the hill across from his home on the hill overlooking Shelby. He helped anybody interested in fossils, mostly because he knew where and what to look for. I was one of those interested, and rocks and fossils went well together.

This piece of letterhead predates Jack's association with the museum. I thought it was appropriate to use it for this artwork!

Robe Trader

 

from Russell's "Joe Kipp's Trading Post"

Charlie did three paintings of Joe Kipp's Trading Post, two exterior and this interior. Nine figures included, and I believe the woman who had a 'hand' in dressing these robes is a quiet observer. I hope I find more paper like this to let me continue telling the stories.

Breakfast Brownie Doughboy

Pillsbury has their doughboy, so I think Breakfast Brownies Cereal can have theirs too!

There is little known about the Breakfast Brownies Company, and not a whole lot more about the Brownie Baking Company, except that they were not one and the same. The Breakfast Brownies Company was incorporated in 1919 in Montana, and although the officers were not all in or from Helena, the cereal was milled in Minneapolis and packaged here in Helena. Just exactly where in Helena I cannot determine, although I do know where their office was located.

I have seen a cardboard case for the cereal, a stock certificate, as well as one sample box and a dozen metal plates for print advertising. One of the plate images is the source for my Brownie Doughboy.

I acquired several pieces of letterhead for the Brownie Baking Company, whose bakery was in Spokane, Washington. I do know that the Brownie Baking Company was once the Tru-Blu Biscuit Company, because I have seen five real photo postcards of the factory, and the message side of the card has the Tru Blu logo printed on it. Research on the web reveals very little about the company, other than the fact the factory bakery building is still in use – not as a bakery, but it's now artist studio space.

I decided to put the Breakfast Brownies Doughboy on this piece of Brownie Baking Company letterhead because they had one thing in common – they both used the images of Brownies to sell their products. Note the Brownie in the lower left corner of their letterhead. I've never done this sort of thing before, but my chances of ever finding a piece of Breakfast Brownies paper are slim and next to none.

Well? Do you think this piece of advertising art would fly up against the Cocoa Puffs of the cereal world?

 

Harley Board Track Racer, Too

Harley-Davidson board track racer on a piece of Harley-Davidson Motorcycle paper. Mr. Monte Chadbourne finally settled in Livingston, Montana, and the paper came to me from my brother-in-law, who restores Indian Motocycles. He purchased at least one Indian basket case, and apparently a box of paper. It's headed to my framer, and then on the Western Art Week in Great Falls the third week of March. 

Piggly Wiggly, Part One.

The first page of a two page letter from a son working for Piggly Wiggly in Denver, to his father in Glasgow. Recognizable image from predominantly a Southern market, although I believe there was a Piggly Wiggly in Northeast Montana at one point.

A Quiet Day in Utica

"A Quiet Day in Utica"

first titled "Tinning the Dog"

A fabulous piece of history here, which includes a number of recognizable individuals. The most important fellow is head and shoulders above the rest, and the gentleman whose sons commissioned Charlie to paint this piece for their father, Charles Lehman, or as Charlie called him "Charley". His name is on the sign above his business. A total of fourteen individuals are depicted, including Charlie himself, leaning against the rail just to the right of the Tinned Man's ride. Also, three chickens untold horses and one unhappy dog. The large tin, if anyone is curious, was for fish oil.

Quaker Bear

From an image painted by Phil Goodwin in 1907 for the Cream of Wheat Company, for which he was paid the princely sum of $175.

If I'd have been gifted a piece of Cream of Wheat letterhead, I'd have used the original box, but since I was given a piece of Quaker Oats paper, the bear gets to root for the bowl of porridge.

Goin' Dutch on a Motocycle

Having done my fair share of Indian Motocycle paper, this time around I chose a European poster for this piece. 

I took some liberties, but so did the artist that did this.

Gladiolus - Fini Bulb Grower Letterhead

This past March at the Western Heritage Artists Footprints on the Trail, I took a number of pieces of paper on a commission basis. I've done an American Beauty Rose on a piece of Peter Henderson paper, but it was eight years ago when I first started this old paper thing. The commission was accepted from the granddaughter of Mr. Van Lierop. She indicated to me that I was "supposed to do my magic". His favorite was the Gladiolus. I wanted it to look like advertising art from the '20s, and I used a lettering style that was also appropriate for the period.  Note the phone number. 204F2 in the upper right, and 333 bottom center, which is I assume for local calling. Note the lack of a Zip Code. This was a lot of fun. I'd do flowers again in a heartbeat.

Messenger for the Palace

The third time will not be the charm for this bottle. While working on this one, I had a vision of a Russell label to match the cigar box pictured below. Might be a nice combination.

There's also a square top box label that is pretty close to the same design as pictured below. My thinking is I should make a Bateman & Switzer Whiskey label of my own.

To me, either one of them is not really a very good likeness of Charlie. I can do better.

J. H. Owings, The Great Rocky Mountain Remedy

A year ago, I was chasing a bottle. The bottle I was chasing is a sought-after and very collectible bottle that Dr. J. D. Eastman had produced for an herbal remedy formula called Oregon Grape Root Bitters. When Owings purchased the business from Eastman, he also obtained all of the business paper. Included in the business was a very well done letterhead which included a paper label for his product, which went unused once he had the embossed bottles produced.

While attempting to locate a collector willing to give me a photograph of this bottle, I was told of the existence of an Eastman letterhead with the label.

The bottle this label was applied to may or may not have been embossed, but once I saw this letterhead, I knew exactly what I needed to do to add a labeled bottle to the Owings letterhead. The embossed bottle was placed on a bill of lading, and I posted it here.

Rocky Too

I purchased this piece of paper two years ago, and didn't bother examining it closely. The offset logo in the center of the letterhead bothered me, and there was a chip in the top edge. Like the title says, I've done Rocky more than once. In July of 2012 I did a tin sign. Last year I did Boxcar Rocky. Both of those sold. I like this one so much I just may do another, if I can find some more Glacier Park or Great Northern Railway paper.

Yemassee Pure Rye Whiskey

Bateman & Switzer

The document is a letter from Dan Sullivan on his letterhead, to Bateman & Switzer, a Great Falls, Montana business that provided Wine, Liquor, Cigars and Billiard supplies to a great deal of Montana saloons and bars. The letter is dated July 9, 1904. The little vignette in the upper left hand corner is fascinating to me.

The bottle itself is a dug bottle from Unionville, a small mining community near Helena. It was given to me by a fellow here in town - a patron, actually. I used this bottle in November of 2011, and posted it HERE.

A month ago, I removed the Last Chance Whiskey label that was affixed to the bottle, and glued a good copy of a Yemassee label which I obtained from a bottle collector in Bozeman. I then had a Vietnam veteran friend of mine take a photograph of the bottle with whiskey in it. I worked from his photograph with his permission. I was told yesterday of a different Bateman & Switzer label with a different Indian depicted. I love these labels! 

U. S. Licensed Trader, Browning, Montana

This illustration is from a letter to Judge Charles N. Pray who was the U. S. Representative from Montana, 1907 to 1913. Charlie thanked the Judge belatedly for a box of books the judge had given to Charlie, but the box contained no information about who or where they came from. Charlie did not discover the fact the judge had sent it until 1914. I greatly admired Charlie's control of the English language, and this is not a 'finished' piece of art. The image below is a scan from the Russell Museum book of Charlie's illustrated letters.

Boxcar Rocky

Recently I acquired a couple of pieces of Great Northern letterhead, and although this one is dated 1902, Rocky the Mountain Goat had not yet made his official appearance. He's headed to the framers so that he can make his appearance at the Western Heritage Artists Show and Sale during Western Art Week. The Railroad of my youth.

Sody-Licious Too!

Back in 2009 when I was just getting my feet wet with this old paper business, I found two sheet of this letterhead in a large Priority Mail envelope filled with paper from a business in Spokane, Washington, called Northwest Chemical and School Supply. I began researching the company using the fabulous web resource called Google.

I found a gentleman in California who collects this type of bottle. It is called an ACL, which stands for Applied Color Label. These bottles are usually only one applied color, but some may have multiple colors. I had not seen what the bottle looked like, so I contacted the gentleman to see if he could supply an image. My request was answered in short order. Although I offered to pay for the photograph, he agreed to give me several photos in exchange for a scan of the letterhead that led me to him.

I had intended to portray the reverse side of the bottle on the second sheet of letterhead, but after considering my options, I decided to portray the front side as I had back in 2009. 

No matter how small or intricate the subject, you always discover something different the second time you approach it. This was no exception. My first attempt, I really abused the paper. This time I did not, and I'm happier with the color this time around as well.

And for the record, the reverse side has the following: "Famous Brands of Kittitas County and Sody-Licious Beverage Company".

Shop Dope from Harley Davidson

Like the Willys Knight Plaid Side Sedan, this is a commission for a wonderful patron who decided she wanted a story to tell with a piece of paper. This is what she is getting.

This is the photograph which she loaned to me. After discussions with my brother-in-law and looking at hundreds of images of Harley Davidson motorcycles of the period, I'm ready to send it off to a new home.

  

Willys Knight Land Yacht

1930 Model 66b Plaid Side Great Six

Although the Hendricks Auto Company letter, signed by Mr. J. A. Hendricks himself is dated the 8th of November, 1917, this beautiful high end automobile came out of the factory in 1929. This is the first piece of old paper that I've done since March, and the first art I've done since early June.

It's going to the folks who commissioned it very shortly. I'm back in the saddle.

Sharps Model 1874 .50 Caliber Sporting Rifle

I will start with the subject of this piece first. I found this rifle on an auction site with plenty of close-up photographs and provenance. The site is Collectors Firearms, The serial number is pictured in one of the photographs as #C54634, one of three Model 1874 Sporting Rifles in .50 Caliber shipped from the factory in Hartford, Connecticut. The shipping date is listed as April 24, 1875, and was sent to a the sporting goods dealer Spies, Kissam & Company in New York City. The total cost of all three of these rifles, plus bullet molds and shipping crate was $92.94.

I could have chosen a different Sharps, perhaps one of their Buffalo Rifles, but Collectors Firearms supplied plenty of photographs of this one, and I decided to go with this one rather than one that perhaps would have been used here in Montana - because I LIKED IT.

Realizing that although this billhead was for cartridges and not firearms, I thought for awhile about doing a cartridge box. This was early enough (July 13, 1874) that I really couldn't find anything colorful enough in cartridge boxes to do this piece of paper the injustice of picturing a plain old box.

After a visit to the Montana Historical Society Research Center, I discovered exactly nothing about the Koenigsberger Brothers. I also did a web search for the brothers and found the following entries in the San Francisco Directory for 1867:

HOENI<;SieEK<;EgC BKOTIIEK!^(/'Vr(h°na7id, Philip, anil Schastidii), manufacturers cigars and importers tobacco, 218 and 220 Battery Koenigsberger Ferdinand (Koeniysberger Brothers), dwl 803 Ellis Koenigsberger Philip (Koenigsberger Brothers), dwl 803 Ellis Koenigsberger Sebastian (Koenigsberger Brothers), res Helena, Montana.

Although a bit cryptic, it does make mention of Sebastian in Helena in 1867. The key element to this entry is the fact that the brothers manufactured cigars. They would have been in business at 30 Main Street in Helena through at least July of 1874, for that is the date on the billhead.

Cannon Crax for Virginia City

C. W. Rank & Company prepared for the 1904 4th of July celebration in Virginia City by ordering some 'crax' from the Passmore Paper Company in Butte, Montana. Don't you always go to your stationery store to buy your fireworks? Just another piece that I'll have in my room for the Western Heritage Art Show and Sale in Great Falls, Montana, from March 18th through the 22nd.