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. 

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.

A Thank You Returns

I've been 'under the gun' to get art work completed for the Western Heritage Artists Show and Sale which opens on the 15th of March in Great Falls, but I also owed a Thank You to a patron. I completed a Harley motorcycle image for her in January, and simply had not had the chance to thank her for her purchase.

Yesterday, I received the card back as NOT DELIVERABLE. If I could show you the entire address line, which I won't, it can clearly be read by anyone who can actually READ. I suspect a machine could not read it, so therefore it was kicked back to me. I'm not at all happy.

It is now going back to the post office, and I will get an explanation for this 'human' error, because I can't accept this ridiculous rejection.

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.

  

Indian Scout, 1928

I used an image of a 1928 Indian Scout from a full page ad for the Indian Motocycle Company in Springfield, Massachusetts, as a model for this piece of billhead. It is the third piece that I have done on paper from Curnow the Indian, In Butte, Montana. 

Michael Curnow opened a bicycle shop in Butte, Montana, at 205 South Montana Street in late 1908. I know that because the 1908 Polk's City Directory for Butte has no listing for him, whereas the 1909 directory does have a single line listing for him. In 1911 he became the Indian Motocycle dealer, and by 1913 he must have had a fairly decent business because he purchased a quarter page advertisement in the directory. I would dearly love to find a photograph of him, but so far I've come up empty.

This piece was done as a commission, so it is headed for its new home as soon as that can be arranged. If you look at the labels on the right side of my home page for Old Paper Art, you will see a label for Indian. There are now ten Indian Motocycle related posts.

UPDATE: Marianne Dow just posted a PHOTOGRAPH of Curnow which she found in Motorcycle Illustrated Magazine, so I'm posting the link to the photograph right here. 

Indian Motocycle Logo #3

 

I'm calling this one the Glass Indian. Having worked twice before on these weekly bulletins from the Indian factory in Springfield, Massachusetts, I'm not any more thrilled with the paper this time around than I was the first time. It chips easily, and it really is poor paper. BUT. I use what I can get when I can get it.

This is also another piece of paper that was gifted to me by my brother-in-law, Tom Benson. I think about his fabulous Indian Museum - in his Great Room - every time I work on something like this.

Indian Motocycle - Indian 4

The last time I posted it was 2011. It isn't as if I've been busy, because I have. I owe every one of you faithful followers a visit - or at least a note. At one time I tried to greet each new person who decided to follow me. I've been woefully lacking when it comes to doing that.

This is a piece of Indian factory letterhead, and one that I had not seen but infrequently on eBay. I've been told (by my understanding spouse of over forty years)  I have enough paper in my studio to last me a lifetime. I hope I get the opportunity to make that comment come true for both of us.

The Western Heritage Artists show open during Western Art Week in Great Falls, Montana, on March 14th and runs through the afternoon of March 18th. I'm also including a link to my page on the WHA site.  There are several events I would like to mention here, including a Quick Finish on Thursday evening, followed by an auction of the pieces completed by about twenty of us to benefit the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center.

On Saturday evening, there will be an auction of juried art pieces in support of the Western Heritage Artists Association and Special Olympics of Montana.

On Sunday afternoon, there will be a Paint-Around, followed by an auction of the pieces created during the event. Groups of five to eight artists have ten minutes to work on their own piece before moving to the next artist's station in the group, where the artist has five minutes to "help". When you get back to your own you have ten minutes to finish what you started.

I've thrown my hat in the ring for all of the events.

Later this week I will post the before images of what I'm creating during the work-related events, and hopefully I'll be able to provide after images as well.

And a note to those artists whom I am following. I simply have not had the time to comment when indeed, I have often wanted to take the time to do just that. I'll make up for that as soon as I can. 

Indian Motocycle - Contact Point

I paid a visit to my sister Judy several weeks ago. She lives in Shelby, Montana, which is where we grew up. My younger brother Dan was visiting from Puyallap, Washington, and I spent the day with them. Judy started the day off right with homemade Caramel Rolls, always a treat for breakfast. My brother-in-law, Tom, restores old Indian Motocycles and recently came upon a virtual horde of Indian Motocycle paper and related ephemera. We had a few minutes to look at some of it, and he gifted me several pieces that immediately caught my eye.

The piece that you see here is one that I gifted back to him. It was sent to Indian dealers by the factory in Springfield, Massachusetts, on what looks to be a weekly basis. This piece is dated October 6th, 1947. I also have several more just like it, although Tom is holding on to a number of them that are stapled together, as many of them were more than one page. THANK YOU, Indian TOM!

Indian Motocycle Logo #2

As depicted on the billhead, the logo is taken from the 1912 Indian Motocycle Catalog. I found this via my brother-in-law Tom-Tom Benson. He pointed me to a site called the Vintage Motorcyle Library, and the catalog is listed as one of the Indian related items that can be purchased on the site.

From the Indian Chief Motorcycle site: The original Indian motorcycle company was founded in 1901 in Springfield Massachusetts USA, by bicycle racer George Hendee and Swedish immigrant Oscar Hedstrom. Some people wonder why it was called the Indian Motocycle Company instead of Indian Motorcycle Company. In Italy, all motorcycles have names beginning with "moto" e.g. Moto-Guzzi, Moto-Ducati, Moto-Laverda, so perhaps Hedstrom was familiar with that. The earliest models looked like mopeds (bicycles with small single cylinder engines) and only 3 were made in 1901. Interestingly, Triumph began production the next year (1902) and Harley-Davidson the year after (1903). So the order was Indian, Triumph, Harley. Indian made 143 motorcycles in 1902.

The "Big Three" are no longer still around. The Indian was produced in the United States through 1953, but is no more.

Although it says on the logo that they have been built since 1901, what it fails to mention is that the Indian Motocycle was THE FIRST motorcycle produced in America.

I purchased two more pieces of this same paper in March and I still intend to put an Indian 4 on a piece of this paper, even if it really isn't historically accurate. The Indian 4 was first available in 1928 to Indian riders.

Michael Curnow opened a bicycle shop in Butte, Montana, at 205 South Montana Street in late 1908. I know that because the 1908 Polk's City Directory for Butte has no listing for him, whereas the 1909 directory does have a single line listing for him. In 1911 he became the Indian Motocycle dealer, and by 1913 he must have had a fairly decent business because he purchased a quarter page advertisement in the directory. I would dearly love to find a photograph of him, but so far I've come up empty.

This piece will soon be on its way out the door, as someone who saw the first piece that I did (which was pictured in the 2011 Western Heritage Artists Show program) asked me to do another.

Western Heritage Artists Show

  

The Western Heritage Art Show begins on Wednesday, March 16th at the Holiday Inn in Great Falls, Montana. It's only my second year as a member, but it's the 30th Anniversary for this show, and I'm honored to be the Featured Artist this year. Hope Good, our Advertising Chairperson has put together a fantastic program again for us this year, and the first image above is of the centerfold page.

I met Christy Daniels at the Blackfoot Valley Art Auction in 2009, and we participated in our very first Quick Finish at that event. You have to see her sculpture to believe how well she captures her vision in three dimensions.  I shared a page in the program last year with her, and I think it brought us good luck.  At least I came out a winner, and it was primarily due to two images - my lobby piece which caught the attention of art fans as soon as they walked into the Holiday Inn, and the major piece in my little quarter page in the program was sold as soon as I hung it on the wall.

I'm hoping for the same results this year. The second image above is of my piece for the lobby show.   The title is "He's A Pinned Ball Wizard". I wish I could have displayed a bit more white space in the online image, but the fact of the matter is - the image just barely fit on my large flat bed scanner. The jar came from my mother in law, as did the antique wooden clothes pins. It's the largest piece that I've done in at least thirty years. I'm so happy with the results, I've decided to start tackling some larger pieces to augment my Old Paper habit.

The Ball jar in the ad above will be hanging in the same spot that the ad piece hung in last year. And just in case you can't read the room number in the program above, my wife and I will be in Room 219  just to your left at the top of  the stairs above the lobby. We met a lot of old friends and made a lot of new ones last year, and you can view a lot of good art (besides my own) in the process if you stop by this year. We also are going to participate in a new event this year called the Paint Around, which happens Friday Evening poolside at the Holiday Inn, beginning at 7:00 PM.  I'm not going to reveal what I'm doing for that event, but I am doing another piece of mail art for the Quick Finish on Thursday, since my piece last year was a real hit. We hope to see you there!   

Hubley Indian Motocycle PFF #32

I've done a couple of posts on Indian Motocycles, including a piece of old paper that involved a lot of phone calls and a trip to the Montana Historical Society. I also included in that post the First Day Cover that I had done which depicted an Indian Scout with my brother-in-law aboard.

A site that I have been following for well over a year, Tattered and Lost Ephemera, posted a wonderful story and included a print advertisement for a Hubley Indian Motocycle yesterday. As she usually does with the ephemera that she posts, she included links to the Hubley Toy Company and the Indian Motocycle Company as well.

In 2002 when the USPS announced that they would be issuing a block of four Antique Toy stamps, I decided that I would use an antique toy motorcycle for my art work, and I knew where to go as a source for the model - my brother-in-law, Tom Benson, restores old Indian motorcycles, and his living room is a virtual museum of old Indian memorabilia. He does not have any Hubley Indian motorcycles, but he knew where to find some excellent photographs of one - and promptly sent me a couple to choose from.

The advertisement that was posted on the Tattered and Lost Ephemera site is a prime example of marketing, and you really ought to give it a read. Hubley not only knew how to make toys, but they also knew how to sell them. I've recently come across some old paper that includes the sale of Tin toys and dolls, and I'll be putting some of those pieces up as I work toward my next major show in March of next year. But for now, my memory was jogged into action (I could hear the 'realistic' motor running) when I read the advertisement for the Hubley Indian.

To get your motor running, make sure you visit Beth Niquette at The Best Hearts Are Crunchy for more visual treats on Postcard Friendly Friday!

Penny & Olive PFF #30

The top image is one of about twenty covers I produced as a printed issue for the Motorcycle stamps which were released during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in 2006 in Sturgis, SD. I asked the owners of the four different motorcycles which were depicted on the stamps to autograph the cover with 'their' stamp on it. Although I had intended to sell these to offset the expense of attending the First Day Ceremony and obtaining Unofficial cancels for my hand-drawn and painted issue, I was not allowed to sell them in Sturgis. Penny Nickerson's cycle (which she called 'Olive') is a 1918 Cleveland. She rides it, and has a mechanic who travels with her to make certain that it continues to run as it is supposed to.

The second cover is the hand drawn issue which I did for my subscribers and portrays my brother-in-law on his Indian Scout. I think I've posted this one before, but I wanted to get a post up, even if it isn't Old Paper Art. The reason I was anxious to put something up today is because yesterday a lady by the name of Debbie sent me a great email.

Debbie Overton has a new site called Fresh Approach, and she published a wonderful interview that she did with yours truly. We did the interview several weeks ago. Of the images that are included with the interview, five of them have found new homes. THANK YOU, Debbie!!!

Also, Beth Niquette is hosting Postcard Friendly Friday at her site The Best Hearts Are Crunchy , and she has posted a great Lincoln postcard which you have to see to believe. Visit and peruse the list of other bloggers participating in Postcard Friendly Friday.

Indian Motocycle and the Logo

From the Indian Chief Motorcycle site: The original Indian motorcycle company was founded in 1901 in Springfield Massachusetts USA, by bicycle racer George Hendee and Swedish immigrant Oscar Hedstrom. Some people wonder why it was called the Indian Motocycle Company instead of Indian Motorcycle Company. In Italy, all motorcycles have names beginning with "moto" e.g. Moto-Guzzi, Moto-Ducati, Moto-Laverda, so perhaps Hedstrom was familiar with that. The earliest models looked like mopeds (bicycles with small single cylinder engines) and only 3 were made in 1901. Interestingly, Triumph began production the next year (1902) and Harley-Davidson the year after (1903). So the order was Indian, Triumph, Harley. This "Big Three" are still around a century later, while many other brands which started later died off years ago. Indian made 143 motorcycles in 1902.

Although it says on the logo that they have been built since 1901, what it fails to mention is that the Indian Motocycle was THE FIRST motorcycle produced in America.

I have more than one piece of Indian paper, but I intend to put motorcycles on them, much like I did in 2006, when my wife and I made the trip (in our SUV) to Sturgis, South Dakota, for the First Day Ceremony for the Motorcycle stamp issue. I've included the image of the finished cover for the issue, which pictures my brother-in-law, Tom Benson of Shelby, Montana. He restores Indian Motorcycles, and it was a perfect match as far as relevant art work for the stamps.

I know absolutely nothing about Curnow the Indian. I do know for certain that this piece of paper became irrelevant in 1913, when the company was renamed as the Indian Motorcycle Company. It will be interesting to see if there are any images from Butte, Montana, that include Curnow, or any of his customers!