May 10, 2012

The Third Avenue El: Train on High

Frank, J. (Photographer).(1957). Image 26019. Retrieved from: http://www.nycsubway.org

Having wrapped up another semester, one of my final class projects came near and dear to my heart. We were given the assignment to create short podcasts using E.B. White’s Here is New York as inspiration, resulting in a collection of miNY Stories pertaining to New York in 1949. At this time, the last of Manhattan’s now extinct elevated trains was still standing…but not for long. While creating the podcast The Third Avenue El: Noise-talgia, the longstanding admiration for the above ground transportation system that once loomed above the avenues of Manhattan became apparent. The Third Avenue El being the most adored and romanticized of rides.

A focal piece of research was Sunny Statler’s article “Farewell to the El: Nostalgic Urban Visuality on the Third Avenue Elevated Train” (2006), Statler explores the unique experience of riding on the El. This commute not only induced straphangers to daydreaming, but also gave inspiration for artists alike.  Works such as Gnir Rednow, the collaborative film between Joseph Cornell and Stan Brakhage, depict the Third Avenue El in a dream-like sequence of reverse frames, reflections, and shadows. A trip on the Third Avenue El allowed riders to view the city in an intimate way; glimpsing into the private sanctuary of apartment life, catching the aroma kitchen concoctions, and all the daily chores and pastimes of compact Manhattan life. Statler eloquently explains how the El encouraged the imagination of its passengers:

“The embodied connection to city space should not suggest that El riders experienced a more real version of the city than subway riders did – it was a wholly different one. Subway car views alternated between dark tunnels and stations distinguishable only by name; lone riders retreated into internal fantasy through reading, daydreaming or dozing. El passengers, on the other hand experienced fantasies that were directed outward into external city space. Technologies of transportation reinforce urban subjectivity by literalizing views of the city: moving underground, New York became a space of invisibility and isolation; moving above ground and in close proximity to city life opened up otherwise invisible space to fantasies of communion.” (p. 872)

The Coenties Slip Curve. (1946) Image 114437. Retrieved from:http://www.nycsubway.org

Being in the School of Information and Library Science, the focus of our assignment was research and the use of collections as resources. While the New York Transit Museum and NYPL Digital Gallery fueled El imagery, this post is dedicated to the website NYCSubway.org.  Ran by enthusiasts and volunteers, NYCSubway.org is an extensive and comprehensive digital archive for all eras of New York City transportation.  The endless pages of photos of train cars, stations, tracks, and maps sends the heart of the little boy fascinated with trains inside all of us into a flutter. The Third Avenue El has a collection of 770 images alone. Audio of the rumble that was ultimately the El’s demise, was taken from the below film hosted on the Prelinger Archives. Sometimes, noise pollution can be sorely missed.

Stratler, S. (2006) Farewell to the El: Nostalgic urban visuality on the third Avenue elevated train. American Quarterly. 58(3). 869-890. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/

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April 8, 2012

She Sells: Advertising to Women.

With another season of Mad Men back on the air, our heads are swimming with iconic images of the American advertising industry in its heyday: cocktails, cigarettes, beautiful secretaries, and big ideas on Madison Avenue. In honor of our consumer-centric society and to explore the history of advertising in America, the Duke University Libraries’ Digital Collections of Advertising Collections is a resource like none other. Consisting of many collections in itself, the Advertising Collections the most comprehensive archive of advertisements, and all available online. Some of the more prominent of the sub-collections include Ad*Access, AdViews, Emergence of American Advertising: 1850-1920, and Outdoor Advertising Association of America Archives (OAAA). Ad*Access presents over 7,000 images of print advertisements made available through J. Walter Thompson Competitive Advertisements Collection dating from 1911-1955 and focusing mostly on subjects of radio, television, beauty and hygiene, transportation and World War II. AdViews contains nearly 9,000 TV commercials produced by the advertising agency D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B) during the 1950s-1980s, all are hosted by the Internet Archive. The Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920  collection includes over 9,000 images that illustrate the rise of consumerism in the United States. The OAAA displays an impressive images of 16,000 billboards, posters, murals, electronic signs and transit ads taken across America.

While roaming through this archive, it is apparent how women have been the prime target of consumerism from the beginning. Women are often seen as the decision makers for household goods and known to spend a lot to look good. Preying on ladies’ insecurities has long been a part of marketing campaigns. Featured here are a selection of some of the more far-fetched strategies.  [Above] Three kids sure take a toll on mom’s hairdo. At Once Stretch Wig will give such effortless perfect locks to bed head moms, they will be inspired to twirl through the grocery store. [Below] Kotex’s “Confessions of a Private Secretary” appeal to those who are slaves to the buzzer and must look good while abstaining from selfishly fretting. Odors must be the culprit behind the single dame. Mouthwash and soap seem to deliver the more cruel messages: if you’re stinky you’ll never be loved. Body odor of the glamorous lounge ladies, heiresses with looks and money, and charming socialites alike will repel everyone, including suitors. And ladies, you can just forget about ever getting married if you have bad breath.

Kotex Company. 1939. Motion Picture Magazine. Ad*Access Collection Courtesy of Duke University Libraries’ Digital Collections, obtained from: http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollection

Palmolive Soap. 1937. Good Housekeeping Magazine. Ad*Access Collection Courtesy of Duke University Libraries’ Digital Collections, obtained from: http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollection

Listerine Mouth Wash. 1937. Unknown Magazine. Ad*Access Collection Courtesy of Duke University Libraries’ Digital Collections, obtained from: http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollection

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March 12, 2012

Wear it Loud.

The African Activist Archive, which is part of the Africa Online Digital Library supported by Michigan State University, documents the activism in support of African people.  Voices united around the world in the support of the end of colonialism, apartheid in South Africa, and social injustice during the 1950s-1990s. While the African Activist Archive includes documents, oral histories, photographs, video, and posters, documenting this international support, it also hosts a mesmerizing ephemera collection of buttons and t-shirts.  Most of these wear-ables call for the end of apartheid in South Africa and the boycott of Afrikaner led companies. Although it took much time and international advocacy, apartheid officially ended in 1994. Never underestimate the power of a t-shirt, our bodies can be billboards for political change.

Buttons.

1982. Opland. Courtesy of African Activist Archive, obtained from: http://africanactivist.msu.edu

1980s. Button. Courtesy of African Activist Archive, obtained from: http://africanactivist.msu.edu

Courtesy of African Activist Archive, obtained from: http://africanactivist.msu.edu

1980s Button by Coke Boycott Campaign Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

T-Shirts.

Viva the women of South Africa. 1980s. T-shirt. Courtesy of African Activist Archive, obtained from: http://africanactivist.msu.edu

Isolate apartheid, support the front line states! 1980s. T-shirt. Courtesy of African Activist Archive, obtained from: http://africanactivist.msu.edu


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January 20, 2012

Outerwear of the Fashion Plates.

‘Tis the season for frigid temperatures and winter weather advisories aplenty; when the importance of dressing appropriately for the weather is crucial for one’s survival outdoors. These days, cumbersome, heavy coats often damper our appearances with their muted tones and ever evolving synthetic fabrics promising a high-tech shield against the frosty air. While style often takes a back seat to functionality, the Pratt Institute Libraries Fashion Plate Collection shows us some of the most decadent of outerwear, created in the 1920’s Art Deco fashion. The plates appeared in the most influential fashion magazine of its time (1912-1925), the French periodical La Gazette du Bon Ton. Keeping warm never looked so good.

“Coat of English velvet, trimmed with opossum.” Ca. 1920. Courtesy of Pratt Institute Libraries Special Collections, obtained from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34900073@N07/

“Sable and silk matelasse coat, fabric by Bianchini.” 1922. Courtesy of Pratt Institute Libraries Special Collections, obtained from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34900073@N07

“Red and brown evening coat by Paul Poiret.” 1922. Courtesy of Pratt Institute Libraries Special Collections, obtained from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34900073@N07/

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January 9, 2012

The Art of Correspondence.

Moses Soyer letter to David Soyer, ca. 1940. Courtesy of Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art, obtained from: http://www.aaa.si.edu/

Dorothea Tanning to Joseph Cornell, Mar. 3, 1948. Courtesy of Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art, obtained from: http://www.aaa.si.edu

The Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art (AAA) is dedicated to gathering and preserving papers and primary records of the visual arts in America. It is the world’s largest and most used resource of its kind, with over 16 million items in its collections and growing. The AAA hosts over 110 fully digitized artist collections and extensive oral histories of American artists in the last 200 years. The essential components to an artist’s archive are typically correspondence, diaries, sketchbooks, photographs, printed materials, film and audio recordings. From browsing the AAA’s holdings, I became captivated with the art of correspondence documented within its collections.

From handwritten notes to carefully selected paper punched with typewriter keys, correspondence on paper is a dying form of communication. Our world has been overtaken by fleeting emails and texts consisting of impersonal and uniform fonts, whereas penmanship connects the style and form of written words to a person. Artists especially know how to craft correspondence to include creative visual expression for an even more enriched, clever message.  This has been captured in the exhibits A Thousand Kisses: Love Letters from the Archives of American Art and  More Than Words: Illustrated Letters from the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art.

Another discovery within the AAA, was my fondness for Ray Johnson (1927-1995), painter, collagist, and correspondence artist. While Johnson’s collection is not completely digitized on the AAA site, his work can be seen in others’ collections, including correspondence, art, and articles on his death. Called his “performance art death”, Johnson committed suicide by jumping off a bridge in Sag Harbor, Long Island and was seen backstroking into oblivion. His dark humor and playfulness are pervasive in his art of correspondence. A transcribed interview with Johnson from 1968 sheds more light on his character. From the start, the interviewer begins to ask factual questions in order to establish dates and locations to Johnson’s life. Johnson finds this boring and rightfully becomes difficult while making accusations of a question-and-answer dictated conversation. When the interviewer asks Johnson when he came to New York, Johnson replies with “I’m inclined to think I’m not here.” Quickly after this head-butting of sorts, there is a pause in the interview. Despite this initial sparing, there is a lengthy dialogue that follows.

With both the beauty of correspondence, and my lack of personal communication on paper, I am compelled to turn more to the pen, rather than the keyboard, when reaching out in 2012.  If nothing else, my archive is lacking in this essential category.

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December 29, 2011

Alan Lomax’s Legacy: Alive and Well.

The tune, You Got to Take Sick and Die sung by Boyd Rivers, is like a cold stare from fate’s steely face.  Its soulful jeers are a reminder that nobody escapes judgment day.  Just as time will inevitably run out for all, with altruistic deeds comes immortality. An exemplary case of this is the tireless and benevolent toil of Alan Lomax (1915 – 2002) which has earned his life’s work eternal existence here on earth.

Alan Lomax was the world’s leading folklorist and ethnomusicologist, spending his life capturing the sounds, images and video of our collective “intangible heritage.”  At the age of 18 Alan partnered with his father, John Avery Lomax, to document Texan folk music from the prisons, churches, and fields of rural communities for the Library of Congress.  This project was also part of the foundation of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center.

Alan Lomax continued to travel the world documenting folk music for as long as he was able, amassing an archive containing 60 years of his work.  Perhaps most notable of his work was of the American South, ranging from blues and gospel to bluegrass and Appalachian singsong.

Alan founded the Association for Cultural Equity (ACE) in 1983 to archive his audio recordings, photographs, videos.  The ACE hosts a research center including a fascinating comprehensive multimedia archive, lesson plans, interviews and discussions, and much more.


Schoolgirls playing ring game. June 25 1965. La Paine, St. Patrick, Dominica. Courtesy of the ACE, obtained from: http://research.culturalequity.org/

Dancing the fandango. August 19 1952.Zeanuri, Pais Vasco, Spain. Courtesy of the ACE, obtained from: http://research.culturalequity.org/

In 2004, a large collection of Alan Lomax’s work was gifted to the Library of Congress, now most of his collections reside in the American Folklife Center, while the LOC hosts digitized photographs online.

Mexican girls, San Antonio, TX. April 1934. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, obtained from: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/lomax/

Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly) and Martha Promise Ledbetter, Wilton, Conn. February 1935. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, obtained from: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/lomax/

Mountain woman in the hills near Austin, Texas. Between 1934 – 1950. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, obtained from: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/lomax/

As a man who understood so much about the essence of mankind, from our joyous exaltation to our heavy-hearted bellows, I’m not sure we understood nearly as much about him.  Various accounts reported Alan Lomax as a southern gentleman with a larger than life force of enthusiasm, although his personal life is somewhat mysterious. Lomax was rightfully deemed a national treasure for his lifelong passion for preserving folk culture. Get to know him better through the Association for Cultural Equity and LOC American Folklife Center.

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