Blog Posts

Frank Merriwell's Bicycle Boys; or, the Start across the Continent

5/15/2012

April 17, 1897: The title on this one is pretty self-explanatory. I forgot to do his hat again (I owe two hats now). The bicycle on this was such an incredible stretch for me that I quibbled over it for weeks! So that's why it took me so long. I finally just made up my mind to paint something approximating an 1890s bicycle and be done with it. Otherwise it would drag on forever and I'm trying much harder to finish things that I start.

Unfortunately, while all that quibbling was going on, I accidentally deleted all my other Frank Merriwell files (argh! fie on you, Dropbox!). That's the first time I've ever done anything to stupid, and now I have to rebuild everything to make printable plates. I can't tell you how much that stinks. So it may not happen any time soon. In the meantime I thought I would post Bicycle Frank even if he's missing his background stand thing (which he needs to cover his feet). He'll be properly finished in the plate.

Fashion Plate Friday: 1839

5/11/2012

Just a quickie for Fashion Plate Friday! This one was originally published in Le Follet (a Paris magazine), in November of 1839.

Love the green dressing/smoking gown with the red lining and cap ~ also the little gold slippers. The other two gents are wearing evening clothes (at left), and (at right) what looks like a typical day-to-evening frock (more casual than the dinner tails).

Aside from the clothes, I really love the ghosted-in room decor: the fireplace, candelabra, etc.

Click on the image to see more details!

Absinthe drinkers by Jean Béraud

5/4/2012

Here is a lovely painting of two late 19th century pub dwellers sharing a bottle of absinthe. Can't date this precisely, but the hat tells me it's as late as 1900 or thereafter. Still, I wanted to include it because I love the candid expressions (aren't they just so full of ennui?).

The painter is Jean Béraud, who did a lot of wonderful moody impressionist work. I actually like this image more than the famous painting by Degas; particularly for the gorgeous bottle of absinthe on the table. Delicious!

Will be getting back to paper dolls this weekend. Also, Weebly has been timing out on its server (I've had to rewrite this post four times already and it's been happening all week) and connecting to the site has been a problem as well.

I am thinking it might be time to move this blog to a better location.

A couple of 19th century costume treasures

5/2/2012

Neither of these images is Photoshopped and unfortunately, I can't recall where on the web that I found them originally. But I think they are hilarious (and a little weird). A good reminder that our ancestors were not a bunch of prim God-fearing people who never smiled (smiling was difficult for photos because it's hard to hold a natural smile for the length of time it took for the exposure).

Anyway, here at left we have two theatrical critters: Hedgehog and Rabbit. Hard to tell when it was taken ~ can't even hazard a guess. Even the style of the coats is likely "costume" and not contemporary.

This second picture is easier to date because the woman is dressed quite normally (so I would place this in the 1870s based on her hairstyle and dress style.

Who knows who the person in the diving suit is ~ probably a man, maybe her husband? Diving suits of this type were still experimental (Jules Verne made much of them in this era, as did other adventure story writers). I like to think this couple, aside from being adventurers themselves, had quite a fine sense of humor to want to take this portrait, which sort of sets typical classic portraiture on its end.

Fun stuff!

Bicycle Boots from the 1890s

5/1/2012

Alas, I have no Frank to post today because I did no painting last night. But I don't want to lose the momentum of posting, so I am sharing with you today something in a similar theme: a pair of woman's bicycle boots from the 1890s. These are in the collection at the Minnesota Historical Society and have an interesting provenance: they were made by the North Star Shoe Company in Minneapolis and worn by a woman who later ran for City Council and served as a land patent attorney in the 1940s. She was obviously a woman ahead of her time and these shoes are totally awesome!

Frank Merriwell's Hit; or, Won in the Ninth

4/30/2012

September 30, 1899: Here's another one of Frank's non-Yale uniforms for a baseball team. Baseball was America's favorite pastime, but football was getting to be rather exciting as well. While Frank could compete in any sport, he was often depicted in baseball and football games. After these, it was mostly racing: running, cycling, crew, skating, etc.

Basketball was still a pretty new sport at the turn of the century (created in 1891). I've yet to see a depiction of Frank playing basketball, but of almost 900 issues, I've also only seen a limited sampling of covers, so it could be that I just haven't come across one.

No idea what the "M" stands for on this one. A local league, is my guess, since, again. Frank was probably in New York when this issue takes place.

I have a cycling outfit and another set of street clothes, but neither are painted. I may not get to them until next weekend.

Frank Merriwell's Drive; or, Defeating the Professionals

4/29/2012

December 2, 1899: One of the last issues before the turn of the century, this one depicts the rather interesting sport of roller-skate hockey. I don't know what team Frank is playing for, as this issue comes after he leaves Yale for a spell. No idea what the "V" is for, but aside from the unusual sport, I also chose to do this one because he wasn't wearing a "Y".

I was a bit sloppy on the design of this one. Frank's hockey stick is too short and it ran off the paper. I was going to "correct" these flaws in Photoshop, but then I got lazy (great, right?). All part of my plot to get over my perfectionism (at least that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it for the time being).

I have one more Frank piece to post tomorrow. There are at least three others I would like to paint, but I don't know if I will get to them before I run out of what's already done.

Tomorrow: batter up!

Frank Merriwell's Nerve; or, Game to the End

4/28/2012

March 27, 1897: I can't really tell what the sport is in this issue as the picture depicts just a group of boys similarly dressed in what looks like maybe a boathouse having a confrontation. So my inclination is to say this is like a crew uniform, perhaps? Most likely a boat sport of some kind.

Frank has a lot of similar outfits to this: long-sleeved Yale blue knit tops and white shorts ~ basic all-purpose sport clothing. The "Y" is pretty ubiquitous on almost all of these.

Patten, who wrote the series, never went to Yale, but apparently did his research.

Frank Merriwells Mark; or, Subduing a Bully

4/27/2012

November 27, 1897: The Frank Merriwell series was supposed to run about 30 issues. When its popularity exploded, the writer and publisher had to prolong it, so they had Frank drop out of Yale due to financial hardship. By interrupting his college career, they were able to extend it (indefinitely if need be), and in the interim sent Frank on what was basically a whirlwind of international adventures.

He couldn't wear sports clothes while traveling and saving damsels in distress from wild leaping animals, so quite a few covers feature "adventure" or "city" Frank as opposed to "sports" Frank.

Can't tell you much about this particular issue, though I think it takes place in New York, where Frank spent some time working odd jobs before his globe-trotting began. These are street clothes common in the city: a standard men's suit and bowtie. He should have a bowler to go with this, but I forgot to make it. I'll catch up on that another time.

Frank Merriwell's Vim; or Reawakening the Yale Spirit

4/26/2012

October 21, 1899: The effect of Frank Merriwell's adventures on the desire in young boys to attend Yale probably cannot be underestimated. Frank had a long stint at Yale since he had to drop out due to financial difficulties for a spell (mostly this was a ploy by the writer to extend his college career as long as possible).

This particular issue focused on a sport at which Frank displayed his excellence time and again: running! Nothing complex about running clothes back then. Shoes were not the highly sophisticated, over-engineered marvels that they are today, but the science of sport was definitely underway. While football and baseball had not quite caught on to the cleat (I forgot to mention this on the football post yesterday), rubber was being used on running shoes.

Couldn't tell from the cover I used as a reference this whether the colors were just faded or if that "Y" on the shirt should have been dark blue (Yale's blue). I decided, since I had a number of "Y" outfits for Frank, to vary the blues a little, just to keep it interesting.

<<Previous

Forward>>