Playing History Detective

Stanley Forde as a kid in Buffalo (I think)
Ink Drawing of Stanley Forde by "Sabro" 1925

Small watercolor by H. Hilton 1911 of Stanley Forde
(probably painted by Mrs. Helen Hilton Story during his affair with her)

Stanley Forde, baritone 1878-1929

I am playing history detective with a box of crumbled old clippings and fragile photos that my grandmother had saved. Above is a photo of my great, great uncle Stanley Forde who stood 6ft 2 inches (without the top hat). He was an actor and singer on Broadway between 1909 and 1927. The plays that he appeared in are listed here: Broadway

He also appeared in a B&W silent film called "The Great White Way". Upon researching this film, I found that it was a comedy/romance from 1924 produced by Cosmopolitan Productions. It "includes brief appearances by several prominent newspapermen, cartoonists and society figures of this period: Winsor McCay, George McManus, Billy DeBeck and Harry Hershfield, Tex Rickard, Arthur Brisbane, Nell Brinkley, Bugs Baer, Irvin S. Cobb, Damon Runyon. Also Oscar Shaw, actor, and Pete Hartley, boxer." LINK to more about this film.

I found a number of stills from this film in the box amongst yellowed newspaper clippings and other physical evidence of Stanley Forde and his career. He married Mrs. Helen Hilton Story in 1912, after a scandalous affair with her at the Jersey shore (an affair which ended up in the Supreme Court). She was "an heir to millions" according to the newspaper article: the granddaughter of Judge Henry Hilton. It seems they travelled back and forth to London for a few years, but I'm not sure that the marriage lasted. I am starting to scan and archive some of the puzzle pieces of Stanley's life onto a set on flickr, including the film stills from "The Great White Way". Stanley Forde died at the age of 51 in NYC.

It's fun playing history detective. Here is the link to my flickr set about Stanley:

Stanley Forde

The Art of Amy Crehore

P.S. For anyone who is following my blog: Stanley Forde's family was in the 1890 Camping photos that I posted earlier. The photos that boingboing so kindly blogged about.(Thanks, Mark)

Vintage Photos of Twins

(Vintage family photos, Amy Crehore)

(Vintage family photos, Amy Crehore)

I found these two photos in my box of old stuff. Twins make great subjects for photos especially when wearing the same outfts. Perhaps the ladies in the top photo are mama and auntie of the kids in the bottom photo. I think it's around 1910 Italy because I found a postcard with those same kids on the front (dressed in the same outfits) and it had a postmark. It was addressed to one of my relatives who lived in Florence, Italy at the time (signed "love from Filippo"). People liked to have postcards made of their personal photos back then and send them to all their friends.

The Art of Amy Crehore
P.S. The people shown above are not my relatives. They are just friends of relatives.

My Demon Ukulele

Back of the Demon Uke

"Demon", A painted vintage ukulele by Amy Crehore
CLICK TO ENLARGE
Recently, I have had a few inquiries about my "Demon" ukulele. So, I thought I would blog it again. It has racked up a few thousand hits on my flickr account, thanks to stumbleupon. Not sure why everyone is fascinated by it, but maybe it's because this uke is a near mint Stella with an art deco "duco" finish from the 1930's. You can see the back of this uke in the top photo. It has an almost pinkish color in the light areas. It's a very natural-looking textured design. Absolutely beautiful. Here's an example of a rare National tenor guitar with a duco finish: LINK . Nice, eh?

I painted an original design of a girl struggling with a demon over flames on the body of my uke. And, on the headstock, I did a little logo of a demon's face and some hand-lettering.
The Art of Amy Crehore

See more of my painted ukes here with links to close-ups: FLICKR

Juggling in Brazil and Florida

Nice scenery. Watch for the shot of the juggler on the cliff with the raccoon.

Cat Mummy

Brooklyn Museum

blog has some fascinating cat mummy pictures (above).

I brought a "cat mummy" to an art party once. I guess it was more of a petrified cat "sculpture" - in a special box with leopard fabric lining titled "Eartha Kitt". Long time ago.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Beautiful Art Rugs

"Nathalie Lete lives and works in Paris. She works in many ways, mixing different techniques and mediums, illustration, ceramics, textile and painting."

I like these rugs, but you should see the rest of her output, including books and plates:
Nathalie Lete

(Thanks, Janet)

The Art of Amy Crehore

Cloudy Collection, Set Number 3!

This is a teaser preview. There are seven new letterpress prints that will be available for purchase on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 at 9:09 AM Pacific Time.
“The Scarlet Lettering” edition of the Cloudy Collection is made up of wonderful lettering art by Marian Bantjes, Kate Bingaman-Burt, Ray Fenwick, Ray Frenden, Linzie Hunter, Nate Williams, and David Huyck.
They have done something a little different this time: they are printed with a “blind deboss” (see above, photo by Boxcar press). This should appeal to designers and illustrators alike...and regular people who appreciate fine things like letterpress prints.

CLOUDY COLLECTION

The Art of Amy Crehore
By the way, I was honored to be part of the first Cloudy Collection Set!