BLANKET OF THE MONTH
March 2010 - I never talk religion or politics, so let's get them both out of the way. For three years a very serious man who sold old mining artifacts set up next to me at the High Noon Show. We exchanged cordial hellos and goodbyes, but very little beyond that. Overhearing his conversations it became clear he was deeply religious and in fact a Baptist minister. By year four it apparently was painfully obvious to him I desperately needed help from on high. During a lull in the show he turned and said, "Can I ask you a personal question?"
"I suppose," I replied. "If it's too personal, I just won't answer."
"Fair enough," he said. He then looked me straight in the eye and asked, " Barry, what is your personal relationship with Jesus?"
Immediately I answered, "Blood relative." End of our conversation. Forever.
As for politics, I don't want to imply Sarah Palin is dumb, but if I gave her a penny for her thoughts she could give me change.
Any further questions regarding my politics or religion? I thought not.
If all of you kids will now scramble to page 287 of your well-worn copy of my brilliant book "Chasing Rainbows: Collecting American Indian Trade & Camp Blankets" you will see a very lovely Oregon City blanket. Below is the same pattern with an OC first label circa 1911 in a two-color monochromatic treatment, the only one I have encountered in this pattern. Nor have I collided with any other two-color Oregon City blanket except a Totem Pole pattern that I recall was grey and white. I can't explain why the blanket looks like it has distinct panels on the lower half of it, either - something likely went amiss in the weaving process . Below that is the same pattern in a very snazzy color combo - there is no particular reason for picturing it other than I can, so why not? Color me whimsical.
February 2010 - Inspired by Mark McGwire coming clean on his steroid use, I would like to set the record straight once and for all and confess that yes, damn it, I did go through an entire box of Luden's Wild
Cherry Cough Drops during the 1997-1998 cold and flu season.
The High Noon show was excellent with many friends on hand and many blankets sold and on their way to some important collections. On the buying end nary a blanket did I purchase - there were very few outside of what I was offering and none sufficiently rare to interest me. This makes Barry a very sad little Blanketboy. Obtaining great blankets is what we wool junkies do and if we're not buying, we're dying.
But chins up and raise your glasses high to the blanket I promised you last month from the mysterious Knight Woolen Mills of Provo, Utah. No catalog has ever surfaced from this mill and we have no idea why or for exactly how long they manufactured Indian blankets, but I do know this particular example is museum quality and as good a trade blanket as one could ever hope to find - this would be a crown jewel in the most advanced collection. Take note of the gently rounded corners - always found on Knight blankets and a much less radical corner than the legendary Pendleton round corners. It's unbelievably heavy - I'm guessing at least a pound heavier than any blanket of similar size from any other manufacturer. The condition is pristine and the pattern and colors superlative. I trust you all will enjoy this one and until next month have a great Knight!
June 2009 - In a day highlighted by international complaining and weeping I will turn 62 on June 15. One of my fellow baby boomers was feeling immortal one day and claimed 60 was the new 40. That statement was clearly insane. Let me assure you 62 is the new 190. Nevertheless, I continue the relentless hunt for Indian blankets and a quality urologist. Why does anybody become a urologist? Did I not hang out with the right kids? Because as I recall none of them were that interested in urine. At what point does a young man or woman choose to make human liquid waste their life's work? "Let's see...I'll become a doctor...yeah, maybe a great heart specialist....nope, I've gotta go with urine!"
I seem to have wandered a bit off-topic. Focus, Barry!
Verily, let the news ring out to every corner of blanketdom. Birthday Boy's choice for Blanket Of The Month is an extremely odd, yet very appealing shawl that is unlabeled, but I believe to be a 1920's Oregon City.
Ordinarily I am a condition freak, but I have owned this blanket for close to ten years despite it having thin spots and even a few holes. Why would I do such a thing? Because it is the only example of the pattern I have ever seen and unlike Dane Cook it makes me laugh. It's a very happy looking blanket and let's face it, when you start applying human emotions to an Indian blanket isn't it time to be institutionalized? This is what I mean about turning 62. Next month I may be talking about dancing the rhumba with a blanket or inviting one to a romantic dinner. It's very hard to watch myself mentally deteriorate like this, but it could be worse. I could be a urologist.
May 2008 brings me yet another opportunity to showcase my non-existent photography skills AND my tiny kitchen by presenting both sides of Oregon City's most famous blanket...the Happy Hunting Ground. Look closely in the design for the kitchen sink since everything else is included.
We're starting 2008 with a classic round corner Pendleton. The company produced round corner blankets from 1896 through 1908 and they are highly prized by collectors. The colors are outstanding in this example.
March 2010 - I never talk religion or politics, so let's get them both out of the way. For three years a very serious man who sold old mining artifacts set up next to me at the High Noon Show. We exchanged cordial hellos and goodbyes, but very little beyond that. Overhearing his conversations it became clear he was deeply religious and in fact a Baptist minister. By year four it apparently was painfully obvious to him I desperately needed help from on high. During a lull in the show he turned and said, "Can I ask you a personal question?"
"I suppose," I replied. "If it's too personal, I just won't answer."
"Fair enough," he said. He then looked me straight in the eye and asked, " Barry, what is your personal relationship with Jesus?"
Immediately I answered, "Blood relative." End of our conversation. Forever.
As for politics, I don't want to imply Sarah Palin is dumb, but if I gave her a penny for her thoughts she could give me change.
Any further questions regarding my politics or religion? I thought not.
If all of you kids will now scramble to page 287 of your well-worn copy of my brilliant book "Chasing Rainbows: Collecting American Indian Trade & Camp Blankets" you will see a very lovely Oregon City blanket. Below is the same pattern with an OC first label circa 1911 in a two-color monochromatic treatment, the only one I have encountered in this pattern. Nor have I collided with any other two-color Oregon City blanket except a Totem Pole pattern that I recall was grey and white. I can't explain why the blanket looks like it has distinct panels on the lower half of it, either - something likely went amiss in the weaving process . Below that is the same pattern in a very snazzy color combo - there is no particular reason for picturing it other than I can, so why not? Color me whimsical.
February 2010 - Inspired by Mark McGwire coming clean on his steroid use, I would like to set the record straight once and for all and confess that yes, damn it, I did go through an entire box of Luden's Wild
Cherry Cough Drops during the 1997-1998 cold and flu season.
The High Noon show was excellent with many friends on hand and many blankets sold and on their way to some important collections. On the buying end nary a blanket did I purchase - there were very few outside of what I was offering and none sufficiently rare to interest me. This makes Barry a very sad little Blanketboy. Obtaining great blankets is what we wool junkies do and if we're not buying, we're dying.
But chins up and raise your glasses high to the blanket I promised you last month from the mysterious Knight Woolen Mills of Provo, Utah. No catalog has ever surfaced from this mill and we have no idea why or for exactly how long they manufactured Indian blankets, but I do know this particular example is museum quality and as good a trade blanket as one could ever hope to find - this would be a crown jewel in the most advanced collection. Take note of the gently rounded corners - always found on Knight blankets and a much less radical corner than the legendary Pendleton round corners. It's unbelievably heavy - I'm guessing at least a pound heavier than any blanket of similar size from any other manufacturer. The condition is pristine and the pattern and colors superlative. I trust you all will enjoy this one and until next month have a great Knight!
January 2010 - Yet another decade begins in which each time I go to the supermarket I will be asked if I want stamps and ice and I will politely and consistently decline. Am I totally out of step with the rest of society? Are there a lot of people mailing ice?
There was a blue moon on New Year's Eve. Now I'm concerned the moon may be made out of blue cheese and I have no idea what wine complements it properly. Obviously this is going to be a baffling decade for me.
I'm going to skip my usual drama this month and cut to the chase. I will be exhibiting at the High Noon show January 30-31 in Mesa, Arizona. If you're going to be in town for the show and want a tour of Barry's Blanket Biosphere e-mail me at blanketboy@cox.net and/or call me at 602-595-1157. High Noon is the best antique cowboy and Indian extravaganza in the country and I spare no expense in creating the most cutting edge presentation of any of the 150 plus exhibitors. My piles of blankets maniacally strewn about as if rifled through by a burglar frantically searching for cash and jewelry might at first appear sloppy and unprofessional, but it's actually a look so sophisticated that I doubt anyone will fully understand it during my lifetime. Such is fate or as the French so eloquently put it, "I surrender!"
The blankets gods smiled upon me last week and I acquired a group of very rare trade blankets including next month's featured blanket - the flat out best Knight Woolen Mills blanket ever found - be here February 1 and behold perfection! For this month's selection we turn to one of my very favorite pictorial Racine patterns - scroll down and you will see it in several different color combinations - but this freshly acquired example is in my favorite combo of black and red. Happy New Year and may all your blankets be heart smart and gluten-free.
There was a blue moon on New Year's Eve. Now I'm concerned the moon may be made out of blue cheese and I have no idea what wine complements it properly. Obviously this is going to be a baffling decade for me.
I'm going to skip my usual drama this month and cut to the chase. I will be exhibiting at the High Noon show January 30-31 in Mesa, Arizona. If you're going to be in town for the show and want a tour of Barry's Blanket Biosphere e-mail me at blanketboy@cox.net and/or call me at 602-595-1157. High Noon is the best antique cowboy and Indian extravaganza in the country and I spare no expense in creating the most cutting edge presentation of any of the 150 plus exhibitors. My piles of blankets maniacally strewn about as if rifled through by a burglar frantically searching for cash and jewelry might at first appear sloppy and unprofessional, but it's actually a look so sophisticated that I doubt anyone will fully understand it during my lifetime. Such is fate or as the French so eloquently put it, "I surrender!"
The blankets gods smiled upon me last week and I acquired a group of very rare trade blankets including next month's featured blanket - the flat out best Knight Woolen Mills blanket ever found - be here February 1 and behold perfection! For this month's selection we turn to one of my very favorite pictorial Racine patterns - scroll down and you will see it in several different color combinations - but this freshly acquired example is in my favorite combo of black and red. Happy New Year and may all your blankets be heart smart and gluten-free.
December 2009 - I'm listening to Bob Dylan's latest CD "Christmas In My Heart" and I can only hope it will inspire the very prolific rapper Lil Wayne to record his salute to the Hebrew holidays "Sukkos In Your Tuchas".
Now that I've gotten that joke out of the way, I must discuss my Uncle Jack who recently turned 80. My uncle, known in most major American cities as Jack Weinstock, is cooler than anyone you've ever known or will ever meet. He's been a high performance race driver, ridden motorcycles at terrifying speeds, captained his very own extremely large boat, been the head clown in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, is a world-class cook and has married and divorced two absolutely stunning redheads named Sharon. He's been millions of dollars in the black followed by even more millions in the red several times over and then finally in his 60s introduced washable silk clothing to the US and made so much money even he can't blow it. Now he drives the most beautiful Bentley convertible you've ever seen and is married to a gorgeous redhead named Sandy (thus breaking out of his Sharon rut but still loyally sticking with the letter S) and lives like the king he is in a magnificent apartment in Aventura, Florida.
Prior to that he resided in Connecticut where he had a 10 foot statue of the Blues Brothers in his living room, kitchen mats that said "Hi, I'm Mat", a complete set of life-size fiberglass farm animals in his backyard, a robotic dog that greeted visitors at the door and a garage full of never-opened gadgets that included Microphone In A Briefcase and The Solar Waffle Iron. He's had two bypass operations, multiple angioplasties, several stents, a pacemaker and was pinned under a runaway Mercedes that came through the wall of a Manhattan restaurant where he was drinking cheap wine and suffered what we were told was a fatal or at the very least massively destructive brain injury. Three weeks later he was better than new tossing candy to fellow motorists while dressed as the Easter Bunny complete with ears. The man can not be killed - he's like a Jewish cockroach. Spitting in Father Time's face, he has retained all his hair and has grown shockingly handsomer as he's aged - so he's either a premium specialty cheese or a goddamn freak.
When he turned 80 I knew something special was coming and I wasn't disappointed. He left high school at 17 to join the Army and so he missed his senior prom. He remedied that a couple weeks ago when he threw himself his Senior Senior Prom for 140 friends and family members...most in 1950's clothing who danced to an 11 piece band, drank malts and many other drinks that had considerably more vodka in them. The entire event was highlighted by a hip-hop dance routine set to 50 Cent's throbbing "In Da Club" showcasing my uncle as lead dancer (of course!) and star (what else?) complete with four back-up dancers.
It's time for all of you to meet my Uncle Jack in person and feel instantly diminished so please click on this link http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/communities/story/1343296.html and read the article and watch the video. Seriously, don't you wish he was your uncle?
Per usual, what does any of this have to do with Indian blankets? Well, pretty much zero, but I can't tell you how much it thrills me when my uncle looks at me with wonder in his orbs and says,"I just can't get over that you're the world authority on something." So I'm feeling pretty good about myself because the coolest guy in the world thinks I'm cool. Maybe I'm the second coolest guy in the world? No, number one is my Uncle Jack and then Jack Nicholson. That drops me to number three at best but now I'm thinking there's Muhammad Ali, Sean Connery, DeNiro, Pacino, Tiger Woods before the car accident, etc., etc. OK, obviously I'm well out of the Top Ten, but try having Johnny Depp identify Indian blankets...can NOT do it to save his life!
So look and learn, Johnny. I was going to feature some Beacon blankets this month, but that was before uber-collector Gary Diamond sent me photos of his latest monumental find - a missing link in the evolution of Racine trade blankets.
What we see in thousands of photos from the late 1800s are Indian women wearing Victorian shawls - a great many of them Racines. Racine shawls of this era were predominantly brown or grey and always featured framed patterns - unpatterned centers framed by a decorative border on all four sides. A typical example is seen in the first photo below. Over time Racine produced well over a hundred different border designs - stars, leaves, paisleys and floral patterns generally. Eventually that frame became more Indian-looking in composition and then Racine transitioned into multi-color full-blown Indian patterns. Racine Indian blankets are usually banded patterns - bands of design separated by bands of solid color.
I believed that was the clear evolution of Racines until Mr. Diamond's recent find of the blanket in photo two - the first Racine blanket to my knowledge that presents a clearly Victorian pattern in band form rather than a frame. Perhaps this was a fluke pattern and Racine returned to its framed ways. However, the possibility must now be considered that this style begat Racine's wonderful Indian trade blanket banded patterns with a splendid example appearing as photo 3.
Anyway, Gary's blanket is really cool, but in no way cooler than my Uncle Jack, who unlike the wannabe in the Dos Equis ads, is truly The Most Interesting Man In The World. Stay thirsty, my friends.
.
Prior to that he resided in Connecticut where he had a 10 foot statue of the Blues Brothers in his living room, kitchen mats that said "Hi, I'm Mat", a complete set of life-size fiberglass farm animals in his backyard, a robotic dog that greeted visitors at the door and a garage full of never-opened gadgets that included Microphone In A Briefcase and The Solar Waffle Iron. He's had two bypass operations, multiple angioplasties, several stents, a pacemaker and was pinned under a runaway Mercedes that came through the wall of a Manhattan restaurant where he was drinking cheap wine and suffered what we were told was a fatal or at the very least massively destructive brain injury. Three weeks later he was better than new tossing candy to fellow motorists while dressed as the Easter Bunny complete with ears. The man can not be killed - he's like a Jewish cockroach. Spitting in Father Time's face, he has retained all his hair and has grown shockingly handsomer as he's aged - so he's either a premium specialty cheese or a goddamn freak.
When he turned 80 I knew something special was coming and I wasn't disappointed. He left high school at 17 to join the Army and so he missed his senior prom. He remedied that a couple weeks ago when he threw himself his Senior Senior Prom for 140 friends and family members...most in 1950's clothing who danced to an 11 piece band, drank malts and many other drinks that had considerably more vodka in them. The entire event was highlighted by a hip-hop dance routine set to 50 Cent's throbbing "In Da Club" showcasing my uncle as lead dancer (of course!) and star (what else?) complete with four back-up dancers.
It's time for all of you to meet my Uncle Jack in person and feel instantly diminished so please click on this link http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/communities/story/1343296.html and read the article and watch the video. Seriously, don't you wish he was your uncle?
Per usual, what does any of this have to do with Indian blankets? Well, pretty much zero, but I can't tell you how much it thrills me when my uncle looks at me with wonder in his orbs and says,"I just can't get over that you're the world authority on something." So I'm feeling pretty good about myself because the coolest guy in the world thinks I'm cool. Maybe I'm the second coolest guy in the world? No, number one is my Uncle Jack and then Jack Nicholson. That drops me to number three at best but now I'm thinking there's Muhammad Ali, Sean Connery, DeNiro, Pacino, Tiger Woods before the car accident, etc., etc. OK, obviously I'm well out of the Top Ten, but try having Johnny Depp identify Indian blankets...can NOT do it to save his life!
So look and learn, Johnny. I was going to feature some Beacon blankets this month, but that was before uber-collector Gary Diamond sent me photos of his latest monumental find - a missing link in the evolution of Racine trade blankets.
What we see in thousands of photos from the late 1800s are Indian women wearing Victorian shawls - a great many of them Racines. Racine shawls of this era were predominantly brown or grey and always featured framed patterns - unpatterned centers framed by a decorative border on all four sides. A typical example is seen in the first photo below. Over time Racine produced well over a hundred different border designs - stars, leaves, paisleys and floral patterns generally. Eventually that frame became more Indian-looking in composition and then Racine transitioned into multi-color full-blown Indian patterns. Racine Indian blankets are usually banded patterns - bands of design separated by bands of solid color.
I believed that was the clear evolution of Racines until Mr. Diamond's recent find of the blanket in photo two - the first Racine blanket to my knowledge that presents a clearly Victorian pattern in band form rather than a frame. Perhaps this was a fluke pattern and Racine returned to its framed ways. However, the possibility must now be considered that this style begat Racine's wonderful Indian trade blanket banded patterns with a splendid example appearing as photo 3.
Anyway, Gary's blanket is really cool, but in no way cooler than my Uncle Jack, who unlike the wannabe in the Dos Equis ads, is truly The Most Interesting Man In The World. Stay thirsty, my friends.
.
November 2009 - You may have noticed that each Blanket Of The Month entry is longer than the one that preceded it and it's all because of you! After all these months in your company I've overcome my shyness and just feel so comfortable around you I've become positively chatty! (Even my gay readers have to admit that's the gayest sentence they've ever read). Don't you worry, I'll gladly talk about blankets but our relationship is so much more than that now. I feel I can share my life with you - in fact, you're welcome to be me for as long as you want - that will free me up to concentrate on my three real passions - off-roading, clogging and stump removal. I'll be frank and you can be Sinatra, October was not good to me. It ended last night with Halloween and coincidentally the month began with a court appearance versus a witch. In-between I masterminded two massive business deals for friends who apparently were so overcome with rapture of the deep profits that they neglected to offer me so much as a farthing. Fortunately, I am a man who does not let failure go to his head. I am channeling my frustration and rage by personally digging up my entire front lawn armed only with a pick and shovel. Why wouldn't I hire laborers to do this backbreaking work for me? Two excellent reasons: I'm cheap and I'm stupid. And why would a cheap and stupid man dig up a perfectly good lawn? You just asked a great question that deserves my very best explanation! I live in Phoenix, Arizona - part of the vast parched Sonoran desert. Grass has absolutely no business in a desert - every single blade is an abomination and a slap in the face via Bermuda to Mother Nature. I am going NOT green and creating a more natural environment that is a true celebration of native habitat - a barren Godforsaken expanse of naked scorched earth and sun-blasted rock fit only for lizards, rattlesnakes and scorpions. I am now in the third day of demolishing my entire front yard with at least four more days of destruction ahead of me. I have mightily swung my pick so many times that I am now permanently bent over and look like a Jewish anteater. My back and legs are infernos of agony and my arms are worse. My face and hair are caked with dust, my clothes reek of sweat but in the end all my toil will pay off for I will have a desert landscape so grotesquely realistic, so horribly natural, so unspeakably bleak it will kill all hope in any human that gazes upon it.
Which naturally brings me to this month's blanket. An eyedazzling Racine shawl circa 1895-1900 and I apologize, but I only have one picture of it. Interesting angle I photographed it at. And the fuss they made about Ansel Adams! Just like my yard, I say dig it!
October 2009 - There's nothing like a court appearance to begin
the month and October 1 will find me cast in the heroic role of plaintiff in a
nasty little matter concerning a very expensive fire in my office that the
Phoenix Fire Department has determined was/is arson. So while you're looking at this
fantastic trade blanket I will be staring into the rotten little eyes of the
person who is suspect #1. Who's got fire jokes? I've heard quite a few so
far. Yes, of course I will be sliding down a pole this morning. No,
I haven't priced Dalmations and yes, Denis Leary is my attorney. Anybody got an
old flame reference? How about I've met my match? Thanks very much, I
do feel the burn and sorry, I am absolutely not carrying a
torch.
Let us not forget that after a fire the cycle
of life begins again and with it comes new growth....which would be just great
if my office was a goddamned forest, but does a goddamned forest have leather
sofas and coffee tables? I think not. So listen up, all ye would-be arsonists, I
will be avenged...I'M BARRY, NOT BAMBI!
So this is some blanket, huh? It's the finest
example ever found of a Buell Chief's blanket. In its 1910-1911 catalog Buell
calls this pattern the Hanolchadi (allegedly Navajo for "old chief")
and let's not kid each other, you can't pronounce it and neither can I. Notice
the very gently rounded corners as compared with the blatantly rounded corners
on the earliest Pendletons.
Look it over carefully. There's no rush. Slow
way, way, way down...seriously, where's the fire?
September 2009 - It's currently a very pleasant 109 degrees and what other man, woman, child or coyote residing in Phoenix, Arizona could be obsessing over wool blankets except yours truly? I assure you the correct answer is none and I am rounding off to the nearest number. But obsessing I am and I have always been unhappy with the picture on page 184 of my book. If you'll all now turn to that page, class, you will see the picture that has always haunted me and caused me so many sleepless nights (to be fair, it's either that picture or the fact I sincerely believe my girlfriend will kill me in my sleep.) The book image was shot in dismal light with a malfunctioning flash and so today we ask you to direct your eyeballs to two much brighter pictures of the same blanket taken in my massive kitchen. As we all know, the pictures produced in my kitchen are state of the art and many amateur photographers ask me how I am able to consistently produce such superior shots. Well, I guess it's just God-given talent that obviously you will never have, OK? Moving on while you reorient your lives and dreams, this blanket was identified as the Class Y in the Racine catalog, but called the Yuma in the Shuler & Benninghofen catalog. You may call it either Todd or Leonard.
August 2009 - My fondest wish is that each and every one of you will consider my site the intellectual hub of the vintage Indian blanket world with an emphasis on anything Jonas Brothers. Which one is your favorite - Curly or Shemp? While you're mulling over your selection allow me to present a shawl that offered unique identification challenges. Because I'm senile the pattern didn't ring a bell. The very fancy fringe, sheared finish and psychedelic red/white banding whispered Racine to me, but the edges of a label remained and no Racine has ever surfaced bearing a label. The size perfectly matched that of a Pendleton label and some of the shawl's colors were straight from the Pendleton palette. I judged the blanket to be circa 1910-1915 and it seemed too bold in its coloration to be a Pendleton of that era and lively and beautiful enough to be a Racine. How could I then explain the label? Well, I couldn't while being sober and a fully labeled example of the same pattern in a very private collection is conclusive proof that this is a Pendleton Beaver State first label c. 1915. Wait until I tell the Jonas Brothers - Moe will go nuts!
July 2009 - Those of you who have the misfortune of knowing me personally can vouch for the fact I take nothing more seriously than the selection of the Blanket Of The Month. I truly had an amazing Hamilton blanket picked out for July but then I thought no, I've been way too easy on you people...let's be honest, you've been spoiled rotten and you know it. Month in and month out a gorgeous blanket. Well, here in the real blanket world it can get mighty damn ugly sometimes. To illustrate that very fact and illuminate some of the unimaginable visual dangers I face every single day I have selected a 1920s Oregon City in everybody's favorite color combination - orange and purple. If this was a suit Prince wouldn't wear it. If it was a dress Dolly Parton wouldn't be caught dead in it, but some lunatic at Oregon City thought this combo would sell well and everybody else in the decision-making progress obviously agreed. What kind of mind-altering chemicals could they have possibly been exposed to? I'm sorry...I'm being too critical...because when you look at this blanket with an open mind you have to admit it matches...well, absolutely nothing.
June 2009 - In a day highlighted by international complaining and weeping I will turn 62 on June 15. One of my fellow baby boomers was feeling immortal one day and claimed 60 was the new 40. That statement was clearly insane. Let me assure you 62 is the new 190. Nevertheless, I continue the relentless hunt for Indian blankets and a quality urologist. Why does anybody become a urologist? Did I not hang out with the right kids? Because as I recall none of them were that interested in urine. At what point does a young man or woman choose to make human liquid waste their life's work? "Let's see...I'll become a doctor...yeah, maybe a great heart specialist....nope, I've gotta go with urine!"
I seem to have wandered a bit off-topic. Focus, Barry!
Verily, let the news ring out to every corner of blanketdom. Birthday Boy's choice for Blanket Of The Month is an extremely odd, yet very appealing shawl that is unlabeled, but I believe to be a 1920's Oregon City.
Ordinarily I am a condition freak, but I have owned this blanket for close to ten years despite it having thin spots and even a few holes. Why would I do such a thing? Because it is the only example of the pattern I have ever seen and unlike Dane Cook it makes me laugh. It's a very happy looking blanket and let's face it, when you start applying human emotions to an Indian blanket isn't it time to be institutionalized? This is what I mean about turning 62. Next month I may be talking about dancing the rhumba with a blanket or inviting one to a romantic dinner. It's very hard to watch myself mentally deteriorate like this, but it could be worse. I could be a urologist.
May 2009 - I rarely run across a blanket that leaves me dumbfounded, but color me stumped on this remarkable very early wool trade blanket. I have absolutely no idea who manufactured it - if I had to guess I'd say Buell but why guess when I can be blissfully ignorant instead? This came from the estate of Milton K. Paine of Windsor, Vermont. Mr. Paine was a druggist who concocted the wildly popular "Paine's Celery Compound" and sold the rights in 1880 undoubtedly for a very handsome price.
I quote the potion's magical powers - "Thousands of lives that are now fast wearing out would be prolonged if Paine's Celery Compound were in each instance used to stop those ominous pains over the
kidneys, to build up the rundown nervous strength, and cure permanently those
more and more frequently occurring attacks of headache and indigestion."
For those who didn't suffer reoccurring headaches, an evening dose or two of Paine's with its 21% alcohol content could get them jump-started first thing the very next morning.
For those who didn't suffer reoccurring headaches, an evening dose or two of Paine's with its 21% alcohol content could get them jump-started first thing the very next morning.
April 2009 - This is probably the most atypical Oregon City Woolen Mills blanket I've ever encountered and the only example of this pattern I've ever seen. It bears the very first OC label so I would date it c. 1905-1911. The design looks Scandinavian with its snowflake motif and I can't recall seeing a pattern from any company remotely like it. Of course, at my age I don't recall brushing my teeth this morning so don't go by me.
March 2009 - Since I suppose I'm a liberal it's only fitting that I am quoted liberally in this month's issue of Phoenix Home & Garden magazine in a lovely article on America's most unique commercially made textile - the American Indian trade blanket. Let Hefner have his little Playmate Of The Month thing if that makes the old boy happy, but everyone knows the truly classic beauties are showcased as Blanket Of The Month and may I remind you....no airbrushing needed here! This month's honey is a hot little number made in the 1920's by Oregon City Woolen Mills. We don't see this big bold pattern from OC very often...it measures a very voluptuous 60" x 72" and it just loves cold romantic evenings and its turn-offs are washing machines and moths.
February 2009 - After a spirited debate with myself I've decided to feature yet another Racine Woolen Mills blanket this month. This baby is extremely rare and approximately a hundred years old - the same age I apparently appear to be to the entire female gender. I can actually sense women checking me out and mentally dressing me. But I digress - enjoy the Racine while I continue muttering to myself.
January 2009 - Many of Barack Obama's closest friends call him Barry and because inevitably we will be confused for each other I have beefed up security and named a cabinet - in my case a medicine cabinet I now call Antonio. As my first official act of 2009 I present to you, the people, a dead mint Capps Hualpai pattern blanket c. 1911.
January 2009 - Many of Barack Obama's closest friends call him Barry and because inevitably we will be confused for each other I have beefed up security and named a cabinet - in my case a medicine cabinet I now call Antonio. As my first official act of 2009 I present to you, the people, a dead mint Capps Hualpai pattern blanket c. 1911.
December 2008 - I say a fond goodbye to 2008 and its fiery pit of economic doom and a cheery hello to the only blanket pattern ever made by three companies - in this case Oregon City, Beacon and Pendleton. Who made it first? I can say with complete certainty that I haven't a clue. There is one original here and two cases of outright design thievery - one of the culprits was likely Beacon who made their copy in cotton for a tenth the price of the two wool versions. I do know all were made in the 1920's and it's one of my all-time favorite patterns. Directly below is the Oregon City version:
And now the Beacon:
And lastly the Pendleton:
November 2008 - It has just dawned on my seriously thick head that I have not had the common decency to name a single Capps blanket as Blanket Of The Month. That madness ends right here right now with this Capps Shoshone c. 1911 and a classic pattern by any standard. This blanket has been in my personal collection for years and that's where it's staying!
October 2008 - Today the Dow plunged to a 4 year low, banks are failing, economists are predicting a gloomy financial future despite the $700 billion dollar government bailout and that's why all the smart money continues to go into vintage Indian blankets! A tip of the Friedman fedora to Chris Odgers for allowing me to picture one of the prizes of his fine collection. This blanket appears in both the Racine and Shuler & Benninghofen catalogs - designated only by a style number in the Racine catalog but named the Montana in the S & B catalog.
Ah, September and Hurricane Gustav just blew this 1923 label Pendleton shawl my way - a very rare pattern and truly startling coloration for that era. This is a color palette I would expect to find in a modern Pendleton.
Already August 2008 and I have a treat for Racine fans this month - two variations of the design theme as seen in the fantastic December 2007 shawl (don't be lazy - scroll down and check it out!). The fringe is almost completely missing from the first example but I don't care because I'm crazy about it! Elegant simplicity - two color blankets from any company are extremely rare.
This baby features multi-colored fringe and the design laid out on a banded field - 'tis lovely!
Fantastic news for the fans of my horrendous photography! Instead of incredibly amateurish shots taken in my kitchen I'm celebrating July 2008 by shooting even worse photos in my office. The locale may have changed, but my commitment to provide you the absolute worst in home photography remains unwavering! Here for your viewing...I hesitate to add the word pleasure...is a Racine Woolen Mills blanket the likes of which I've never seen. I believe this to be either a presentation blanket or an "end of day" blanket in which a factory worker had a bit of time on his/her hands and decided to be creative. The result is far too labor intensive to have ever been a stock factory blanket. There are SEVEN different colors of fringe - all hand-tied, of course as this blanket is pre-1900. As if this wasn't wondrous enough, I have never seen another example of the pattern. This is my version of 4th of July fireworks - long live the Republic!
June 2008 is Barry's Blanket Bonus month! Free balloons and hot dogs for the kids and TWO blankets for you! I've been remiss in picturing a great Beacon and here is an unused late 1920's example retaining its original factory cardboard tag. The blues in this blanket are truly blue-tiful.
And here's the most unusual Pendleton round corner I've ever encountered. Someone was asleep at the wheel and an errant spool of black wool found its way into one part of the blanket and wasn't repeated elsewhere! This wonderfully busy design continued into the 1920's in a square cornered version, but this is the only round corner in this pattern I've ever seen and dates to 1904.
Ah, September and Hurricane Gustav just blew this 1923 label Pendleton shawl my way - a very rare pattern and truly startling coloration for that era. This is a color palette I would expect to find in a modern Pendleton.
This baby features multi-colored fringe and the design laid out on a banded field - 'tis lovely!
And here's the most unusual Pendleton round corner I've ever encountered. Someone was asleep at the wheel and an errant spool of black wool found its way into one part of the blanket and wasn't repeated elsewhere! This wonderfully busy design continued into the 1920's in a square cornered version, but this is the only round corner in this pattern I've ever seen and dates to 1904.
May 2008 brings me yet another opportunity to showcase my non-existent photography skills AND my tiny kitchen by presenting both sides of Oregon City's most famous blanket...the Happy Hunting Ground. Look closely in the design for the kitchen sink since everything else is included.
It's high time to feature an exceptional Oregon City Woolen Mills blanket and here's a beautiful banded shawl in as-new condition c. 1915 for April. My girlfriend will be delighted that the top of her lovely noggin makes an appearance in the first photo. She ducked for cover on the second to avoid all the blanket paparazzi that follow us everywhere.
March 2008 already and here's a blanket from one of the lesser known mills that occasionally made Indian blankets - the Portland Woolen Mills which manufactured not in Portland, but rather St. Johns, Oregon and began production in 1904. Like the December 2007 Racine below this blanket incorporates the swastika in the design - a symbol that always guarantees a trade or camp blanket was made before America entered World War II.
Time for a history lesson. The swastika has been used for thousands of years and even predates the ancient Egyptian symbol the Ankh. The swastika was widely used in many cultures including those of ancient Troy, Tibet, China, India, Japan and southern Europe. The "twisted cross" even adorns Mayan temples. The word comes from the Sanskrit svastika - "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix. The swastika represented abundance and prosperity - depending on the cultural group it symbolized life, sun, power, strength, good luck and the four cardinal directions.
To Hindus, it is a symbol of the sun and its rotation. Buddhists consider it a diagram of the footprints of Buddha. Among the Jainas of India, the emblem is a reminder of the four possible places of rebirth: in the animal or plant world, in Hell, on Earth or in the spirit world. The swastika's meaning to the Hopi people has been described as a depiction of the migration routes Hopi clans took through North and South America.
Until the Nazis adopted the symbol the swastika was widely used on all manner of items including cigarette and calling card cases, watch fobs, poker chips, coins, signs, postcards and even in American company names like the Swastika Cement Company. The symbol was popular as a good luck charm with early aviators - a swastika was painted on the inside of the nosecone of the Spirit of St. Louis. Swastikas are carved into the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., the Philadelphia Museum of Art and many historic movie theaters and hotels - there was a Swastika Hotel in Raton, New Mexico. During World War I the swastika decorated the shoulder patches of the American 45th Division. The symbol is often referred to as "whirling logs" or "rolling logs" in modern descriptions of pre-World War II American Indian items. Native Americans used the symbol on jewelry, souvenir spoons, basketry, rugs, etc.
In 1940, in response to Hitler's regime, the Navajo, Papago, Apache and Hopi people signed an anti-whirling log proclamation. It read, "Because the above ornament, which has been a symbol of friendship among our forefathers for many centuries, has been desecrated recently by another nation of peoples, therefore it is resolved that henceforth from this date on and forever more our tribes renounce the use of the emblem commonly known today as the swastika . . . on our blankets, baskets, art objects, sand paintings and clothing."
I see my time is up so without further delay here's the Portland Woolen Mills blanket...a wonderland of weft and warp.
February 2008 showcases a magnificent shawl - one of my favorite Racine patterns in a screaming bubble gum pink with forest green fringe. It's a hundred years old and the condition is absolutely flawless. An Indian woman wearing this would have been visible not only to her immediate tribe, but to tribes on other planets. The circle visible in the first picture is on the camera lens, not the blanket. If you're bored why not write an amusing caption in it?March 2008 already and here's a blanket from one of the lesser known mills that occasionally made Indian blankets - the Portland Woolen Mills which manufactured not in Portland, but rather St. Johns, Oregon and began production in 1904. Like the December 2007 Racine below this blanket incorporates the swastika in the design - a symbol that always guarantees a trade or camp blanket was made before America entered World War II.
Time for a history lesson. The swastika has been used for thousands of years and even predates the ancient Egyptian symbol the Ankh. The swastika was widely used in many cultures including those of ancient Troy, Tibet, China, India, Japan and southern Europe. The "twisted cross" even adorns Mayan temples. The word comes from the Sanskrit svastika - "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix. The swastika represented abundance and prosperity - depending on the cultural group it symbolized life, sun, power, strength, good luck and the four cardinal directions.
To Hindus, it is a symbol of the sun and its rotation. Buddhists consider it a diagram of the footprints of Buddha. Among the Jainas of India, the emblem is a reminder of the four possible places of rebirth: in the animal or plant world, in Hell, on Earth or in the spirit world. The swastika's meaning to the Hopi people has been described as a depiction of the migration routes Hopi clans took through North and South America.
Until the Nazis adopted the symbol the swastika was widely used on all manner of items including cigarette and calling card cases, watch fobs, poker chips, coins, signs, postcards and even in American company names like the Swastika Cement Company. The symbol was popular as a good luck charm with early aviators - a swastika was painted on the inside of the nosecone of the Spirit of St. Louis. Swastikas are carved into the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., the Philadelphia Museum of Art and many historic movie theaters and hotels - there was a Swastika Hotel in Raton, New Mexico. During World War I the swastika decorated the shoulder patches of the American 45th Division. The symbol is often referred to as "whirling logs" or "rolling logs" in modern descriptions of pre-World War II American Indian items. Native Americans used the symbol on jewelry, souvenir spoons, basketry, rugs, etc.
In 1940, in response to Hitler's regime, the Navajo, Papago, Apache and Hopi people signed an anti-whirling log proclamation. It read, "Because the above ornament, which has been a symbol of friendship among our forefathers for many centuries, has been desecrated recently by another nation of peoples, therefore it is resolved that henceforth from this date on and forever more our tribes renounce the use of the emblem commonly known today as the swastika . . . on our blankets, baskets, art objects, sand paintings and clothing."
I see my time is up so without further delay here's the Portland Woolen Mills blanket...a wonderland of weft and warp.
We're starting 2008 with a classic round corner Pendleton. The company produced round corner blankets from 1896 through 1908 and they are highly prized by collectors. The colors are outstanding in this example.
December 2007's Blanket Of The Month is an extraordinary Racine pictorial shawl. This blanket has a history of being in one Indian family's hands for well over a hundred years and originally belonged to a female cousin of Chief Joseph's. As this blanket dates to the period when Joseph was still alive, I have no doubt whatsoever he saw this blanket being worn.
November 2007 Both sides of a unique Racine Woolen Mills shawl manufactured for the Indian trade about 1900. Polka dots - who'd have thunk it?
