Tall-Tale Postcards: William H. Martin

I've always gotten a kick outta tall-tale postcards, but only recently found out that one of the pioneering masters was a Kansan by the name of William H. Martin(1865-1940) of Ottawa. There is quite a bit of information floating around on the web about Martin and other tall-tale artists and was able to find several samples of his work. Wow! Some of these really blow me away! I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I do...

The first master of tall-tall photography was William H. “Dad” Martin (1865-1940). At the age of 21, Martin moved to Ottawa, Kansas to learn photography from E.H. Corwin, whose studio Martin eventually purchased a mere eight years later. In 1908, he began crafting tall-tale post cards. His exaggerated images quickly became so popular that, within one a year, Martin’s company was allegedly turning out over 10,000 postcards per day. His impressive, dynamic compositions set the standard for the genre. These postcards were so popular, in fact, that evidence exists to suggest that they were often reproduced without permission by other distributors and peddled as their own. Martin’s interest in tall-tale photography seems to have been short-lived and mostly economically driven, however. In 1912, only four years after he started shooting tall-tale photos, Martin sold his post card company, having amassed a small fortune. Nevertheless, during this short stint Martin popularized a new cultural phenomenon in tall-tale post cards with a talent rarely equaled.

(excerpt from Wisconsin Historical Images)

I'm hoping to catch a Kraken like this one day!

For more information on Tall-Tale photography visit:
Kansas State Historical Society
Wisconsin Historical Images
American Museum of Photography

Fossils & Bones

I found these the other day. I like them :)

(above) Tabulate Coral (Syringopora) - Greenwood County, Kansas

(above) Crinoids - Greenwood County, Kansas

(above) Old Teeth - Greenwood County, Kansas

JER'S MOVING BACK!!!

Yay!

Our good friend Jer and his girlfriend Anneke have decided to give up their home in Berkeley Cali to come back and live amongst us redneck heathens here in Kanny. He's been there for years and it's going to be great to spend time fishing and drinking and yakking with him (and his best girl) once he gets back. I suppose we'll have to get those damn skates off his feet first thing when he gets here.
: )

Black Widow

I stumbled onto this deadly beauty while spraying weeds in my backyard. She was living in the housing for my inground swimming pool cover. Lucky for me, this is only the 3rd Black Widow (Latrodectus mactans) spider I have ever found. Although rare, we do get these in Kansas. She is quite large, I would say maybe 1.5 inches in diameter. I'll try to snap some better photos after she warms up to her new environment.

And here, my prize, the Black Widow.
Isn't she lovely?...
And so deadly.
Her kiss is fifteen times as poisonous as that of the rattlesnake.
You see her venom is highly neurotoxic,
which is to say that it attacks
the central nervous system causing intense pain,
profuse sweating, difficulty in breathing,
loss of consciousness, violent
convulsions and, finally...
Death.

(lyric excerpt taken from Alice Cooper - The Black Widow)

MagicJack

I bought one of these several years ago thinking I'd save money on my phone bill.

WRONG.

After I received it I realized there wasn't a local area code available, so I set up a 314 area code and number. The problem with this was anyone who called me would be billed for long distance charges. After googling for a solution I discovered a site called Grand Central, now called Google Voice. I applied for an "invite" which would enable me to set up the number of my choice with a local area code. After waiting well over a year they finally sent me an invitation, and then I set up my account online. Long story short, I was able to get the 316 area code, but was limited to a very few numbers in my area.

I emailed my new number to everyone, thinking my problems were finally over.

WRONG.

At first everything was fine, then after a few months the magicjack device would shut off several times a day, and when I was talking to anyone there was horrible static that made it practically impossible to hear the person I was talking to. Googling again, I learned that recent updates caused the device to use more power than was available through my USB port, and that I would need a powered USB port in order for it to work properly. I found one on Ebay for $6.99 with shipping included, received it several days ago and it's been working fine since.

Hopefully this trend continues or I swear to God I'll go postal.


UPDATE:

I'm loading my gun... ; )

Shortly after I put this post up I looked on Magic Jack's website and discovered they had added my area code so I could change my number so it would be correct, and then I wouldn't have a Missouri area code. So, I did it.

BAD MISTAKE.

Now I'm getting 3 or 4 calls a day from people who claim I called them when I didn't. So, I started an online chat with a rep from Magic Jack who says no one else is making the calls, because IT'S MY NUMBER. I told them someone was making the calls and it wasn't me, and could I maybe change the number so I wouldn't receive all these calls? Sure I could, the jerkoff tells me, but it'll cost you 10 dollars. I said no, I won't pay you to fix your problem, so what are you going to do? He said he'd refresh my number on their end and if I have any more problems to get back with them. It obviously didn't work because I've had 2 calls from people who I don't know in the last 10 minutes calling to ask why I'm calling them.

Time to get back with the person from Magic Jack...

UPDATE 2:

OK, several hours later I get into a chat with a different Rep from Magic Jack who tells me I need to contact my internet service provider and have them "disable the automated outboard calling", because Cox is using my number (WTF?) to update services to other customers. So I call Cox and talk to a guy from India (sound familiar?) who is puzzled by what I tell him, so he switches me to a technician who explains this is impossible and that Magic Jack is yanking my chain and pushing their problem onto someone else. He said he had considered getting a Magic Jack but after hearing my problems with it he wasn't so sure now. I told him I was getting what I paid for, heh heh heh.

Time to get back with Magic Jack and tell them they're full of it.