My Saga, Karl Ove Knausgaard’s Passage Through America (2015)

My Saga, Part 1 - NYTimes.com
My Saga, Part 2 - NYTimes.com

Norman Rockwell's Source Photography

Source. Digitalized online. 50000+ images.

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Sinclair Lewis

Babbitt (English) (as Author)
Free Air (English) (as Author)
The Innocents: A Story for Lovers (English) (as Author)
The Job: An American Novel (English) (as Author)
Main Street (English) (as Author)
Our Mr. Wrenn: The Romantic Adventures of a Gentle Man (English) (as Author)
The Trail of the Hawk: A Comedy of the Seriousness of Life (English) (as Author)

Read Every Page of Brillantine, Sheila Heti's Lost Zine

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Lorca - Ode to Walt Whitman

In full.

Intermark Ride Group. "Buy New Rides and Used Amusement Rides."

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"IRG offers the best selection of both new and used rides for parks, carnivals, family centers, zoos, and city parks."

The History Of Slot Machines

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GAMBLING MEN

Source.

"1891 and against the backdrop of the town of Brooklyn, in the recently-booming east coast New York City, Sittman and Pitt had just developed the gaming machine that in the years to come would be considered THE precursor to the modern slot machine. Based on poker, possibly to cash-in on the popularity of the game, the machine contained five drums carrying a total of fifty cards and like it’s namesake in the table-sitting world, it proved to be a popular hit with gambling players everywhere but especially in it’s home city of New York. At this time you would be hard-pressed to find a bar in the city that didn't have at least one of these machines standing at the side of the bar waiting for potential players to insert a nickel and press the lever in the hope of a good poker hand. These machines had a drawback. There was no direct payout mechanism, so in order to cure this problem, establishments would for example, offer a patron a free beer should he receive a pair of Kings, maybe a cigar if he hit a lower hand. It was not ‘made’ easy for a customer to win. Once obtaining a machine, many establishments would typically remove two select cards from the deck: the Ten of Spades and the Jack of Hearts. This, naturally, cut the odds of winning drastically and to make it even more difficult to win, the drums themselves could also be re-arranged to the taste of the proprietor.

"What can not be re-arranged so simply however, is the differing accounts of a German immigrant named Charles Augustus Fey, and his invention over on the west coast. There are some who say he invented the first mechanical slot machine in 1887, four years BEFORE Sittman and Pitt’s machine hit the bars of New York. There are others who state that Fey conceived his innovation in 1895, four years AFTER Sittman and Pitt’s machine. It is the year 1895 however, that seems to prove more popular with gambling history enthusiasts. Regardless of the chronology, Fey’s invention was revolutionary.

"With what later would be termed the first "one-armed bandit," Fey had solved the problem of designing a machine capable of making an automatic pay-out for all possible winning combinations. This was achieved by replacing ten cards with five symbols ( Diamonds, Hearts, Horseshoes, Spades and a cracked Liberty Bell ), and utilizing three reels instead of five drums thereby considerably reducing the complexity of reading a win! Three bells in a row equaled the largest payoff, amounting to fifty cents or ten nickels. The machine, consequently called Liberty Bell due to it’s attractive symbol became a massive success and is generally credited with spawning the massive mechanical gaming device industry at this time.

"During the next five years Charles Fey also invented the first descendent of the Liberty Bell called "4-11-44" named so after the maximum winning combination of the machine, worth five dollars. After this success, Fey upgraded his business from small-shop trading to factory production and in successive years invented the "Card Bell" machine and then further improved it a year later in 1899. This latest innovation had an altered symbol ( Star ) and boasted a maximum prize of twenty dimes or tokens, achieved with a three bell combination!

"Fey had been enjoying limited competition and favorable government legislature in his bid to dominate the gaming device market. However, various companies including Kalamazoo and Monarch had also released slot machines and one company in particular would severely test his control. Again, there are conflicting theories as to what actually happened but it was well-known in gaming device circles around the turn of the century that Charles Fey refused to sell or lease his revolutionary Liberty Bell slot machine to anyone. One theory as it that in 1905, a robbery occurred at a saloon in San Francisco, a theft in which only two items were stolen - an apron and a Liberty Bell slot machine. Less than a year later, Herbert Stephen Mills who had inherited the ‘Mills Novelty Company’ some years earlier from his father Mortimer Mills, produced a new version of the Liberty Bell called the Mills Liberty Bell. Despite the competition, the Mills Liberty Bell saw off all challengers. Mills, at this point, was employing assembly-line techniques for the construction of slot machines and despite the controversy, later became known as the "Henry Ford of slot machines."

"The other theory however states that Charles Fey actually went into business with the Mills Novelty Company, and then manufactured the Mills Liberty Bell which stunted all competition.

Source

"The Mills Liberty Bell itself featured a cast iron case with a classic Liberty Bell actually cast into the front of the machine. Originally the machine had cast iron feet with toes, but this was scrapped in later versions and they were replaced with ornate scrolled feet. Playing cards ( the King, Queen and Jack ) were depicted on the machine’s reel strips, and it also featured a bell that rung when a winning combination was hit. This was later dropped for the Mills Liberty Bell, though this concept would resurface many years later.

"Charles Fey had not only had to contend with these commercial losses, but he suffered most heavily when his main slot-machine producing factory was almost utterly destroyed in an earthquake. After this point, Fey faded into relative obscurity and he died some years later in 1944. Herbert Mills’ company however continued to thrive.

A BOOMING INDUSTRY

"By 1910 slot machines could be found seemingly everywhere. The Mills Novelty Company introduced slight variations to it’s Liberty Bell design and named it the Operator Bell. The Operator Bell had a more fitting neck coin entry and also featured fruit symbols unlike previous models. The Mills Novelty Company was also now producing five different variations of it’s Liberty Bell design at it’s factories, and by the time World War One broke out, the company had expanded into Europe and it’s factories were manufacturing up to 30,000 gaming machines.

"The age of the cast iron machines came to an abrupt end when Mills introduced slot machines fashioned with cheaper wooden cabinets, and by the early 1930’s the Mills Novelty Company made a number of changes to it’s production line of slot machines that signaled another revolution of the gaming industry.

"The new wave of machines introduced a double jackpot that allowed players the luxury of knowing that they could win twice in quick succession. The machines were also designed to be quieter and these 1930’s machines are now referred to as the "Silent Bell(s)."

"New cabinet designs were also released as part of this new wave of slot machines and included such themes as the Lion Head, the War Eagle, the Roman Head and finally in 1933, the Castle Front.

"The War Eagle also boasted a new coin acceptor that displayed the coins played moving successively across the top of the machine. In the case that slugs were used to operate the machine, the operator would now be able to see if such an object was being used. The new specification also added additional movement. Herbert Mills passed away in 1929 at the age of 57, leaving a vast fortune to his wife and eight children.

"In 1909, the previously favorable laws were thrown out the window, and new laws were introduced declaring that slot machines could no longer dispense cash. Slot machine manufacturers and bar owners managed to cope with these new laws by giving away free packs of gum and other prizes for getting certain combinations of symbols on the machines. There is a theory that this was the idea for the fruit and bar symbols present on modern-day slot machines. The bars are said to represent the packs of gum and the fruit symbols indicate the various kinds of candy that were won. Another theory holds that an early slot machine rewarded it’s players by awarding fruit-flavored chewing gums with the pictures of the flavors depicted by the corresponding symbols on the reels. The popular ‘cherry’ and ‘melon’ symbols are said to have derived from this machine. According to this representation of events, the ‘BAR’ symbol now common in slot machines was actually derived from an early logo of the Bell-Fruit Gum Company.

"In 1919, the American government declared PROHIBITION and the consumption or supplying of alcohol was made illegal. The slot machines which mainly populated bars and saloons, were moved into the speakeasies that had been set up in light of the recent changes in the law. Since the speakeasies were illegal anyway, the managers figured they may as well go back to offering cash prizes on the slot machines. Because of this, the popularity of slot machines increased even more.

"Despite the governmental pressure the gaming industry continued to bloom and grow, especially in the state of Nevada where gambling was legalized in 1931. Several companies sprung up to take advantage of the situation, and they began to manufacture and sell slot machines to the fledgling casinos in Nevada. The manufacture and enjoyment of slot machines grew at an exponential rate well into the 1960’s.

"NEW LOOKS FOR NEW ERA

The pinball machine manufacturer, Bally, in 1964 began to produce a new slot machine named Money Honey. This machine was powered by electricity, and also possessed new sound effects as well as being classed as a multi coin machine. It was also the first slot machine ever to have a hopper - the name for the holder into which the coins get paid out. More innovations flowed from the Bally business brains; they added games that had more reels, bigger hoppers and more coins until 1970 when they produced a hopper large enough to hold dollar coins which meant larger jackpots for the consumers.

"In 1978, Atlantic City legalized gambling, and by this time Bally had cornered about 90% of the slot machine market. The company continued to add reels, knowing this would decrease chances of winning and so maximizing the size of a jackpot . In addition to increasing the number of symbols on each reel with 25 eventually becoming the maximum, they also raised the wagers so games could be played at $5, $25 and even $100. Bally also hired a computer programmer by the name of Inge Telnaus to increase the size of the jackpots without losing profits for the company. Using a computer program, Telnaus utilized a random number generator that cycled through the numbers on imaginary reels he had made. A revolution had been realized in slot machine gaming as Telnaus with these imaginary reels could radically change the amounts that could be won. This random number generator has ushered slot machines into a new age and opened up new markets with new opportunities to be explored much like the Californian gold fields did for the American populace over 150 years ago."

Niagara Falls Linen Postcards circa 1940-50s by Fred Noma

Niagara Falls, Barren Illusion

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Christmas Evil (1980)

c/f Interview with Lewis Jackson, Director of 'Christmas Evil' (AKA 'You Better Watch Out') | Brutal As Hell

Sherwin Tjia - Photohaikus (2010 - Present)

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Photohaikus
Photohaikus 2
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Photohaikus 5
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Photohaikus 13
Photohaikus 14
Photohaikus 15
 
Sherwin Tjia wrote a book of beautiful pseudo-haikus (lines of text taken from mostly overheard voices, shortened into epigrams, standing-in for a distilled experience, often ineffable). 

At present, he photographs haikus. 

His concerns are a mix of the mundane and the lyrical, his process forgiving of a self-admitted laziness ("effortlessness" would be the more generous way to describe this).

Vintage Ads: The Housewife (Mid 20th C)

From your fine purveyor of custom light switch plates, Vintage Love.

(These ads were taken specifically from Vintage Love's Facebook page)

See also: 20 Retro Ads Full Of Ridiculously Funny Sexism.
See also: How wives should undress in front of their husbands, 1937.

North American Autopsy, Mortuary and Morgue Equipment

Descriptions and photos of contemporary products from some North American suppliers.

Dissecting Instruments
Autopsy Accessories
Histology
Fume Handling
Grossing Stations / Workstations
Autopsy Sinks Tables Carts
Dissection Tables
Transport & Handling
Specimen Transport
Morgue Refrigerators
Lab Furniture & Casework
Necropsy Equipment / Tables

Restraunt, Steak House and Diner Furniture, Deco and Furnishing

Descriptions and photos of contemporary products from some North American suppliers.

Booths
Chairs
Tables
Bar Stools
Hotel/Lounge
Patio/Outdoor
Church Seating
Fabrics & Finishes

Gregory Crewdson - Photography

"Best known for his elaborately choreographed, large-scale photographs . . . the images that comprise Crewdson's . . . series take place in the homes, streets, and forests of unnamed small towns. The photographs portray emotionally charged moments of seemingly ordinary individuals caught in ambiguous and often disquieting circumstances. Both epic in scale and intimate in scope, these visually breathtaking photographs blur the distinctions between cinema and photography, reality and fantasy, what has happened and what is to come."

• Gregory Crewdson's Photography Capturing a Movie Frame | Art in Progress
• Juxtapoz Magazine - The Imagined Worlds of Gregory Crewdson
• Gregory Crewdson at White Cube, frieze.com
• White Cube Gallery: Gregory Crewdson's London Representative
• Luhring Augustine Gallery: Gregory Crewdson's U.S. Representative
• Five In Focus: Gregory Crewdson - Crewdson picks five movies that have influenced his photographic style: Vertigo, Night of the Hunter, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blue Velvet, Safe
• "Photographs from Twilight exhibition". Photography. Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/photography/past_exhns/twilight/crewdson/index.html.
• Works by Gregory Crewdson in Cal Cego. Contemporary Art Collection
• Google Images
• “Aesthetics of Alienation,” Tate Etc., Issue 1, Volume 1, Summer 2004, pp. 42–47 Full text online
• Aperture magazine profile - includes interview about preproduction, production, and postproduction of images
• Guardian Article 10.4.06
• The Speedies feat Gregory Crewdson, 1979
• Bomb magazine interview 1997
• Gregory Crewdson's $1 Million Photo Shoot by Christopher Peterson
• Behind the Scenes: Caught Looking Michele McDonald, Boston Globe
• Interviews, Production Stills, and Images published by Aperture (04/2008) 
• Afrtinfo interview (03/2006) 
• NPR interview (01/2006)
•  Gregory Crewdson's Epic Effects By Kenneth R. Fletcher, Smithsonian Magazine, June 2008
•  Gregory Crewdson catalogue in artnet's Artist Works Catalogues 
• Art Info - How Gregory Crewdson Found a New Path in the Haunted Backlots of Rome, Sept. 2010

Fargo (1997)

Script here.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Film here.

Script here.

L. Frank Baum's original novel here.

Introduction
1. The Cyclone
2. The Council with the Munchkins
3. How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow
4. The Road Through the Forest
5. The Rescue of the Tin Woodman
6. The Cowardly Lion
7. The Journey to the Great Oz
8. The Deadly Poppy Field
9. The Queen of the Field Mice
10. The Guardian of the Gates
11. The Emerald City of Oz
12. The Search for the Wicked Witch
13. The Rescue
14. The Winged Monkeys
15. The Discovery of Oz, the Terrible
16. The Magic Art of the Great Humbug
17. How the Balloon Was Launched
18. Away to the South
19. Attacked by the Fighting Trees
20. The Dainty China Country
21. The Lion Becomes the King of Beasts
22. The Country of the Quadlings
23. Glinda The Good Witch Grants Dorothy's Wish
24. Home Again

Camp History: North Americana by the Radio

Boston Blackie: Blackie and the Fur Traders

Cavalcade of America: The Undefended Border

Frank Lima's Sacttered Vignettes

Frank Lima's Scattered Vignettes.

One of the few contemporary poems I stumbled across in my adult life and felt it contained a world within that I could inhabit, Frank Lima's Scattered Vignettes remains for me one of the most magical sustained invocations of language (English).

Elsewhere in this quixotic library and toy store, I have collected material of those who address misery by making an aesthetic object of consumption out of it. That is, while enjoyable, often, the trap. One cannot possess meaninglessness (the ultimate ghost of upheaval and trauma) by turning it into a product, buying and consuming it. Meaninglessness is more elusive than, say, delicious candy. In meaninglessness (death, violence, despair), the hunger is not sated by eating more of the same.

The groping towards any space of serenity in this relationship between observer, meaning and world, one that retains not only the images of trauma, violence and beauty but also the meaninglessness of those very things which make our time here storied, would require one to communicate or build something actually transformative.

This is not easy. Misery has stubbornly resisted prognostication and prescriptions, as in Marx, or magical solutions, as in Fascism. Often it hovers just outside the purview of Liberalism, the phantom limits of its ability to act. The nostalgia of religious fanaticism can only hold it at bay for so long. Ignoring it does not dispel it.

Frank Lima, so despairing, so ritually beautiful in his figures, so uncomplicatedly attuned to myth and the ceremonial gestures of magic, in a matter of a few pages, manages to cover a continental scourge of difficult and ambivalent territory. The miracle in these vignettes is how he never drops out of poetic voice. He takes things that are already meaningless (failed lives, the sad household objects that are the props for traditional magic) and uses them to help communicate the ultimate things, which are generally resistant to meaning (violence, ultimate taboos, spirit). Somehow the ineffable--by sheer conjuration of this sensitive but semantically perilous alchemy--manages to pass through.

For More on Frank Lima:
Here is an interview.