Reward of Merit (Green) Sunday School Ten Merits Ten Commandments old time religion

A reward of merit given to a good student of the lord.  19th Century.  I posted a red lithograph
from the same manufacturer earlier.

Reward of Merit  Collection Jim Linderman

Old Time Religion Action Religious Figures Hand Styled and Hand Painted Religious Figures old time religion

Old time religion Action Figures!  Here they are, all dressed-up and ready to play Hollywood Squares!  "I'll go with Thomas to BLOCK please."  As with virtually all the items on this blog, no date or copyright.  Who would be brave enough to copy a religious object, when a lightning bolt could be aimed your way even as you ponder it. 

Each little apostle is about the size of a AA size battery.  I have to say the painting IS remarkable...so we must have farmed it out.   Italy?  Lovely little fellas, regardless. 

"Religious Figures" No Date (circa 1950?)   collection Jim Linderman

The Credentials of F. H. Lacy and Wife old time religion

Old Time Religion Credentials.  More about the miracle of F.H. Lacy coming.  All comes to he who waits (for me to write the story.)  

F. H. Lacy Bookmark with credentials. Circa 1935  Collection Jim Linderman

Anderson Johnson

The congregation of Reverend Elder Bishop Anderson Johnson numbered in the thousands, but they were virtually all painted by the preacher himself and most hung by threads from the ceiling instead of sitting in pews. Surrounded by crime, blight, drugs and wig shops, he lived a quiet life on Ivy Street in Newport News, VA following a long career of selfless ministry. 

I am only now beginning to appreciate, some 15 years after my first visit, how special was his gift and talent. Within the door of his church and home a dark cave of religious passion entirely of his own making awaited. Completely surrounded by his own paintings of "followers" he performed on guitar, pedal steel and piano, hidden within the walls and largely for himself. I was surprised years later to find he had recorded commercially. Despite many conversations about his life, service and mission, he never mentioned his gospel steel guitar recordings made by Henry Stone in Florida in the late 1950's released on the Glory and Angel Labels. I understand there has been a resurgence of steel guitar gospel players in Florida since, I suspect the roots of this movement were planted by Reverend Johnson. One has recently been posted on YouTube, using one of my photographs, so I am taking the time to repost this entry from Dull Tool Dim Bulb. 


Reverend Johnson passed away near poverty, but at least one painting was added to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 1998. He once told me, in all seriousness, the reason he painted so many portraits was that he hoped to find work as a courtroom artist. The house he transformed was destroyed by urban renewal (which in this case was needed, believe me) Portions of the environment also remain in historic preservation museum projects in Virginia and in private collections. There is a beautiful essay about his life on the website of the Middle Passage Project run by the College of William and Mary. Some of Mr. Johnson's recordings have been reissued, one appears on the Dust-To-Digital "Goodbye, Babylon" box set of 2003

Original 35mm photographs 1993-1995 collection Jim Linderman

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Cowboy for Jesus old time religion

Cowboy for Jesus old time religion.  Some days you wake up and just KNOW it's going to be a good day!  One buck well spent.  Ignore the spam, but listen to the song HERE.

A Cowboy for Jesus  45rpm sound recording Sunny Songs (no date) Collection Jim Linderman

The DOOR old time religion

Chalk Talk diagram 1913 

Original Drawing and Overlay Stan Dunphy draws Church old time religion comic book art

old time religion

Stan Dunphy draws church.  Circa 1950?  Undated.   Original drawing and overlay Collection Jim Linderman

A Vial of Holy Water in the MAIL Holy Land Christian Approach Mission Kansas City Tax Exempt?

OLD TIME RELIGION:  As if using little vials of water from the River Jordan (read: tap) wasn't enough, The Holy Land Christian Approach Mission used all manner of early marketing gimmicks to raise funds (and to raise the roof on a "French Colonial style building with sweeping grounds…" according to a 1998 article in the Orlando Sentinel.   They also used colorful stamps and some kind of strange "Widow's Mite" coin thing.  

A few years earlier, likely around the time these little juice bottles were being shipped all over the country, Leader Reverend Ralph E. Baney of the Holy Land Christian Approach Mission loved water so much, he spent large sums of donated money in a futile attempt to dig Sodom and Gomorrah from the bottom of the ocean, of all things.  Well, I don't think i worked. 

Guess what.  When your church leader is called "flamboyant fundraiser" in the press, it brings attention, and Reverend Baney's Ballsy spending ( a 236-acre luxury estate, a stable of Tennessee walking horses, and a yacht in Florida)…oh, and a ceiling to floor waterfall drew the attention of the IRS.  Hmmm…tax excempt racing horses?  Not any more, Right Reverend. In 1968 the IRC took away the tax exempt status of the Holy Land Christian Approach Mission

I understand the tax free status was reinstated years later after doing sone cleaning.  I'd keep my eye on them still.

ACTUAL WATER FROM THE HOLY RIVER JORDAN (NOT TO BE CONFUSED AS ELVIS SWEAT) DO NOT CONSUME WITHOUT BOILING. PLEASE REMOVE CRACK-SHAPED VIALS FROM DOORWAYS AND ALLEYS AFTER USE.

ACTUAL RIVER JORDON IN A BOTTLE CARD FROM HOLY LAND CHRISTIAN APPROACH MISSION, KANSAS CITY, MO  DATE CIRCA 1950?  COLLECTION JIM LINDERMAN

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Reverend L. A. McDonald Lures Little Ones to the Lord with Magic old time religion

Old Time Religion MAGIC!  Reverend L. A. McDonald used magic tricks to trick kids into church...and he did it for some 30 years.  Also known as "Uncle Mac" he traveled lower Michigan performing his tricks for the youngsters.  Magic Wins Kids contains 20 pages of wowsers, including the last trick, a whopping finale in which "A rubber fish, nine inches long, is painted and produced while singing "Fishers of Men"  Uncle Mac goes on to write "The main purpose of this lesson is to maintain the attention of the children."  Hmm.  Well, he has mine.

Magic Wins Kids by Rev. L. A. McDonald Port Huron, MI  Hall Magic Company 1950
Collection Jim Linderman

Willliam Colter Guitar Jerry Colter Accordian Evangelist old time religion

Picker, grinner and husband of Jerry the accordion player Reverend William Colter,  Evangelist
Original Real Photo Postcard no date Collection Jim Linderman

Record Number of Souls Saved Old Time Religion

Click to Enrapture

Revival Meeting sets record!  18 souls saved. 

Trio of snapshots and handwritten notation Anonymous 1938  Hansen Idaho
Collection Jim Linderman

Where to Look in the Bible old time religion

Where to Look in the Bible old time religion

Jay C. Kellogg The Cowboy Evangelist old time religion

The Cowboy Evangelist Jay C. Kellogg rides off to save souls in the next dusty town!

What can I say about the Cowboy Evangelist?   He is "Fascinating, Humorous, Pathetic and Dynamic!"  He is also a "Real Man with a Real God and a Real Message" not to mention a real horse. 

Try to schedule your trip west to catch the sermon "Hogtieing the Devil" on June 16th.  It's a good 'un!

Jay C. Kellogg The Cowboy Evangelist Brochure circa 1940?  Collection Jim Linderman

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Deposited in the Treasury of Heaven old time religion Greenback Gospel

The Treasury of Heaven Greenback Lucre.  Gospel Dollar tract circa 1930  Collection Jim Linderman

old time religion Spiritual Survival Kit (For the BIG one)

Even the Lord's heavy iron couldn't rub the creases out of this emergency pamphlet, but the message remains crisp and true.

Spiritual Survival Kit (No Date) Methodist Church Headquarters Winona Lake, WI 
Collection Jim Linderman

Sky Pilot Preacher Smith Wigglesworth old time religion

Old Time Religion Reverend Smith Wigglesworth tries a new trick:  dropping his invitations from a bi-plane like the propaganda they were!   Good thing the company now selling his four-pound "complete sermons"  doesn't try that trick…it would be like the time they dropped turkeys from the sky on WKRP.

Anyway, a scarce little pamphlet from the sky which is worth exactly one wiggles worth today…but then find another.
 
Wigglesworth was a plumber who suffered from glossolalia (the clinical name for speaking in tongues)  but it was in the days before medication for schizophrenia, so he became a preacher.  This was shortly after meeting and marrying his wife, Polly Featherstone, a Salvation Army preacher. She taught the plumber to read the Bible, and he always said it was the only book he ever read.  That is typical of his open-mindedness throughout his entire career.
 
What a career it was.  Wigglesworth raised folks from the dead (!) including at one point his now dead wife Polly!  He claimed to have brought no less than three, but maybe as many as twenty-three departed souls back to life.  One of those he brought back was a bitter woman  who,  when raised out of her coffin,  slapped the preacher in the face saying she was having a better time in heaven. 

He was a "laying on of hands" faith-healer, but when Swedish authorities (onto the ruse) denied him, he cured Swede's illnesses by inventing a technique by which the informed could "lay hands on themselves."  He also distributed blessed hankies, but I haven't been able to find out how much he charged for them.

Wikipedia claims Wigglesworth would not sleep at night unless he had saved at least one soul that day.   One night he rose troubled from bed and went out looking for a drunk to convince on the spot so he could get some damn sleep.

There is a website devoted to selling Smith's dribbles, but I'm not going to link to them.  Why help?  I will gladly allow them to use this scarce sky-pamphlet if they can bring either Old Man Smith Wigglesworth OR his wife Polly back to cure my lumbago.
 
Message from Sky Pilot Smith Wigglesworth.  Original "flying tract" announcement circa 1930 Collection Jim Linderman

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Oggle Studio Evangelist Warren Smith and Wife RPPC Old Time Religion

Old Time Religion visiting scholar of the lord Warren Smith of Cheyenne Wyoming stops in at the Oggle Studio in Kalamzoo, Mi.

Real Photo Postcard Collection Jim Linderman

old time religion Life and Death and the Lake of FIRE

old time religion by Caleb J. Baker

Jesus Forgets the Security Code old time religion

Jesus forgets the security code.

What Would Jesus (do with) This Necktie? old time religion

WWJD?  Tie one ON

FINALLY SOMEONE FIGURES IT ALL OUT! OLD TIME RELIGION OF CALEB J. BAKER

CLICK TO ENRAPTURE

 Caleb J. Baker?  Umm, Rev, before you pass on to glory, do you have a few minutes to explain the chart here for us?  I know you've got it all down in your head, but these notes you left for me are not helping one dang bit.  Caleb J. Baker was a Brit, but he turned into an American before knocking on the gates.  Croaked by the great Pneumonia of 1918...and that's the flu for you idiots who continue to say "Oh, I Never get the flu shot, I dont believe it helps) because YOUR ignorance helps spread it on to others.  So do your part...believe in science for just a teeny tiny minute and get your flu shot, you idiots.  It kills thousands upon thousands of folks who hold superstitious and conspiratorial beliefs.  Well, trust your old-time-religion editor here.  Get the Shot.  Better living through the chemistry of man.

Caleb J. Baker's whacky SHEOL diagram.  Click and Squint.  Or use our standard instruction Click to Enrapture!

The Garden of Allah Child Evangelist Betty Weakland Stages a Spectacular Old Time Religion

Weakland's Garden of Allah.  

Betty Jane Kramer and her Jesus Saves Banjo Child Evangelist old time religion

Jesus Saves Banjo of Betty Jane Kramer, child evangelist. circa 1938  Real Photo Postcard
Collection Jim Linderman

old time religion Japan Style Samurai Preacher Reverend Joseph Harvey Niijima

Niijima collection Jim Linderman

Samurai runaway and stowaway Joseph Harvey Niijima,  "A Diamond of which the world is not worthy" is shown in this Japanese postcard circa 1900.  Niijima snuck aboard a ship to escape Japan, sold his swords and became a Christian educator and preacher after attending Amherst College in 1870. 

Apparently a scarce postcard.

Sound like a good story?  Samurai Preacher Reverend J. Niijima?  Japan network NKH TV thinks so…a year long historical drama (FIFTY episodes) will air on Sunday nights starting in 2013.  The epic will be titled "Yae no Sakura" with Ayase Haruka in the role of Niijima's wife Yae.


Japanese postcard, circa 1900 Re. J. Jiijima collection Jim Linderman

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Golden Rule Bread Toast unto Others as you would... Old Time Religion

Golden Rule Enriched White Sliced Bread (Detail) Original Wrapper No Date
Collection Jim Linderman

Oliver B. Greene The Best Preacher I Heard Yet! old time religion

Heh.  Rabid something or other world traveler Oliver B. Greene dominates the airwaves, the best preacher I heard yet!


Original Postcard no date Collection Jim Linderman

Buy an Engraved Prayer Novelty, Get a Free Bible 1956 old time religion from Kay Novelty Company

The Jesus Savior Revival Tabernacle Unidenominational Home of the Living Way Bible College Church of the Old Time Religion Hour old time religion

Old Time Religion Tulsa style.  The Jesus Savior Revival Tabernacle Unidemoninational Home of the Living Way Bible College Church of the Old Time Religion Hour (whew) in better days. 

Well, it's a nice building, so I wanted to see what was left of it.  I guess nothing.  The street it was on in Tulsa now seems to be the service approach to the BOK center, where some Tulsa sports teams play, but there is an "Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam" coming in January!   Oh…and Lady Gaga will be appearing there in March.  

If you are looking for the Avalon correctional facility (the jail) it is up the road a bit.  I took the whole google street view tour, and the only revival I see is urban.  Welcome to Tulsa.

Please Do Not Overload the Prayer Circuits! old time religion

Pick your Problem and Pray for a Prayer 

Send in Prayer request form (used) circa 1965 collection Jim Linderman

Holy Sprit Breaks the Chains of Sin old time religion

A Friendly Visitor! Mr. Brown visits Mary, Jack, Sue and Peter old time religion

"I'm not finished yet," said Sue, Kneeling down to draw a flower.

"When I look at your lovely picture it makes me think of a verse in the Bible,"  said Mr. Brown.


Little Pilgrim Lesson Pictures Volume 56 April-June 1944  Number 2  Part 8 for May 21, 1944
Published quarterly by Pilgrim Press Crowfordsville, IND.  Acceptance for mailing at the special
rate of postage provided in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on June 22, 1918.
(Whew)

Meet the Morrills old time religion double vision of heaven

Double Vision

Click to Enrapture

Joe Leach, Successful Agent