New Brunswick, NJ

Pam’s Pictorama Post: I grabbed this up as soon as I saw this little collaged beauty. I am not sure that I immediately digested the weirdness of it entirely but being a Jersey girl at heart I thought it was pretty hotsy totsy. Like many recent posts it came from the postcard show last fall and it went into a pile I am only recently digging into.

Born and bred in the Garden State I admit that I may never have so much as driven through New Brunswick. Looking at the map of the state I must have (may have?) as it is nestled in the crook of the state, just above Monmouth County, heading north and a smidge west. This sounds a bit odd but we didn’t drive west all that often growing up. North of course took you to New York but generally we went up the coast. South brought you to Freehold which seemed to be required occasionally; Princeton where my sister went to school, and ultimately Philadelphia on occasion – we had a cousin there. I rarely made it to the bottom corner of the state, probably not until college and after.

*For those of you who don’t have the map of the state handy in your head.*

The northwest of the state was a rare event. Flemington is up there (I have a friend who moved there recently – hey Hope!), where I can remember going only a few times – it felt exotic. Even our forays into Pennsylvania were usually made by going more south or directly across the state. Years ago I spent some time hiking with a friend along the beautiful Delaware water gap. Christine grew up in that area and knew it well but it was the first time I spent much time there. All this to say that New Brunswick always sat slightly north and west of where I had my formative years and somehow I never much got there or maybe knew if I did. It belongs in a vague category of North Jersey that I would have used when I lived there.

This card is hometown proud indeed. A rendering of a pansy has a collaged-on head and shoulders of a woman in turn-of-the-century finery, wearing a be-ribboned or flower covered hat. She wears the pansy petals like a dress and on each petal is a local building of note shown as actual postcards of significant sites on each petal. They are: Washington public school, Livingstone Avenue High School, St. Peters Parochial School, Carnegie Library, and the Post Office. Clearly they thought highly of their educational institutions.

*New Brunswick Carnegie Public Library, in a contemporary but undated photo.*

The Carnegie Library, shown above, seems to be the only one that is definitely unaltered. I’m on the fence about the post office, shown below, which could be the same building from another angle and with different things around it obviously. The schools have long been replaced (or in the case of the parochial school possibly disappeared) by newer structures. (My own high school in Rumson still exists intact with its old building but a certain amount of building on has happened. You can still see the bones of it however.)

*The Post Office in New Brunswick – I believe it is the one shown in the postcard. The windows are the same.*

Someone has written the initials JHB in the lower right, under Greetings from New Brunswick, NJ. On the back, also written in pencil it says Miss Ethel Hardy, 5 John Street, City. However, it was never mailed and it is incomplete. Another version of the card I found online was mailed in 1908 according to a cancellation mark.

The card was published by Hammel Bros., New Brunswick, NJ. It was made (printed) in Austria however. Hammel Brothers, not surprisingly, seemed to special in cards of a local nature in New Brunswick, NJ, although I do wonder how they would have made a business out of that bit of limited fame and for how long. They have not left many tracks and mostly there are references to a brewery of a similar name and time in New Mexico.

As you read this I will be packing up and heading to New Jersey this morning. As per yesterday’s post, there is snow on the ground (more overnight and a fair amount coming down now) and still a bit more throughout the day, hopefully in a desultory sort of way. Anyway, a tip of the hat to my home state and the undiscovered treasure of New Brunswick from a time passed.

Expecting Snow

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Post: Here in New York we are anticipating snow on and off over the next few days. I head back to New Jersey tomorrow and vaguely see a snow shovel in my future. I don’t think we believe it will be especially heavy so my shoveling will, hopefully, remain nominal.

I do think if shoveling becomes a regular part of my future I need to consider my tools a bit better. I have an extremely standard issue snow shovel at the house. Recently I was reading an article in the New York Times Wirecutter section where they recommended the one below and am considering it. (If you want to purchase it, you too can here. It awaits in my Amazon queue for now.)

*The possible future of my snow shoveling life.*

Seems like a nominal investment and I may try it – Wirecutter rarely if ever steers me wrong. Notably to date I have a space heater (two really, I bought a second) in New Jersey that I love. It kept Kim nice and toasty in our drafty upstairs over the holidays and I keep one in the kitchen for cold mornings. Also after some bad spills and cups that barely keep things warm, I invested in a thermos they recommended which carries my to-the-office cup of coffee daily. It is splendid! It was expensive as these things go but has an excellent lock top and the coffee stays so piping hot that I pour it into a mug to drink it. (If this is of interest you can purchase it on Amazon here. At $35 it is more than the snow shovel!)

*Real admiration function of this thermos.*

Among the other things Wirecutter has contributed to our lives are: our couch, a magnetic shelf for the side of my fridge, a similar holder for knives and an external battery for my phone. I’m not sure they have ever given me a bum steer. Therefore, a $30 investment of a new ergonomic snow shovel may well be in my future. Meanwhile there was so much snow in our area over the holidays that all the stores were sold out of pet-safe salt substitute for the walk and driveway. I ordered a bucket of it from Amazon finally; it arrived after we left but should be waiting for me.

This is my roundabout way of getting to this nice little photo which came to me as a holiday card from my friend at that excellent antique store down in Dallas, Texas I purchase from, Sandi Outland at Curiosities (aka @curiositiesantique). I’m sure if I ever make it to Dallas I will spend several happy hours searching their shelves and cases, but Sandi does a good job of keeping me abreast of what I might like. (Posts of purchase from Curiosities can be found here and most recently here for starters, but there are many.) I also fantasize that one of these days we’ll meet up for an antique shopping fest at something like Brimfield. I think we’d have a rather superb time. Huge shoutout to her for sending us this photo card this season!

Sandi picked this photo and made the card, adding the tiniest bit of glitter to it – it may not even be visible in the picture I have taken. It does give it just a bit of sparkle which Kim and I liked. Sandi is a collector of grumpy snowman pics – she sent props for this one below I wrote about recently. I suspect that may have been in mind when she chose this one for us.

This picture shows a less than glorious snow fall on the ground, the kind I feel like I largely grew up with. The true, deep, sledding, snowman building snows were few and memorable really. (When I go to New Jersey tomorrow I will look for some snow photos from my childhood – they are quite disorganized there however I am afraid. I know of one where our German Shepard is catching a snowball in her mouth though.) More often you had about two or three inches like this, enough for a few meagre snowballs (as evidenced by this little boy and girl who each hold one), but not much more – enough to sock your sibling once, twice at most. Probably not enough for a snow day from school, definitely not enough for a decent size snowman. Still, as an adult it brings back a sort of visceral memory from childhood.

The big tree and the bare earth create a good composition for this photo. The little boy draws us all the way to the front while the barren trees not quite in focus behind the girl create a sense of depth, little girl front and center in the middle ground. Kids clothes being what they are I’m unsure of when it might have been taken. Really it could be any time from the 40’s into the 50’s would be my guess.

As I type, snow has started to fall here as predicted. I think it may turn to rain before turning back to snow, but we’ll see where temperatures are as the day progresses. Kim and I are scheduled for a stroll down to Orwasher’s for our first weekly purchase of bread since we returned to Manhattan. It isn’t a hard snow, and at most I think we’ll end up with that 2-3 inches on the ground this weekend. I’ll manage with the old shovel just fine.

Jack and the Giant Kitty

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Post: It seems only fair to launch 2026 with Pictorama’s best foot forward so today I share a tatty but wonderful Louis Wain card to help set the tone.

As always, it is impossible to entirely follow Wain’s train of thought. While we all know Jack and the Beanstalk, what might have possessed him on a given day to make a one off cat version? Hard to say, however I will share that frequently as Kim and I go through the world, he pops with one-off ideas that could be one or two page comic strips but because of the nature of his work (long, complex stories) he will likely never use. We might blow them out a bit while we’re walking but know they are unlikely to ever go anywhere. For example I pointed out the other day (we were discussing the idea of a short piece about the orderly way he tends to eat food – I call him a largely linear eater) and he took it down the line a bit of how it could be a comic. That would be if he had a weekly deadline, like back in the days of papers like New York Press, and then he’d be using them all.

Anyway, I imagine Louis Wain, at least at one protracted point in his career, was just grasping at every single idea and utilizing it. Either that or his brain just overflowed with them. Hard to say. (I have happily embraced writing about Louis Wain, his life and work, via a number of items which can be found here, here and most recently here for starters.)

Wain is in his full glory in this card. His humanoid-ish giant cat wields a bread knife with a small potpie in front of him and an oversized mug (stein?) which tiny (rat-sized) sword wielding kitty hides behind. (Would the giant be less dangerous if he had a larger pot pie? Just asking.) The giant has a three-prong fork grasped (awkwardly) in his other fat, white tipped paw. It is a formal table setting and another fork and spoon are in front of his pie. There is a lit candle and, sort of funny, a salt cellar and pepper shaker to his right, our left. A potted plant on a doily is on the other side which is sort of a funny middle-class household look. You can almost imagine Wain added that touch from his own tabletop.

*Early Wain post from ’18. Pams-Pictorama.com collection.*

The giant and Jack are both brown tabbies – a coloring I am not sure is prevalent in the real world of cats. (Putting Bengals aside as I don’t think they were known at that time.) Giant bully kitty has his ears back (same color as the tapestry design covering the back of his substantial throne-like chair so they blend a bit) in a very real annoyed feline fashion. His fangy toothies show in his whiskered grin, but it is the look of merry mayhem in his eyes that tell the tale! Yep, he sees Jack and he’s thinking a bit of extra protein on the run for today.

Meanwhile, we only see Jack from the back, tiny sword in hand. As noted, he is a slightly darker odd brown version of a similar tabby stripe. He’s sort of portly (hang-y kitty tummy) to be our hero – usually portrayed as a kid or in this case kitten. At the top right it just says, The “Louis Wain” Series. Bottom left says, Jack the Giant Killer and Louis Wain. This card is a bit grimy and found its way to me with some folds – there are indentations (although not holes) which might mean it displayed somewhere – hence the grime but also the survival.

The back sports a somewhat illegible postmark but I can make out April 19 and 1907. This was sent in the United States (most I have seen were sent in Britain) and addressed to Miss Miriam Hall, Bangor, ME 395 Center Street. He writes, Dear Miriam, What do to you think of these Pussies? Papa. I think that’s what it says – Pussies looks more like Jussies though. (However, to go off on a bit of a sidebar – have any of you seen the articles about how the post office is no longer saying that mail will be postmarked on the day it is picked up? It is now going to sorting centers where it will be postmarked before distribution, hence days later. So much for a world where there were AM and PM postmarks!)

Despite the card having been mailed in the United States, it was printed in Great Britain by the ever popular Raphael Tuck & Sons company of Wain fame. The card, it is noted, was designed in Britain and chromographed in Germany. It also bears the indicia that Tuck was the fine art publisher to their majesties the King and Queen, and to TRH the Prince and Princess of Wales.

This jolly card joins a growing subset of Wain cards in my collection. Whatever else that can be said about Mr. Wain, more than 100 years later, he always puts a smile on my face.

Still Young

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Post: The year is still young enough flash this New Year card, found in the pile on my desk back here in our New York HQ at Deitch Studio. We made the trek back, cats tucked unhappily in their carriers, a few days ago, this past Wednesday. A food delivery (love ya Fresh Direct) will arrive in a bit. After spending the morning with you all here at Pictorama, I will finish unpacking us, break down a bunch of boxes that we moved art supplies and food in, and life will slowly resume its Manhattan manifestation until the summer when the whole crew will decamp again. I will of course be in New Jersey periodically looking in on the Jersey Five (cats) and continuing my efforts to convert Peaches to a pet-able house cat.

Like almost everyone around me, I have started the New Year with a bad cold which is hanging on tenaciously. Meanwhile, Blackie seems a bit morose which leaves us scratching our heads – we know he doesn’t miss the other cats there. Was his spot on a chair in the sun that nice? Or under another chair and near a heat vent? He’s eating but carrying an expression of world weariness. He hisses at Cookie as if he never met her before – something he does when we return to the apartment.

Okay, onto the postcard! I don’t know how I missed this brilliant card when piling up ones for New Jersey, but I did and I cannot wait a whole year to share it. This one has weirdly wonderful all over it. It wasn’t cheap but it was among some items I considered a bit of a bargain when purchased last fall.

I am a longstanding sucker for a good moon face and this one certainly qualifies; I could not ask for better. What really kills me is the weird little skirt-wearing body they have attached it too. (Is the moon a woman?) Weird nebulous feet on sort of fat baby-esque legs and the amorphous body is finished off with hands that look like they belong to yet something else. That moon head just floats though and is more substantial so at first you don’t put it together with the body, but then you do and chuckle!

The cheeky cherubs, in the arms of the moon, have a champagne bottle, held by one while the other toasts (or is it offering the glass to the moon?) with a glass full of bubbly. Dark clouds fill an even darker blue green sky behind them. Because it is dark it is hard to see but this card is lightly embossed, the cherubs in the highest relief but the clouds are gently shaped too, the moon’s dress also in low relief giving it texture. It wishes us A Happy New Year at the bottom in an Arts and Crafts writing so decorative it takes a minute to read it.

*Back of card – what is the aunt’s name?*

This card is postmarked on December 30, 1907, from somewhere in Pennsylvania; the town is illegible. To the best of my ability to read the brown ink script it says: Hello! Auntie: – How you feeling by this time red’d your letter this morning am very glad your roommate studys [sic] harmony once in a while. Your niece Ethel. It is address to Miss Grace Mangst, Warrin. Ohio D.M.J. No maker mark is in evidence on the card – which is too bad because these folks had something going on. I don’t usually hang seasonal cards but this one’s a gem.

Of course the big 2026 news here at Deitch Studio is Kim’s book, How I Make Comics is coming out in April. It is on pre-order – find it here. We find ourselves already deeply immersed in how to help launch this book. In the service of promoting it, I am toying with doing a podcast where Kim and I will talk about the origins of the stories and his history in comics. As I have previously with other intimidating projects (I know nothing about recording and editing), I share this with you all to help keep me honest about working on it. However, I am also asking you to weigh in on the idea. Is it a good one? Will folks listen? Or should I keep to my tip tap typing? Please weigh in below or leave a comment.

A New Year

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Post: This year the New Year brought a lousy head cold which I am only just recovering from. It was fairly well timed for a day or so of laying around and reading which arguably is what I should have been doing under any circumstances. The novels are largely not worth mentioning – a rom com about a woman who finds she is dating an android (I thought it had more possibilities than it delivered) and Buckeye which seems to be everyone’s novel of the moment – deservedly. It is very good and fair to say it is sort of an instant classic. (Sadly I am still looking for my next Rosa Mulholland fix. Prior posts about those books can be found here and here. I have read a few since then and owe you all an update.)

Cold notwithstanding this has been a nice holiday visit to NJ. Cookie has made progress and now comes down the stairs to look at first floor activity. She sits in a chair in Kim’s studio like a little queen, much better adjusted to her NJ surroundings than she used to be.

Peaches, we have an ongoing dialogue these days about trying to be a better kitty.

Peaches, our very asocial girl – aka the meanest cat in the world – is make surprising progress in her relation to humans and other cats. I have tried having long conversations with her about this and she listens carefully. She now is willing to sit on a towel near my chair even if I cannot actually pet her. (She’s also showed us how, when atop another chair, she chases her tail in a frenzy – and she has tried, less successfully, to steal food from her very large sibling, Beau. I have written Peaches story here if you want to read it.)

*Kim’s page – hot off the press, or perhaps still on it!*

Shown above, Kim is working on a spectacular pencil for his next story. It speaks for itself! (Check out that polar bear! And the snow!) He is making good use of his time here.

We’ve paid a visit to the comic book store and, obviously given yesterday’s post, to the Red Bank Antique Annex. I also purchased this very nice camel (in photo at the top and which is part of a Christmas set – I will likely keep him in my cabinet year round however) and a nice Santa shown here too. Red Bank was pleasantly decked out in small town holiday mode with lights – although you also get to see Macy’s just before the holiday, snapped on my way to the train on one of the days I commuted into the city.

*Macy’s during my commute in right before Christmas.*

Kim and I had a cozy lunch that day at a favorite place I have written about before, Dublin House. This is an old Victorian house which has been converted to a restaurant and bar. Originally built in neighboring Middletown, it was moved across the river to Red Bank back in 1840. It was first rehabilitated back in 1971 as a ice cream parlour and restaurant. The current owners purchased it in 2004 and turned it into a rather authentic Irish enclave. (Kim and I can vouch for the “Irish nachos” which are cheesy greatness on homemade chips – yum!) There is a fireplace in the small dining room which makes it perfect for a frosty day. In the summer, door-sized windows open to outside dining on a porch and outside area. Some original details remain such as the windows shown here.

*Interior of Dublin House earlier last week.*

As I write there is a huge cat dust up in Kim’s studio – Blackie skulking up the stairs to give his sister Cookie a hard time. Kim is being referee but maybe some extra food might make Blackie less adventurous.

*View from the car driving to the train one morning in darkness with Red Bank’s twinkle lights.*

We had enough snow during this visit that I shoveled the walk and driveway twice, but was sick and skipped the most recent dusting. Luckily snow melt from a prior shoveling was still doing its job. It is a snowy winter compared to last year when we didn’t have any to memory.

*Christmas display at the Antique Annex.*

Kim and I had a little project of hanging some things up. You might remember these from prior posts – they have made their way here for permanent relocation. I also have the great Louis Wain sheet that I purchased and framed a few months ago. Heavy as it is, I am waiting for help to put that up. However, in addition to yesterday’s pig painting, we hung an interesting black cat piece from England and several photos that I purchased here for the house. The house is slowly acquiring a more distinctive Pictorama appearance.

So, well enough to make a grocery run today, I am going to leave off and go get dressed. We leave in the middle of the week so it will be an NYC post the next time you hear from me!

A Pig Painting for Pam

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Post: Today I am kicking off the New Year with a special pig painting post. Kim and I bought this painting (he bought it for me) the day after Christmas while prowling here at the Red Bank Antique Annex.

I wonder if it had just been put on display recently or if I had just never really looked up and at it before. (I have written about trips to this enclave of shops in a post most recently here.) It was on a wall with a jumble of other paintings, but it caught my eye this time and we snatched it up.

These three paintings above pulled off of Facebook, people looking for information and verification that these are his. I vote a resounding yes to the first; scratch my head a bit on the second (although there is something of him in it); and vote a likely yes to the third. Sorry I can’t do better on the photos!

It is signed by the artist, Louis H. Clawson, and datde 1961. A quick internet search brought him up the other day, but now the results are a bit more brief which makes me wonder if the other was conflating him with several other artists with similar names. Not surprisingly he was a regional painter and of some note and he is lightly collected today. However, as I add tidbits to the AI search it becomes more clear that we are talking about this artist.

*This may be a cyanotype of him, comes up on the page about him but no information.*

I seem to have identified with some certainty that he died on July 1, 1963. Something comes up with a July 15, 1881 date for a date of birth (to a Jesse Clawson) which works with the date of death but again I can’t quite confirm. He also appears to have married Leora Gertrude Hammond on May 25, 1910. they had a son and a daughter.

He is associated with living in and painting Fayett, Columbia County which appears to be in Indiana, although SW Pennsylvania came up first. Although an artist identification Facebook page says he was of some national note, I am unable to find much more than this about him. Clearly he was a landscape painter and he may or may not have also painted portraits – I only have the clown above to go by which is not a ringing endorsement. I believe that he was trained at the National Academy of Design (probably the National Academy of Art) in New York City. His forte seems to have been covered bridges, although regional landscape in general. His period of (relative) popularity seems to be the 1930’s.

*Covered bridge painting as below. Substantially earlier than mine which was done shortly before his death.*

One Facebook entry from Kathy Lynne Brandenburg Harmon shows a covered bridge painting above. (I gather he was sort of known for those) and writes the following:

I have this painting done by L H Clawson. Probably done around 1930. It is a covered bridge on State road 44. The top of the hill is my grandfather Will Goss’ farm , lower left is the home of the Jesop’s (the taffy family). I can’t find out too much about his works but I spoke with the owner of the antique store by the Daniel Girls Farm restaurant and told me that he was a relatively known artist of landscapes. I would love to know more.

*Next to mine I like these best and would think these are definitely by him.* *I’d have grabbed these too.*

None of his other paintings seem to have an interesting homemade frame like mine which definitely adds to its appeal. (Actually, hard to see but the second painting of the two above might have one but I can’t quite make it out.) It does leave me wondering a bit if he made it or someone else but it seems to be so much a part of it that I defer to thinking it was him. The painting is on masonite board, not especially heavy, even with this frame. For me this painting is mostly about these hogs, although for Kim it is, in part, the painting of the foliage which seems to be something he did employ and excel at. The composition, with the winding path and the light hitting the trees, is strong too.

*This too on FB and I can sort of buy that it is by him looking at the foliage. Again, sadly I cannot make any larger.*

I will say that of his paintings I could find I did not see any other ones with animals in them and the hogs are much of the charm for me in this painting. His landscapes seem to generally be at more of a distance as seen in the others shown above, mostly pulled off a facebook page devoted to people looking for info on the artist. (I will attempt to post a link to this later but at least maybe anyone searching him in the future will benefit from all the pieces I have pulled together.)

Going back to this painting, I like the pattern made by this hand hewn fence winding through the picture, a slightly oversized crow perches on it. Piles of sticks are on the other side of the fence from where these big fellows are enjoying a bit of a wallow in a mud holes and wandering up this path. They appear to have a hog house further back and one fellow (or gal) is having a rub on a tree. It is very evocative of its place and time.

*Tiny at bottom of frame; I think this was made by a label maker.*

Finally, I want to draw you attention to the tiny sign at the bottom of the painting which says, Culhwch. (It looks like it was printed on a labeling machine.) This Welsh name appears to refer to a figure in Welsh mythology (Arthurian story?), whose mother was frightened by swine when pregnant with him – he is later found in a pigsty and taken to his father, no further mention of his mother and he goes on to do all sorts of things – none additionally related to pigs. It is a bit complicated for the uninitiated, even on Wikipedia. It is (sort of) pronounced Kill-hook. The swine reference is clear but interesting for him to have in mind and where did it come from I wonder.

This wonderful little painting now proudly hangs just outside the kitchen here in New Jersey where you can get up close and get a good look at it. Although I am partial to cats I wouldn’t have missed this pig painting and am very glad to have it as part of the extended Pictorama collection!

Carrots for the New Year?

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Post: This odd little postcard was among the ones I picked up at the big sale earlier in the fall. I don’t know why but in my mind I identified these as turnips but they do indeed seem to be carrots.

In a house full of cats (quite literally at the moment) I am here to say I rarely find one playing with a carrot or two, but here are these two kittens, be-ribboned, showing real interest in two. A while ago there was an online meme of cats being afraid of bananas (incidentally, the New York cats do not seem to be performing to type on that) and the internet tells me it is both the smell and because they recognize the shape as a snake and instinct kicks in. I have always doubted that the New York duo have much in the way of survival instinct and perhaps this goes to prove it. I gather it applies to cucumbers too and I could test the Jersey Five – I suspect Peaches will attack it with vigor. Her instincts seem perfectly intact.

Meanwhile, the internet is a bit vague on the point of carrots as a symbol of the New Year (turnips actually fare a bit better) on that score. In other cultures (Jewish New Year, Chinese) carrots seem to be a symbol but not really for January 1. However, this was indeed mailed on December 31, 1906 so no question of the intention there. There are allusions to slices of carrots looking like coins and bringing good fortune. l assume these tabby kittens know something we do not. It’s a bit hard to understand what the creator of the card was thinking – let’s do kittens and carrots he said to himself.

The kits have a carrot each, large and small, as well as bows and bells. The one seems to be tackling the large one. The other one, more timid, just looks on. Below them A Happy New Year. The company that produced the card appears to be J.P. Belle, just identified as Belle in the lower right corner here. Founded in Paddington in 1881 it produced cards until 1939. The official name of the company was J.P. Beagles.

This postcard was addressed to: Madam Donshea, 22 East 21st St. New York City. It was mailed from Jersey City at 3:30 on December 31, just under the wire I would say.

It has me contemplating what I might cook up today and I have promised a friend this recipe so I thought I would share it with you as well. It is a good vegetarian base I use as a jumping off point for all kinds of soups to use up whatever is in the house at the moment. I do it by instinct now so I hope I have given complete instructions. Feel free to ask questions! Happy and healthy New Year to you all!

*A photo of the soup taken a while back but you get the idea. this version may have had spinach in it.*

Miso Soup Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 heaping tablespoon miso paste (dissolve in a small bowl of water
2 carrots, sliced thin
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 tablespoon gingerroot, chopped
Salt, pepper, bay (2 leaves), dried basil and oregano to taste. (I like Maresh red pepper which is a mild red pepper, but you can use black pepper.)
half a large red onion
2 containers of vegetable stock
1 container extra firm tofu (shrimp could be substituted)
Small bowl dried mushrooms (soaked in water – reserve the water for the broth)
Green beans (frozen or fresh) trimmed to bite sized
Fresh mushrooms, chopped, optional.
Half a cup wine or sherry to deglaze
3 chopped scallions
Italian flatleaf parsley
Frozen dumplings or pantry gnocchi as desired
Also optional: sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, mirin and balsamic vinegar. If you want this spicy jalapeno peppers can also be added.

Instructions:

Start the miso softening in water, mushrooms in a separate bowl.
Chop the onion, carrots, green beans, gingerroot and garlic and soften in olive oil. (If you are using shrimp add them after.) Add salt and pepper. Chop the parsley and set aside. Cut the tofu in bite size pieces and put aside.
Deglaze the pan with the wine or sherry. Add the dried mushrooms and liquid and then the broth and then the tofu. Bring to a boil and add the parsley, scallions and tofu.
Season to taste and add the optional seasoning now. Keep at a boil for a few minutes and then simmer and continue to adjust seasoning – I almost always need salt at this stage.
If using dumplings add them at the end, if frozen when the soup is at a boil, but just before serving or they will fall apart.
This essential base is a good vegetarian option for a number of soups – sometimes I add beans instead of tofu, or shrimp. Any number of vegetables can be added, corn is a favorite, diced tomato and sometimes I use creamed corn to thicken the soup as well – but potatoes can be used to thicken it too.

Snow Person

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama.com Photo Post: Today we woke to several inches of snow and more falling so this card seemed like the logical item for today. Purchased a few weeks ago on eBay, I brought it to New Jersey figuring I might have a big opportunity to post it – and right I was.

*No judging my nascent shoveling as shown from upstairs.*

First thing this morning had me out for a rare morning of snow shoveling. Ouch! I am perhaps a bit long in the tooth to adopt this as an occupation – today’s snow, shoveled early, was pretty light but already forming and icy layer under it so it was best to get it done early, or at least the first go at it. I don’t have much skill at this shoveling thing although my mom always did it until she grew too old and then she hired someone. I have someone who comes when I am not here or it is too hard, although he is nursing a bad respiratory infection so another reason to give Fitzroy a break.

Clearly, we are here in New Jersey, having our holiday break. The New York cats adapted fairly quickly to their surroundings and even Cookie is wandering down the stairs with some curiosity about the house at large. Peaches, the meanest of the Jersey Five, is still hissing at us but allowing me to get every closer before she starts. (Not Kim, he still gets the big hiss early on!) Blackie has made his way upstairs to see his sister, eat her food and give her a hard time. (We separate them here for that reason – we’d never get any rest otherwise. The fighting will continue back in NYC for a bit before it subsides.)

Yesterday, we wandered into Red Bank despite the plummeting temperatures ahead of the snow. I made some interesting acquisitions but more about that to come in future posts.

*Kim in his temporary studio earlier today. Snow out the window.*

Anyway, this is an odd card. It was sent from Berlin to Monte Video on September 9, 1908. It is too hard to read the full foreign address but it was sent to Herr Christianson with no note on the back and one I am unable to translate on the front. (If someone else can, please share a translation!)

What got me was this strange snowman, slightly strange looking girl (with a bit of a wicked expression on her face) who looks like she is whispering in his ear. She sports a pointed, witch-like hat with a bow. The snowman is complete artifice, is he painted? Perhaps painted on wood and cut out so she can be solidly behind him in her fur trimmed attire. He wears a sort of smushed (top?) hat, has a sort of long pipe and this cheery little broom. I especially like the snow, which I am guessing was a post production addition.

The top of the card, the best I can read it, has Gluckuches and Neujahr printed at the top. The latter seems to bring up German New Year’s cards which is what I think this is. Below is another (very delightful) card that came up when I search Neujahr. Sorry I missed this one on eBay!

*Unfortunately not in Pams-Pictorama.com collection and produced by the same company. Champagne! Money falling! Not clear to me what the other woman is dropping – bills? cards?*

So on a snowy Saturday in New Jersey less than a week before the New Year, I consider the upcoming one, more than a hundred years since this card was sent. I wonder what secrets of the New Year she whispered into the ear of the snowman and what tales of the year she’d have for the year to come for us today.

Deitch Studio: Christmas 2025

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Post: Arguably the most popular day on the Pictorama calendar – the holiday card reveal – and here we are again! For the third year now, with Kim’s blessing, I have attempted all seven cats – the Jersey Five and the New York cats combined as the illustration. As has become our pattern, I draw it and he then redraws, traces and inks it. The cats have stayed true to my drawing as has the design. Us in the sleigh is more him and the moon has become a good old Deitchian moon. I think it is a fair melding hybrid of our styles.

Kim noted that the cats look a bit like balloons here – of the Thanksgiving parade kind. Some more than others – Stormy hovering over Christmas is the most balloon like. (She is a pretty dreamy kitty. One of the last of the strays mom acquired.) Evidently a slow moving sleigh now that I reflect on it.

For the record and the curious, the top row from left to right are Blackie, Milty, Gus, Cookie and bottom row, Beau, Peaches and Stormy. Milty is the oldest and Peaches and Stormy roughly tie for youngest and last into the house. Cookie and Blackie are the only ones from the same litter (our New York kits) and Blackie and Beau share their all black cat-ness.

As I do the card reveal this year I need to apologize a bit – it seems I have lost my address book which I have had since college. Although many addresses have migrated to my electronic book, many of the oldest ones have not and among those I don’t necessarily have emails or numbers to text either. Someone pointed out that the universe was trying to tell me something.

I didn’t see it at first but someone pointed out that Kim has candy cane horns – I must ask him if it was on purpose or if he was having subliminal Grampus urges. Now I don’t know how I missed it.

If you are new to the card reveal, this joint card project goes back to the first year Kim and I started dating (predating Pictorama by decades) and has developed over time. Some earlier examples can be found here, here and here.

As you read this on Sunday morning we will (hopefully) be packed up and on our way to New Jersey with Cookie and Blackie in tow. We spent today (Saturday) organizing and filling boxes and suitcases so the cats are suspicious – sleeping on the bed with one eye slightly open I’d say.

When we get to the house I am anxious to see if my holiday swags of evergreens have lasted on the front railings. I will take out my few holiday decorations – oversized colored lights will go in the fireplace, an elderly Santa made of lead skiing and a few other choice bits that will live on the mantle – one of the few cat free spaces in the house. (That of course is always subject to change if a cat is enterprising enough!)

*Hard to read beyond Mr. and Mrs. Will Claff. How on earth did this get delivered I wonder.*

I thought I would bookend this post with another card I bought this fall. Sent on December 23, 1914. It was sent from Brockport, NY but the address is hard to read as is the message. Of course it was the idea of the nifty cat pull toy on the front that did it for me, bow and all. I like the little poem too which says, I send this kissy kat because I cannot go like Santa Claus, to give my Christmas love to you, or kiss you – as I’d like to do. So a Merry Christmas to you all – a few New Year’s cards tucked away next.

On Christmas Day Have Mirth and Laughter

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Post: We have a cat Christmas card entry of a jolly sort today, something to get us tuned up for Thursday.

Here in Manhattan, after about four inches of snow last week, we were awash in rain yesterday. (We’re talking street flooding – a lot of rain!) Although there is precipitation in the forecast for later this week, I’d gamble a guess that it will be a green Christmas in New Jersey. A few degrees either way though and we’ll see. Pretty as the snow is (see below for some photos of the house last week) I guess I am old enough to see the disadvantages of shoveling (or paying someone to!) and the slippery sidewalks and roads. We do like to take some long walks when we are out there. However, I wouldn’t mind a sprinkling for Christmas though to see if it could put me in the holiday mood a bit which I could use.

*Snowy front yard in NJ last week!* *From a friend’s phone video.*

The end of the calendar year is always a very busy time for fundraisers. I believe I have opined on this in the past and since the earliest days of my chosen career, the last weeks of the year have been fraught with either being too busy (at the Met) or not busy enough (my first years at Jazz).

My current gig combines its Top Dog Gala and its fiscal year end at the already very busy calendar year end. It’s pretty boffo. However, now in my second year end there I understand it a bit better and I am hoping for some down time, even while keeping an eye on things at the office. I am also old enough to know that we have a plan we’re executing and what will be will be. It isn’t really the sort of place, like the Met, where someone is going to decide they want to donate a valuable mortgaged piece of property in the last ten days of the year.

*Decorating and setting up for Top Dog earlier this month.*

Therefore in my adult life there has never really been a holiday season that has been free of work concerns. There was the year I left Jazz right before the end of the year, but that was a year of other losses and the holidays were a bit sad and full of the anxiety of a new job. Sometimes you just do the best you can do over the holidays.

The card at the top of the post sums it up well, Whatever fortune my come after, on Christmas Day have mirth and laughter. Mom and Dad cat (perched on an ottoman) are in an interesting composition of paws and tails. (The adult cats form a really great sort of central square with a paw and a tail leading us in and out!)

Their progeny, in kitten form, giggle and poke each other next to mom on the couch. There’s something about the furniture that makes me think that it is so specific it refers to real furniture somewhere in the artist’s life. It’s a very suburban and somewhat prosperous scene. Whatever their world weary worries are Mom and Dad cat chuckle together.

The artist knew cats. Dad cat is a proper orange marmalade and mom a darker orange and brown mix – producing an orange kit and as well as a black and white tabby. This combination certainly within the possibility of likelihood.

The copyright on the card is actually 1890 by a company called L. Prang and Company of Boston, USA. Below I share (in its entirety) an entry on Louis Prang via the Boston Public Library:

Louis Prang (1824-1909), a German immigrant, ran a highly successful printing firm in Boston during the late nineteenth century. His company produced high quality reproductions of major art work and greeting cards using the complex technique of chromolithography. Prang is often referred to as the ‘Father of the American Christmas Card’ because holiday cards were rarely exchanged in America until his factory began producing them in the 1870s.

A quick look at his other wares in terms of Christmas cards does not show many of this type. He generally seemed to go in more for arty reproductions of flowers and holly. There is a tiny signature for the artwork, EBW. I cannot find tracks on him, perhaps his foray into cat cards was brief – or he eventually expanded his signature.

This card was never sent but in faded pencil on the back, in script, it says, John Peckham.

*78th Street on our way to Orwasher’s last Sunday.*

So today’s card is a shot over the bow for those of us who are having trouble getting the the holiday spirit. I will spend my day packing us up for our 2-3 week sojourn in New Jersey. And cleaning the apartment – I like to come home to start the New Year in a reasonably clean apartment.

Tomorrow is the 2025 Deitch Studio card reveal. For ongoing readers, you knew it was coming! For now however, try to insert a bit of ho, ho, ho into your proceedings and if not, at least for the day later this week!