Out of the Inkwell

The new book...
I spent a good part of this weekend working on the Springfield postcard book for Arcadia Publishing. I've assembled a good number of images and have acquired some great Springfield history books from 1936 and 1876 to help in the the captioning.

Remember the old Forest Park zoo? The lion house and the monkey house? The polar bear (now mounted in the Museum of Science)? Fond memories for people my age and older, although the zoo certainly didn't meet today's standards. I'm still a sucker for bears. I go to the current zoo and can watch the bears all day.

The other image is the former armory which is now the home of the South End Community Center. The building ( for those of you not familiar with that neighborhood of Springfield) is still intact with its towers and turrets.

I also spend time working on a new chapter for "Made of Pen and Ink," my book on the Fleischer Studios. Here's an image that has never been published anywhere:



This is one of several full color sketches that were made in preparation for a cartoon on mermaids that was never produced in the late 1930s or early '40s. Max's daughter Ruth Kneitel had them and allowed me to photograph them. She also had the script that was covered in notations in red pencil by Max himself. She wanted me to know that although Max had relegated himself to business and technical affairs, that he was still interested in the creative end of the business, although this was his brother's Dave's province by mutual consent.

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs