Vintage News Articles & Finds

[billycw]

Hemp for the Navy

Illinois mobilizes, vol.2, no.8 march 1, 1944

Charlestown Navy Yard/rope making; Alex Summers looking over the supply of hemp stored in building no. 62 ready to be removed to the rope walk building.

Charlestown Navy Yard/rope making. Thomas Reynolds tending the ends of the coarse spreader machine. 1917-1934

Charlestown Navy Yard/rope making. Allen Smith feeding the breaker machine. 1917-1934

Charlestown Navy Yard/rope making. Center section of the breaker machine showing comb-like teeth that separate the hemp. 1917-1934

 

[billycw]

Continued...

Rope making, Charlestown Navy Yard. 1917-1934

Hemp arriving in Navy Yard for USS Constitution. March 1927

Bales of hemp arrive at Navy Yard to be made into rope or cable for old frigate USS Constitution. March 1927

 

[billycw]

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers #1 - 1971

 

[billycw]

"Honey, it's all about drugs and promiscuous sex.

Simon and Garfunkel is poetry!

Yes it's poetry. It's the poetry of drugs and promiscuous sex. Look at the picture on the cover, they're on pot."

-Almost Famous

El Condor Pasa

I'd rather be a forest than a street.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely woud.

I'd rather feel the earth beneath my feet,
Yes I would.
If I only could,
I surely would.


Simon & Garfunkel : El Condor Pasa (1970)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pey29CLID3I

[YOUTUBEIF]pey29CLID3I[/YOUTUBEIF]

 

[billycw]

"Emerson, Lake and Palmer performed an operation on the U.S. this summer... In Charlotte, North Carolina, the feedback fiends caused double-trouble with the hot boogie chefs, The Allman Brothers, in what was billed as an August Jam. The fans were so blitzed by the groups' powerhouse sets they sat dazed in their automobiles after the show and jammed Charlotte traffic for hours."

-The November 1974 issue of Circus magazine

August Jam - Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina August 10, 1974

 

[billycw]

"Smoking a 'joint' relieves his agony"
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin
September 25, 1978


"We have a situation in which the Federal Government continues to spend money trying to find negative effects of marijuana while making it difficult for anyone to investigate the positive of it."

 

[billycw]

Chief Badu, Abomey Calavi. Dahomey. Africa circa 1900

 

[billycw]

"Man smoking in bed, with dreams appearing in smoke" Fairholt, F. W. Fairholt(Frederick William) (1814-1866)

 

[billycw]

Dragon dance, Beijing, China


Dance of the Hemp Dragon

Hemp harvests in ancient China gave way to celebration and the birth of The Hemp Dragon...

For the Qiang people living in the Sichuan Province of China, hemp has always been a way of life. Farming hemp goes back thousands of years in this secluded community through prohibitions, wars and changing of traditions of the outside world...

The Qiang use hemp for everything from the shoes on their feet to the cloths on their back. Feeding the excess to livestock and even in their buildings construction...

But echoing in the valleys come fall, the emergence of a mythical beast is witnessed... Year after year, The Hemp Dragon is born...

Begining of a harvest festival, the Qiang people living in the Sichuan Province of China


In the small Villages all over the Sichuan Province, the hemp harvest would bring a annual harvest festival. Gathering together around a bonfire, the village would await the beating of the drum...

As the rhythmic thump of the drum beats a magical beast would appear... The Hemp Dragon...

Hemp Dragon Dance, Qiang people, China (notice the "Beard" of Hemp)


The Hemp Dragons head would swoosh with the beat at the end of a long pole. Trailing behind the dragons head like a tail of a comet would be a "beard" or body of the dragon made up of Hemp strains about 7 meters long.

As the beat of the drum pulses, the Hemp Dragon would dance and move, with a pause as the beat hits...

After the initial opening dance, games and dances such as such as stick playing, meeting of dragon and phoenix, conjurator making fun of the hemp dragon and my favorite the 'hemp dragon chasing the colorful cloud' just to name a few...

Sitting around that grand Bonfire celebrating another years worth of woes and tales, go ahead, break out that Hemp Dragon and chase the colorful cloud to the coming years glory...

Hemp Dragon Dance, Qiang people, China

 

[billycw]

Hashish store, Darra Adam Khel, Pakistan 1976

 

[billycw]

"I became acutely self-conscious about what I was doing. Was I now a "spokesman" for the hippies or what? I had no idea how to handle my new position in society! ... Take Keep on Truckin'... for example. Keep on Truckin'... is the curse of my life. This stupid little cartoon caught on hugely. There was a D.J. on the radio in the seventies who would yell out every ten minutes: "And don't forget to KEEP ON TR-R-RUCKIN'!" Boy, was that obnoxious! Big feet equals collective optimism. You're a walkin' boy! You're movin' on down the line! It's proletarian. It's populist. I was thrown off track! I didn't want to turn into a greeting card artist for the counter-culture! I didn't want to do 'shtick'—the thing Lenny Bruce warned against. That's when I started to let out all of my perverse sex fantasies. It was the only way out of being "America's Best Loved Hippy Cartoonist."

-Robert Crumb

"Keep on Truckin" R. Crumb - Zap Comix #1 1968


What a Long Strange Trip its Been

In 1968 Robert Crumb penned the second issue of Zap Comix issue #1. One of the pages he drew while listening to a Blind Boy Fuller album. The song "Truckin' My Blues Away" would forever be inked into history as the audial muse to a generation.


Blind Boy Fuller "Truckin' My Blues Away"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJYvAVhSIMg

[YOUTUBEIF]hJYvAVhSIMg[/YOUTUBEIF]

Keep on Truckin guy R. Crumb


The single page comic would become a hippie icon gaining a sloth walking cult following of arm dangling layed back youth...

the Winnipeg Free Press (Oct 19, 1970)
"Trucking," the expression for an exaggerated let-it-all-hang-out style of walking, is catching on.

The walk, which emphasizes a long forward step with the body tilted backward and the arms flapping in a Jackie Gleason and-away-we-go style, represent something similar to the Negro spirituals' "we shall overcome."

The walk says: "regardless how much we may be put down, we'll keep on trucking."

The expression originates in a blues song played by Duke Ellington in the 1930s. The lyrics say, "keep on trucking, truck your troubles away."

Kids say trucking around in school halls and outside makes you forget about frustrating classes.

The movement was popularized by the underground press. A cartoon strip which I believe originated in the Los Angeles Free Press and was printed locally about a year or so ago showed a grotesque person "trucking."

1970 issue of The Student Life showing the 'Truckin' walk


"We took our experiences on the road and made it poetry"

-Phil Lesh on the writing of Truckin


In 1970 the Grateful Dead would bring the visual muse back to the audial world...

Garcia, Weir, Lesh, and Hunter all gathered, would put down their traveling emotions and experiences into flowing poetry. With a nod to the muse, the anthem 'Truckin' was born...

Grateful Dead Concert Poster by R Crumb- February 11, 1970 Fillmore East New York

"The last chorus defines the band itself."

- Phil Lesh


Grateful Dead - Truckin' - 12/31/77 - Winterland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaemGFgNLBo

[YOUTUBEIF]JaemGFgNLBo[/YOUTUBEIF]


'Truckin'
Grateful Dead

Arrows of neon and flashing marquees out on Main Street
Chicago, New York, Detroit and it's all on the same street
Your typical city involved in a typical daydream
Hang it up and see what tomorrow brings

Dallas, got a soft machine Houston, too close to New Orleans
New York's got the ways and means and just won't let you be

Most of the cats that you meet on the streets speak of true love
Most of the time they're sittin' and cryin' at home
One of these days they know they better get goin'
Out of the door and down on the streets all alone

Truckin', like the do-dah man. Once told me you've got to play your hand
Sometimes your cards ain't worth a dime, if you don't lay'em down

Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me
Other times I can barely see
Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip it's been

What in the world ever became of sweet Jane?
She lost her sparkle, you know she isn't the same
Livin' on reds, vitamin C, and cocaine,
All a friend can say is ain't it a shame?

Truckin', up to Buffalo. Been thinkin', you got to mellow slow
Takes time, you pick a place to go, and just keep truckin' on

Sittin' and starin' out of the hotel window
Got a tip they're gonna kick the door in again
I'd like to get some sleep before I travel
But if you got a warrant, I guess you're gonna come in

Busted, down on Bourbon Street, set up, like a bowlin' pin
Knocked down, it get's to wearin' thin. They just won't let you be

You're sick of hangin' around and you'd like to travel
Get tired of travelin' and you want to settle down
I guess they can't revoke your soul for tryin'
Get out of the door and light out and look all around

Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me
Other times I can barely see
Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip it's been

Truckin', I'm a goin' home. Whoa whoa baby, back where I belong
Back home, sit down and patch my bones, and get back truckin' on



In 1997 Grateful Dead's 'Truckin' was recognized by the United States Library of Congress as a 'National Treasure'...

Sargent Gym, Boston University: Jerry Garcia smoking a joint, November 21, 1970



In 2004 Robert Crumb was offered $100,000 by Toyota to reproduce the image for a Keep On Truckin' advertising campaign...

Crumb refused...

 

[billycw]

"Grew marijuana because he 'liked the pretty flower's on it!"


Don't we all Theodore, don't we all...

Det. Otis Green, Theodore S. Robles and Det. H.I.B. Warren, with 7-foot marijuana plants Robles was found growing in his backyard at 1023 Mahar Avenue". Wilmington- Los Angeles, CA), 1952

 

[geneva_sativa]

Look at his eyes, that man is in love,

god bless you senor Robles !

 

[Jellyfish]

Yeah, he went home and grew another tree.

 

[Team Sift]

The Hashish shop is classic, I wish I could of seen them..

 

[billycw]

Look at his eyes, that man is in love,

god bless you senor Robles !

Yeah, he went home and grew another tree.

The twinkle in his eye is fading at the reality of the situation... The cops smirk with Robles expression speaks volumes...

The Hashish shop is classic, I wish I could of seen them..

You and me both...

Thanks for following along everyone

 

[billycw]

"Two farmers taking a break in the shade."

Two farmers taking a break in the shade man with hookah setting fire. Punjab (province) Lahore, Pakistan 1952

 

[billycw]

Early Hugh Hefner inspiration?...

Eve Lavadierre by Nadar 1880

 

[billycw]

"Lady, Poya night, Devil dance, Lady like see?"

It was our appoo (house servant) who spoke, I had commissioned him to a acquire all information concerning the holding of such rites, made up of barbarism, superstition and genuine Oriental occultism.

Yes, "Lady" would "like see."

-A Devil Dance in Ceylon - New-York tribune, December 03, 1899

Sri Lankan Devil Dancer


Cannabis Dances with the Devil

Few have heard of, fewer still have witnessed, Cannabis Dancing with the Devil...

For thousands of years a dance rooted from sacred rites has been performed to fight off demons...

Cannabis's role in the Devils Dance? Only to help communicate to different worlds/realities, compelling the Demon...

Performed by a Kattadiya (Ceylon Priest) dawning a ornate devilish mask, the dance of the devil begins...

Devil Dancers, Sri Lanka 1910


In ancient Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka), the Kattadiya appears as the pulse of drums begin the Devils Dance...

Like a being possessed, the Kattadiya dances around flailing in his quick movements to the rhythmic beating of the drums. The Kattadiya is joined by more devil dancers dawning mask's of evil looking intent...

Sometimes lasting more then 12 hours, the beating drums and dancing intensifies only stopping for the Kattadiya to perform a ritual.


New-York tribune., December 03, 1899

 

[billycw]

Cannabis Dances with the Devil Continued...

Hooniyan Kerema (notice the plumes of narcotic smoke) "a pumpkin was cut in halves, the Kattadiya meanwhile commanding the last departing demon to enter therein and take up his abode.... After a few minutes the pumpkin was flung into the sea."


"Dummala, a species of very inflammable rosin, the gum of the Sal tree, Gungah, Indain hemp, and other drugs and narcotics best not to mention, in chetties were placed around the patient, who presently became wellnigh obscured by their fumes."

-A Devil Dance in Ceylon - New-York tribune, December 03, 1899


Sanni Yakun Neteena aka Sanni Yakuma or "woman made sick by an obsessing demon"


The Sanni Yakun Neteena starts late into the night at the frenzy of the Devils Dance...

Wrapping a thread blessed by a virgin around the woman, a concotion of narcotics (whose main ingredient is Cannabis) are lit around the patient laying on their back, engulfing the room in fumes.

As a curtain of cannabis infused fumes rise around the patient, both the Kattadiya and possessing Demon could now communicate...

Tibetan Devil Dancer


"The patient was certainly changed- a different being apparently. All that defiant, evil glare was gone from her eyes... Her first expression was one of astonishment, bewilderment indeed for a second or two, then her impulse was to go and seek seclusion. But to this the Kattadiya objected. She must remain in a humble, suppliant posture until the following was intoned in a jargon half Tamil, Half Singhalese:"

"O Brahma, Siva, Vishnu, O Walia, come! Come, Hanumantu: Come, all ye gods. Ye demons, be bound, be confined, be conquered. Be subservient to our will. By the power of Vishnu I compel ye: I and the higher gods (devas) are one. O Demon Reeri Yakseya, be bound by this charm: by our will I command."

-A Devil Dance in Ceylon - New-York tribune, December 03, 1899



Devil Dance, yakun natima of Sri Lanka (notice the smoking 'incense' the devil is offered and takes a big inhale of at 2:19...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9ekbfVhPEM

[YOUTUBEIF]H9ekbfVhPEM[/YOUTUBEIF]

temple devil dancer. BALI, INDONESIA 1930

The Dance of the Devil can be found in cultures spanning around the world cut off from each other for thousands of years...

High up in Tibet the practice of dancing with the devil has some of its oldest roots. The Ancient Aztec would Dance with the Devil in the Oaxaca mountains in Mexico. And even the Native American Apache's dare to Dance with the Devil in Arizona desert...

With so many beliefs, customs and practices around the world, Cannabis again connects us all...

Characters in Tibetan dance drama 'Milarepa' or 'devil dance' at Labrang Monastery 1932/1933