Post Office Blue. An original edition

Yet another of the oldest TinyBuildings: the "blue" post office. Poor, pitiful thing is mildewed and rather unlovely. It is also a 'bastardized' TinyBuilding in that it is made from two packaging materials.

The sides are from the cardboard cover of machine-dispensed stamps. The top is from one of the Atlanta blue-printing companies: AAA Blueprinting. Probably an extra business card included in a roll of prints delivered to James' office.

I can almost smell the developing fluid. This was way before the gigantic 'xerox' machines that are used now...or, for that matter, the direct-from-the Cad machine plots...That fluid was a sweet-acidic taste on the back of your tongue. Goodness knows what it was doing to our brains.

At the time, it signified progress on a project: if you had a roll of prints, you were finally ready to deliver them to a client. Finally, after many days and nights of thinking and drawing and erasing and drawing and thinking....

I like the little 'blue' roof section- a little hat for the building; and, you can tell James composed this TinyBuilding so that the old-fashioned mailbox fit on one side of the structure, exactly. Then he must have sorted through the detritus on his very messy drawing board to find the AAA card for the roof. I'll bet he smiled to himself when he stuck the 'blue' on top...a little cap, and a reference to the USPS colorings.

c. 1976

Pink Castle. An original edition

This is another of James' vintage TinyBuildings. It must be over thirty years old. Looks pretty good, still...a little threadbare, but, so do you....

I think this tower is made from leftover architectural model-building board. The pink-ish color may have been meant to be brick or stucco. i don't know if James was testing a design for a client's house or just gluing scraps together. I also don't care; I just love this TinyBuilding for itself....that jaunty glued-on brown door is so assertive, I laugh out loud!

I wonder what the roof paper came from. Maybe its an insert paper from a candy box- like Godiva...those wax-coated sheets they lay on top of the candies to protect them from the box top. Hmmmm? something like that...a flicker of memory is trying to come forward...Hmmm?


c. 1976

Cardboard. An original edition

Well, this must be the tinybuilding from the wrong-side-of-the-tracks. It is completely unadorned, with no advertising, no detail, almost no color...but, lots of personality and charm. I have no idea when James made this one.. Early in the history of tinybuildings I would certainly guess--maybe 1977?

In any case it is very endearing. So humble, with low expectations, but a jaunty little roof, a *real* door and a little stuck-on door and a very basic window. Don't you just want to hug it?! It seems to have some water damage. I hate to think we were so irresponsible as to leave it out in the rain. Perhaps Santa spilled the milk from his snack on it.

The more I think about it the more this tinybuilding reminds me of James--humble, charming, not much advertising, somewhat short and stubby...and you just want a hug.

c. 1977

Midnight Sun. An original edition

Talk about old memories! Anyone who was in Atlanta in the early Seventies remembers this restaurant and dinner theatre in Downtown Atlanta, in one of John Portman's developments. It was groundbreaking-ly sophisticated for Atlanta; an *import* from Scandinavia-one of Portman's sources of inspiration, apparently. The decor and furnishings were knock-offs of the likes of Aalto and the food was accompanied by bottles of aquavit encased in a flower-encrusted sleeve of ice. Talk about Kitsch, but it worked...

There was a sister restaurant in the complex...more casual lunch place...that served wonderful open-faced sandwiches. Can't remember the name of it, but I do remember the shrimp and butter sandwiches. OMG! Wish I had one now.

This tinybuilding was made by James from a matchbook. You can see at the base of the building the *close cover before striking* admonishment. It is about 1-1/2" tall.

c. 1980

Kodak. An original edition

Kodak. Who were they? What did they make? A blast-from-the-past, I must say. This tinybuilding is from long before digital cameras. This is from the days of rolls [literally] of film being wound over the sprockets of your Nikon or Leica. At least, you hoped they wound over the sprockets. Many a great shot was lost because it didn't quite happen.

This tinybuilding is one of James' early ones. It has collected, over years of disrespect and bad storage, a wonderful patina of scuffs and scratches. But, it perseveres, proudly carrying on the illustrious, almost forgotten name of Kodak.

You can see how James had a different approach to conceiving and making his tinybuildings. He sometimes pasted pieces on instead of cutting out; he used *alien* materials like the door made from an index card. His imagination was free and glorious--not restricted by banal things like placement of windows and doors. From this boxy, slapped together thing he could envision a piece of architecture. I'm still envious....

c. 1977

Whitman's. An original edition

This is one of the very earliest tinybuildings, made by James a long, long time ago. Must have been in 1975 or so. No way of knowing, really.

This little structure is about 1-1/4 inches tall.

As I've mentioned, these tinybuildings were originally made as part of a Christmas *village* and for tree decorations. One of our family traditions was to put small boxes of Whitman's candy in the kids' stockings. So, that box would have been handy when James first hit on the idea of making miniature houses and stores and small-town buildings. This is exactly how the whole concept of the tinybuildings is supposed to work.

When I hold this one in my hand, I can conjure up many Christmases when we were all together, with piles of wrapping paper, kids in pjs so excited they couldn't sit still, cats hiding under the trash, too many presents for just two kids, special breakfasts of Dutch baby pancakes- joy all around.

I love that this one is worn and shows its age. Don't we all?!

I've tried to replicate these earliest Whitman buildings, but, sadly these candy boxes are now made of flimsy, slick, photo-printed paper....not at all a rewarding process.

So, this may be the very most favorite. I wish it were still in my collection; but I know it has a good, appreciative home where it lives now.

c. 1975

A Village Christmas Tree. An original edition

A somewhat bedraggled Christmas tree, possibly one of the earliest editions of tinybuildings- way back in 1975 or so. It may be from the holidays when Jane, four years old, managed to get one of the stars in her eyes...It took a trip to an opthamologist to get it removed. Not fun!

It looks like James made this from a metallic paper-coated cardboard box, with added 'sequins'. It is about two inches tall. We placed it in the Town Square of the tiny village of tinybuildings. We supplemented the handmade structures with wooden matchbox sheep and fences and little men with bowlers.

c. 1975

Pasta Package. An original edition

This is one of James' original tinybuildings. I am not sure what kind of package it was, but from the words and images visible, it seems to be pasta-related...True to his personality, James' tinybuildings are more casual and interpretive than mine. He was an architect, and his unbounded creativity shows in these tiny 'bus man's holiday' efforts.

Unfortunately, the dates of the original tinybuildings can be only a guess- we were not very careful with them, and few remain. Generally, they were made between 1975 and 1990.

c.1980