Public Collectors is founded upon the concern that there are many types of cultural artifacts that public libraries, museums and other institutions and archives either do not collect or do not make freely accessible. Public Collectors asks individuals that have had the luxury to amass, organize, and inventory these materials to help reverse this lack by making their collections public.
This page consists of sample findings and excerpts. It is also an account of the contents of my home and digital files from my camera. If you have suggestions, have a collection you want to share, or are in Chicago and would like to see something in person, please contact me. This blog is intended as a casual, more personal supplement to the main Public Collectors website.
Public Collectors is maintained by Marc Fischer.
Website • Facebook •
Flickr •
Publications •
Email
Common tags: Book Cover Design • Chicago • Drawing • Flea Market • Flyers • Illustration • Prison • Records • Religious Tracts • Signage • Zines
This Hungarian guide book, Kisemlösök (Rodents), was published in Budapest in 1985. It’s one of several similar handy illustrated books that I picked up on my recent trip. More exciting drawings of bats to follow (and maybe some rats and squirrels later on?).
A promotional 7” sampler record of various Classical music recordings produced by Crossroads Records. Amusingly, for a record that is supposed to impress listeners with the quality of stereo sound, they jammed nearly fourteen minutes of music onto this record. No year or cover designer listed.
An illustration by Otto Mólnar from the paratrooper-focused book Eg Es Föld Között, published in Budapest in 1980. More by Otto Mólnar here.
An illustration by Otto Mólnar from the paratrooper-focused book Eg Es Föld Között, published in Budapest in 1980. More by Otto Mólnar here.
An illustration by Otto Mólnar from the paratrooper-focused book Eg Es Föld Között, published in Budapest in 1980. More by Otto Mólnar here.
An illustration by Otto Mólnar from the paratrooper-focused book Eg Es Föld Között, published in Budapest in 1980. More by Otto Mólnar here.
An illustration by Otto Mólnar from the paratrooper-focused book Eg Es Föld Között, published in Budapest in 1980. More by Otto Mólnar here.
One of my favorite discoveries during my brief time scouring Budapest’s used bookstores on my recent trip, was a series of old staple-bound books about military technology published in the 1970s and early 1980s. I picked up four of them solely for the beautifully clear and vibrant illustrations and cover art by Otto Mólnar. I’m sure I’ll be posting more of his work later on, but for now I’ll focus on the paratrooper-centered Eg Es Föld Között, published in Budapest in 1980. Special thanks to Paper Dungeon for directing me to great shops; very glad us Tumblr buddies could finally meet up in person too! More by Otto Mólnar here.
A sign issuing an unusually formal warning to drug pushers, documented yesterday on Chicago’s West side.
A mural on Chicago’s West Side, defaced with gang graffiti.
Monstrula, published by Martin Kelter Verlag in Germany. I can’t locate a year but based on one of the ads, I believe this may be from 1975. One of several pulp horror stories I picked up from a great little shop in Graz, Austria devoted solely to cheap battered pulp digests, comic-size stories, and paperbacks.
An issue of Geister-Krimi, published by Martin Kelter Verlag in Germany. I can’t locate a year. One of several pulp horror stories I picked up from a great little shop in Graz, Austria devoted solely to cheap battered pulp digests, comic-size stories, and paperbacks.
Tony Ballard: Die Horror-Serie van A.F. Morland. Printed in Germany, 1983. One of several pulp horror stories I picked up from a great little shop in Graz, Austria devoted solely to cheap battered pulp digests, comic-size stories, and paperbacks. Anyone else thinking that the man fleeing the cyclops looks a lot like Tony Danza?
A marker drawing of someone wearing a balaclava, spotted on the street in Budapest.
A fan drawing at a memorial to Michael Jackson in a small park in Budapest, Hungary. This article explains that the park is across the street from the hotel that Jackson stayed at three times during visits to Budapest. More posts about this memorial here.
