Okay, I've been hella busy with work and shows, so I haven't done the updates I intended to do. Luckily, I left a handy reminder of what I wanted to talk about in a post for a reason.
Anyway, just a heads up, I'm about to start some research for Chicago. So keep your eyes open.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Epiphany of the day
Okay, I really need to work on getting through the massive list that is the props for Chicago. Mind you, the ones in the original script, meaning it's all the shit used in the Fosse production with 3 fancy winches. I could do an entire post on how frustrating it is reading these stage directions, but I digress. The point is, I won't be catching up on the things I wanted to talk about that I learned from the summer because I have this massive list to take care of.
Just one more quick note before I get on to my epiphany, NEVER, and I mean NEVER, go off of the prop list in the back of scripts. Scanning it after you make your own from the script may help you catch something that you missed, but you really need to develop it from the script.
Now- My Epiphany of the Day
About a year ago, while making props list for my season at New London Barn Playhouse, I realized that I should initially record all props in the script so I can track something and know that it will be used again. This came from doing show lists months in advance and knowing I probably wouldn't remember these things after building 3 others shows before I got to the 4th one. (btw, this does mean, that I didn't even realize the need to do this until the 4th list for the season.) Prior to this, I had worked on one show at a time and didn't have the need to necessarily track such things.
ANYWAY, I initially tried color coding by using a background color to indicate the prop was listed above. It sort of worked, but you had to search the list, which becomes tedious with long lists.
Well, I started to notice the MASS amounts of tables and chairs indicated in the Chicago script and it dawned on me- NUMBER EACH PROP. Giving a prop a reference number makes it so much easier to note when it is listed before. I'm also finding it easier to keep things straight in the initial phases of laying out lists. I have a feeling it will also idiot proof things a little bit. Sometimes, I find when I'm talking through prop lists with directors I may double count something and have a mini freak out.
Okay, that's my epiphany of the day. Really, it's a silly one, but when I figure out a new way to arrange my lists, I get excited.
The next time I need a break from list making- probably in an hour or so- I'll do a blog about the many incarnations of my props lists. At least from what I have stored on my laptop.
Just one more quick note before I get on to my epiphany, NEVER, and I mean NEVER, go off of the prop list in the back of scripts. Scanning it after you make your own from the script may help you catch something that you missed, but you really need to develop it from the script.
Now- My Epiphany of the Day
About a year ago, while making props list for my season at New London Barn Playhouse, I realized that I should initially record all props in the script so I can track something and know that it will be used again. This came from doing show lists months in advance and knowing I probably wouldn't remember these things after building 3 others shows before I got to the 4th one. (btw, this does mean, that I didn't even realize the need to do this until the 4th list for the season.) Prior to this, I had worked on one show at a time and didn't have the need to necessarily track such things.
ANYWAY, I initially tried color coding by using a background color to indicate the prop was listed above. It sort of worked, but you had to search the list, which becomes tedious with long lists.
Well, I started to notice the MASS amounts of tables and chairs indicated in the Chicago script and it dawned on me- NUMBER EACH PROP. Giving a prop a reference number makes it so much easier to note when it is listed before. I'm also finding it easier to keep things straight in the initial phases of laying out lists. I have a feeling it will also idiot proof things a little bit. Sometimes, I find when I'm talking through prop lists with directors I may double count something and have a mini freak out.
Okay, that's my epiphany of the day. Really, it's a silly one, but when I figure out a new way to arrange my lists, I get excited.
The next time I need a break from list making- probably in an hour or so- I'll do a blog about the many incarnations of my props lists. At least from what I have stored on my laptop.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Upcoming stuff
Wow, it doesn't feel like I haven't posted in 3 weeks. Could've sworn I did one more recently... oh well. Right now I'm procrastinating on this whole packing thing. I just wanted to check in and list some of the things I was to talk about so that I can do so when I have time at home this week.
1) I need to find the great websites that I lost when my work computer lost all of its links. I had a good one for old cigarette cases along with a good one of wine labels. I'll just do a search again.
2) Foliage tricks, fake dirt and Autograph.
3) Upholstery tips I picked up from watching our soft goods artisan.
4) Rub and Buff (have I talked about this?)and other paint tricks.
5) Why free font sites are my new favorite thing.
6) Acrylic paint- how I learned it isn't awful stuff.
1) I need to find the great websites that I lost when my work computer lost all of its links. I had a good one for old cigarette cases along with a good one of wine labels. I'll just do a search again.
2) Foliage tricks, fake dirt and Autograph.
3) Upholstery tips I picked up from watching our soft goods artisan.
4) Rub and Buff (have I talked about this?)and other paint tricks.
5) Why free font sites are my new favorite thing.
6) Acrylic paint- how I learned it isn't awful stuff.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
More Links
Okay, so...my work computer was replaced and I lost all those links... I really just need to do searches for what I worked on earlier in the season and I'll have them back. I'll get around to that...eventually...
Anyway, I had a few sites that I've been meaning to share that I use a lot or have bookmarked on my personal computer for awhile.
1)Thistothat.com: BOOKMARK THIS! I have used this SO many times. It's great site to have on hand. I find myself using it less and less as I use larger ranges of materials more often. It gives the strongest bond, fastest bond, least toxic bond, etc. It will also warn you if certain types of adhesives will melt one of the two things you are gluing together. You can also click on links for each adhesive to get a review of the glue, along with toxicity rating, avg. cost, cure time, where to buy and links for places to buy online.
2) Lehman's: My dad recommended this to me once when I was complaining about how expensive hurricane lamps are at antique stores. I haven't really looked at it or used it yet, but I know that the Props Master at APT has used it this year. It is Amish goods, so you can get a lot of items suited for a good range of pre-20th century periods. It's worth taking a look at if you're working on a show of that time. Also, if you need hurricane lamps, you REALLY should buy them from here. It is way cheaper.
3) Ressler Importers: I learned of this handy source this summer due to the mass amounts of furniture we've needed. I haven't personally ordered from them, but I have some idea of how they work from overhearing orders being made. I think to get pricing you need to have the catalog, which you can request online. They are a little pricey from what I understand, but the nice thing is you can get every(?)style unfinished. So as long as you have time, tools, and experience to assemble the furniture, paint/stain, and upholster, it's a great alternative to rehashing something that already has paint and upholstery.
Okay, that's it for now. I have some tips and tricks I want to get down soon, so I'll try to add more later in the week.
Anyway, I had a few sites that I've been meaning to share that I use a lot or have bookmarked on my personal computer for awhile.
1)Thistothat.com: BOOKMARK THIS! I have used this SO many times. It's great site to have on hand. I find myself using it less and less as I use larger ranges of materials more often. It gives the strongest bond, fastest bond, least toxic bond, etc. It will also warn you if certain types of adhesives will melt one of the two things you are gluing together. You can also click on links for each adhesive to get a review of the glue, along with toxicity rating, avg. cost, cure time, where to buy and links for places to buy online.
2) Lehman's: My dad recommended this to me once when I was complaining about how expensive hurricane lamps are at antique stores. I haven't really looked at it or used it yet, but I know that the Props Master at APT has used it this year. It is Amish goods, so you can get a lot of items suited for a good range of pre-20th century periods. It's worth taking a look at if you're working on a show of that time. Also, if you need hurricane lamps, you REALLY should buy them from here. It is way cheaper.
3) Ressler Importers: I learned of this handy source this summer due to the mass amounts of furniture we've needed. I haven't personally ordered from them, but I have some idea of how they work from overhearing orders being made. I think to get pricing you need to have the catalog, which you can request online. They are a little pricey from what I understand, but the nice thing is you can get every(?)style unfinished. So as long as you have time, tools, and experience to assemble the furniture, paint/stain, and upholster, it's a great alternative to rehashing something that already has paint and upholstery.
Okay, that's it for now. I have some tips and tricks I want to get down soon, so I'll try to add more later in the week.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Awesome Products to Keep on Hand, part 1
I thought I'd do something other than link(s) this time. Mainly because I'm bored and not at work. So, I'll expand on this- hence the part 1. I always find that I get taught cool handy tricks of various things to use to make props and then forget what the name of the product and only remember what it can do. I'll see if I can get a theme going here, but it'll probably be random. And I lied, there will be a link, but only to a product website.
1. Design Master Spray Paint- I learned about this 2 summers ago while working for Utah Festival Opera and fell in love with it. It's a craft spray paint that goes on in a thin layer. As long as you use it correctly you can do a dusting of color. This is great for aging and dirtying stuff. It's also made for fake flowers so it works better with fabric type things than regular spray paint.
Where to buy: The best part about Design Master is that you can get it at craft retailers. Michael's has a large range, but not all of the colors. I believe Hobby Lobby has some. I seem to remember that Joann's has a good range. I've been told that you can get it at floral shops, but I've never had the need to look. It's a little pricey at close to $7 a can, but it is GREAT stuff.
Hints with colors:
Glossy Wood Tone (it really isn't that glossy), is amazing for aging pretty much anything because it's a little more transparent than the other colors. If you need to tone down white paper- it's a fast and easy way to do so by lightly dusting the paper with the spray. On foliage it's a good "dying" color.
October Brown is another good color to have on hand at all times. It is best for "dirt" because it is a darker brown and a little more opaque than Glossy Wood Tone.
Flat Black is nice to have around because it goes on much lighter than regular black spray paint. It's good for when you need to tone down a metallic. It's also good to age/dirty stuff when combined with October Brown and Glossy Wood Tone. (btw, the flat white isn't much different from regular white spray paints.)
Moss Green another good aging color. I like to use it with October Brown if I need to do the bottom of a bag or basket or anything that would commonly go on the ground. Just use it lightly. It can also be good for toning stage money if the green is a little too bright.
Basil when you make stage money- use this color to tone it if it is too white. A dusting of this color lets the graphics pop through while making it about the right color of pre-super colorful American money.
2. Paperclay- Another product I learned about at Utah Festival Opera. LOVE THIS STUFF. It's made of water, paper, and volcanic ash. It's really easy to sculpt, you can smooth it out easily with wet hands, it drys hard and is hard to break, you can sand it, it takes paint of any kind like a dream, sticks to almost anything you'd like to use as a base (like wood or styrofoam)... I could go on, but I think you get the point. Seriously, I love this stuff. I've used it on numerous projects. You can add paint to it to give a different base color than the bright white if you want. If you know my portfolio link (hint: it's on my FB page), you can see examples of paper clay stuff.
Where to buy: I can usually get it at the regular craft stores. It's usually in with the clays next to the paper pulp stuff that you mix with water. It comes in a small black plastic package with white lettering and red trim around the lettering. It's also a little pricey, like $5 or $6, but a little goes a long way and it stores well in a ziplock.
3. Great Stuff- First off, that is really the name. Second, I totally just remembered this one when I was writing about Paperclay. In fact, I usually forget about it until after the fact when I should have used it. It is an expanding foam intended to be used to seal basements and stuff like that. You can sand it and cut it and it takes some paint, but it's not something you should use for heavy sculpting. One of the most common prop use is for fake pastries and breads. I think it's best for breads or rolls that will be about the same yellow-ish color as the foam. You can cut off an edge and it will have air bubbles on the inside like real bread. Another good use is to fill in vacuform pieces because you can cut off the back so you can attach the pieces to a flat surface and it won't distort the plastic. I feel like it might work with latex, but I have never tried it. I'm sure if you put the latex positive in it's plaster negative while using the Great Stuff with it, then it wouldn't be a problem.
Where to buy: Here's the awesome part- you can buy it at any hardware store. I don't think it's too expensive... I've never actually bought it, it's always been on hand when I need it.
Okay, I think that's a long enough post. I was going to add more, but I want to head off to my Friday Night activities soon. Keep an eye out for more posts next week.
-Caitlin
1. Design Master Spray Paint- I learned about this 2 summers ago while working for Utah Festival Opera and fell in love with it. It's a craft spray paint that goes on in a thin layer. As long as you use it correctly you can do a dusting of color. This is great for aging and dirtying stuff. It's also made for fake flowers so it works better with fabric type things than regular spray paint.
Where to buy: The best part about Design Master is that you can get it at craft retailers. Michael's has a large range, but not all of the colors. I believe Hobby Lobby has some. I seem to remember that Joann's has a good range. I've been told that you can get it at floral shops, but I've never had the need to look. It's a little pricey at close to $7 a can, but it is GREAT stuff.
Hints with colors:
Glossy Wood Tone (it really isn't that glossy), is amazing for aging pretty much anything because it's a little more transparent than the other colors. If you need to tone down white paper- it's a fast and easy way to do so by lightly dusting the paper with the spray. On foliage it's a good "dying" color.
October Brown is another good color to have on hand at all times. It is best for "dirt" because it is a darker brown and a little more opaque than Glossy Wood Tone.
Flat Black is nice to have around because it goes on much lighter than regular black spray paint. It's good for when you need to tone down a metallic. It's also good to age/dirty stuff when combined with October Brown and Glossy Wood Tone. (btw, the flat white isn't much different from regular white spray paints.)
Moss Green another good aging color. I like to use it with October Brown if I need to do the bottom of a bag or basket or anything that would commonly go on the ground. Just use it lightly. It can also be good for toning stage money if the green is a little too bright.
Basil when you make stage money- use this color to tone it if it is too white. A dusting of this color lets the graphics pop through while making it about the right color of pre-super colorful American money.
2. Paperclay- Another product I learned about at Utah Festival Opera. LOVE THIS STUFF. It's made of water, paper, and volcanic ash. It's really easy to sculpt, you can smooth it out easily with wet hands, it drys hard and is hard to break, you can sand it, it takes paint of any kind like a dream, sticks to almost anything you'd like to use as a base (like wood or styrofoam)... I could go on, but I think you get the point. Seriously, I love this stuff. I've used it on numerous projects. You can add paint to it to give a different base color than the bright white if you want. If you know my portfolio link (hint: it's on my FB page), you can see examples of paper clay stuff.
Where to buy: I can usually get it at the regular craft stores. It's usually in with the clays next to the paper pulp stuff that you mix with water. It comes in a small black plastic package with white lettering and red trim around the lettering. It's also a little pricey, like $5 or $6, but a little goes a long way and it stores well in a ziplock.
3. Great Stuff- First off, that is really the name. Second, I totally just remembered this one when I was writing about Paperclay. In fact, I usually forget about it until after the fact when I should have used it. It is an expanding foam intended to be used to seal basements and stuff like that. You can sand it and cut it and it takes some paint, but it's not something you should use for heavy sculpting. One of the most common prop use is for fake pastries and breads. I think it's best for breads or rolls that will be about the same yellow-ish color as the foam. You can cut off an edge and it will have air bubbles on the inside like real bread. Another good use is to fill in vacuform pieces because you can cut off the back so you can attach the pieces to a flat surface and it won't distort the plastic. I feel like it might work with latex, but I have never tried it. I'm sure if you put the latex positive in it's plaster negative while using the Great Stuff with it, then it wouldn't be a problem.
Where to buy: Here's the awesome part- you can buy it at any hardware store. I don't think it's too expensive... I've never actually bought it, it's always been on hand when I need it.
Okay, I think that's a long enough post. I was going to add more, but I want to head off to my Friday Night activities soon. Keep an eye out for more posts next week.
-Caitlin
Blog Ideas
Okay, so while doing mundane, repetitive things today, I let my mind drift off and it decided to think of blog topics. So I'm going to list them, feel free to comment and add on or let me know something you want to see sooner rather than later. Then maybe I'll do another posting about actual props stuff.
-Things that seem crazy to save, but come in handy.
-Handy products to keep in stock.
-Online Shopping resources.
-Money saving tricks.
-Kick ass tools
okay... I had a lot more in my head like 3 hours ago. Damn not being around a computer. I'll leave this here so I can add on to it later.
-Things that seem crazy to save, but come in handy.
-Handy products to keep in stock.
-Online Shopping resources.
-Money saving tricks.
-Kick ass tools
okay... I had a lot more in my head like 3 hours ago. Damn not being around a computer. I'll leave this here so I can add on to it later.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Magazine Covers
Over the weekend I needed to do a preWWI Magazine cover. I really just needed an image, since it's a made up magazine, but I searched covers in attempts of narrowing it down. Magazines are something I find I quite commonly need to do for "business" hand props. So normally you can just pull a period front cover and a random period ad and size it to fit over a current magazine or fill with Ledger size paper folded in half.
I found a TON of good resources, some which I've used in the past. I did quite a bit of searching through most of these, so I hopefully will be able to tell you what's there.
I did a lot of searching through this link in hopes of finding something. Other than being a pain in the ass to just browse through, it's pretty great. There is a large range of years and various magazine covers. The image sizes are fairly big. I couldn't find a "main page" that had the list of links for each section like the bottom of the page has, so it's linked to the 1917 page.
This flickr page didn't have quite what I wanted. I think it's mostly stuff from the teens and twenties. I believe it's all cover art by a specific artist. There are 340 photos (as of today), so it's worth taking a look at when you're searching. The nice thing is that you can hover over the thumbnails and see captions that tell you the magazine title and publishing year.
The next link is to a blog entry. There are only about 40 covers here according to the blog, but they have a good range in types of magazines and years (1913-1988). If you are looking for some sweet covers, I recommend looking here.
I found the cover I used at MagazineArt.org. It has a nice large collection. My only issue with it was that I couldn't look by year, only by title. The nice part with the search is that you can narrow it down by category then title. It's also nice because you can scroll through each title if there are multiple images available and you want to view all the large images. It also has ads available, which is handy for making back covers.
I used Whodatedwho.com last summer when I needed gossip mags for South Pacific. If I remember correctly, the images are a little small and will pixelate a tad when you blow it up to magazine size, but it's nothing that is noticeable off stage. There are a great amount of movie and gossip magazines available. You can search by year and page through the years. It will also give you the option to narrow down by magazine title within a year. I haven't looked at this site for much else, but it seems that you may also be able to get movie posters on here dating back to 1913. Oh, one last thing, the earliest link date is 1930 for the magazines, but there are some available further back than that. Just click on 1930 and page back.
Finally, if you want vintage Good Housekeeping covers, there are some available on the website. I haven't looked at it much more than seeing that it was there. I just saw the link when I was searching and thought it would be a good one to bookmark.
I'll add these links to the sidebar in a bit. Right now I need to get back to work. I'll work on getting some more links up tomorrow before I get off for another long weekend.
I found a TON of good resources, some which I've used in the past. I did quite a bit of searching through most of these, so I hopefully will be able to tell you what's there.
I did a lot of searching through this link in hopes of finding something. Other than being a pain in the ass to just browse through, it's pretty great. There is a large range of years and various magazine covers. The image sizes are fairly big. I couldn't find a "main page" that had the list of links for each section like the bottom of the page has, so it's linked to the 1917 page.
This flickr page didn't have quite what I wanted. I think it's mostly stuff from the teens and twenties. I believe it's all cover art by a specific artist. There are 340 photos (as of today), so it's worth taking a look at when you're searching. The nice thing is that you can hover over the thumbnails and see captions that tell you the magazine title and publishing year.
The next link is to a blog entry. There are only about 40 covers here according to the blog, but they have a good range in types of magazines and years (1913-1988). If you are looking for some sweet covers, I recommend looking here.
I found the cover I used at MagazineArt.org. It has a nice large collection. My only issue with it was that I couldn't look by year, only by title. The nice part with the search is that you can narrow it down by category then title. It's also nice because you can scroll through each title if there are multiple images available and you want to view all the large images. It also has ads available, which is handy for making back covers.
I used Whodatedwho.com last summer when I needed gossip mags for South Pacific. If I remember correctly, the images are a little small and will pixelate a tad when you blow it up to magazine size, but it's nothing that is noticeable off stage. There are a great amount of movie and gossip magazines available. You can search by year and page through the years. It will also give you the option to narrow down by magazine title within a year. I haven't looked at this site for much else, but it seems that you may also be able to get movie posters on here dating back to 1913. Oh, one last thing, the earliest link date is 1930 for the magazines, but there are some available further back than that. Just click on 1930 and page back.
Finally, if you want vintage Good Housekeeping covers, there are some available on the website. I haven't looked at it much more than seeing that it was there. I just saw the link when I was searching and thought it would be a good one to bookmark.
I'll add these links to the sidebar in a bit. Right now I need to get back to work. I'll work on getting some more links up tomorrow before I get off for another long weekend.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Newspaper Archive
Today's link is a pay site. If you've ever made a period newspaper on photoshop from scratch, you know how much of a pain it is to make a good one. Trust me when I say, it is worth what ever you pay for a month long membership. Just make sure you take advantage of it and download as much as you can in that month. (This advice came from the APT props master, who happens to just get a membership when he needs it and downloads all he can.)
Anyway, you can search a ton of different newspapers from the US and select countries dating back to the 1700s. I wasn't the one to do the image pulling for the newspaper we made this year, so I haven't had really any interaction with the site. It seems easy enough to navigate. I'm pretty sure, much like the British Museum Archives, you get a decent amount of info as to the size of the paper and the number of pages each issue should be.
The best part is that the downloads come in PDF files of each page. So you can download single pages if you just need to create filler and mix and match different dates. For example, we used an Alabama paper called The Southern Immigrant for Another Part of the Forest. It's only a 4 page paper, but we needed an 8 page one, so 4 pages were pulled from other dates.
If possible, print the papers double sided on a large scale printer. SO much better than piecing together, even though loading is a pain. Granted, unless you happen to get newsprint big enough to do 2 pages on 1 sheet like a real paper, you'll have to tape together the 2 sides.
So there you go- NewspaperArchive.com. Check it out. You won't be able to take a good look unless you subscribe, but you can get a feel for the site by looking.
Anyway, you can search a ton of different newspapers from the US and select countries dating back to the 1700s. I wasn't the one to do the image pulling for the newspaper we made this year, so I haven't had really any interaction with the site. It seems easy enough to navigate. I'm pretty sure, much like the British Museum Archives, you get a decent amount of info as to the size of the paper and the number of pages each issue should be.
The best part is that the downloads come in PDF files of each page. So you can download single pages if you just need to create filler and mix and match different dates. For example, we used an Alabama paper called The Southern Immigrant for Another Part of the Forest. It's only a 4 page paper, but we needed an 8 page one, so 4 pages were pulled from other dates.
If possible, print the papers double sided on a large scale printer. SO much better than piecing together, even though loading is a pain. Granted, unless you happen to get newsprint big enough to do 2 pages on 1 sheet like a real paper, you'll have to tape together the 2 sides.
So there you go- NewspaperArchive.com. Check it out. You won't be able to take a good look unless you subscribe, but you can get a feel for the site by looking.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
British Museum Online Archive
Today, after spending all afternoon working on paper props, I realized I need something to help me keep track of great websites and online sources for props that I can access from anywhere. I lose USB drives easily and I don't think a running list on Word is the best way to keep track anyway. Then it hit me- keep a blog. So here's a blog to help me keep track of great sites I come across. Of course, it is for anyone else interested to use as well. Feel free to comment on your experience with the sources I feature, suggest other sites, or just browse.
Today's source is the Online Archive for the British Museum. I discovered it the way you discover all good sources- really randomly through some source link on Wikipedia.
I needed to find Late 19th/ Early 20th century checks for Major Barbara. First off, searching for that on Google, not the best plan. I was about to give up when I decided to take a look on Wikipedia, which made me realize that I should use the British spelling- cheque. I found a little PDF link all about cheques in the references part of the article. The PDF had many different images credited to various sources. Most were from Bank Archives, which led me no where in quick sources because you have to contact the archive and request material. Then I finally looked at the British Museum and stumbled across the fact that they have an amazing online archive.
So here's the deal- you can let the website give you all the stats on how many things are available, but you can search the database with keywords and narrow it down to a certain period and images only. I know, not a big deal- THIS is what makes it awesome. When you find images you like, you can't just save the image, but you can ORDER the image from the archive for FREE. What makes it so awesome, you ask? WELL, after you register saying that you are requesting the images for non-commercial use, you can download up to 100 images per month. The images have to be emailed to you and it claims that you will get them within 2 business days, but they are HIGH QUALITY images, so it's worth the wait if you have the time. I requested 11 images today between 3 & 4 and had them in my inbox by 8.
As far as searching goes, since I only discovered this source today, I haven't done much. It was fantastic for images only, "cheque" dated between 1890 and 1910. I got 63 hits and all but 3 or 4 where actually cheques. I also tried telegrams for the same dates and got nothing. So I guess it just depends on what you are researching. Definitely will be using it more in the future.
One final thing to praise on this site and then I'm calling it a night. Each hit has a great amount of info to go with the image. It's easiest just to show you, so here's a link to one of the cheques I requested today.
I was really excited about this source, I hope others are too. I don't want to break the terms of agreement for the images, so I'll just be holding on to the ones I have and let you request your own. I've acquired a few great source links on my work computer, so hopefully it will be slow enough tomorrow or Friday that I can post a few more links.
Today's source is the Online Archive for the British Museum. I discovered it the way you discover all good sources- really randomly through some source link on Wikipedia.
I needed to find Late 19th/ Early 20th century checks for Major Barbara. First off, searching for that on Google, not the best plan. I was about to give up when I decided to take a look on Wikipedia, which made me realize that I should use the British spelling- cheque. I found a little PDF link all about cheques in the references part of the article. The PDF had many different images credited to various sources. Most were from Bank Archives, which led me no where in quick sources because you have to contact the archive and request material. Then I finally looked at the British Museum and stumbled across the fact that they have an amazing online archive.
So here's the deal- you can let the website give you all the stats on how many things are available, but you can search the database with keywords and narrow it down to a certain period and images only. I know, not a big deal- THIS is what makes it awesome. When you find images you like, you can't just save the image, but you can ORDER the image from the archive for FREE. What makes it so awesome, you ask? WELL, after you register saying that you are requesting the images for non-commercial use, you can download up to 100 images per month. The images have to be emailed to you and it claims that you will get them within 2 business days, but they are HIGH QUALITY images, so it's worth the wait if you have the time. I requested 11 images today between 3 & 4 and had them in my inbox by 8.
As far as searching goes, since I only discovered this source today, I haven't done much. It was fantastic for images only, "cheque" dated between 1890 and 1910. I got 63 hits and all but 3 or 4 where actually cheques. I also tried telegrams for the same dates and got nothing. So I guess it just depends on what you are researching. Definitely will be using it more in the future.
One final thing to praise on this site and then I'm calling it a night. Each hit has a great amount of info to go with the image. It's easiest just to show you, so here's a link to one of the cheques I requested today.
I was really excited about this source, I hope others are too. I don't want to break the terms of agreement for the images, so I'll just be holding on to the ones I have and let you request your own. I've acquired a few great source links on my work computer, so hopefully it will be slow enough tomorrow or Friday that I can post a few more links.
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