HODGING YOUR BETS

French illustrator James Hodges shifts from the magic of books to the magic of cards.

We mentioned in our October post on French artist James Hodges that he moved into playing card design as his career progressed, so today we thought it would be nice to show you some of those designs. Above you see an example of his collectible work for the French playing card and tarot card company B.P. Grimaud, owned by Baptiste Paul Grimaud and based in Paris. Grimaud’s cards go back to 1848 when he purchased a workshop that had been in business since 1750, so we’re talking about a time-honored art here. Hodges’ designs were pin-up influenced, but he also painted stylized card faces, and we’re pretty sure he did some of the backs too. We have an assortment of card fronts below, and you can see more work at his website. The post where we mentioned his playing card career is here, and we have a collection of Hodges book fronts here.

France, Paris, Baptiste Paul Grimaud, James Hodges

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

October 7

1959—Dark Side of Moon Revealed

The Soviet space probe Luna 3 transmits the first photographs of the far side of the moon. The photos generate great interest, and scientists are surprised to see mountainous terrain, very different from the near side, and only two seas, which the Soviets name Mare Moscovrae (Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Desire).

October 6

1966—LSD Declared Illegal in U.S.

LSD, which was originally synthesized by a Swiss doctor and was later secretly used by the CIA on military personnel, prostitutes, the mentally ill, and members of the general public in a project code named MKULTRA, is designated a controlled substance in the United States.

October 5

1945—Hollywood Black Friday

A six month strike by Hollywood set decorators becomes a riot at the gates of Warner Brothers Studios when strikers and replacement workers clash. The event helps bring about the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, which, among other things, prohibits unions from contributing to political campaigns and requires union leaders to affirm they are not supporters of the Communist Party.

October 4

1957—Sputnik Circles Earth

The Soviet Union launches the satellite Sputnik I, which becomes the first artificial object to orbit the Earth. It orbits for two months and provides valuable information about the density of the upper atmosphere. It also panics the United States into a space race that eventually culminates in the U.S. moon landing.

October 4

1970—Janis Joplin Overdoses

American blues singer Janis Joplin is found dead on the floor of her motel room in Los Angeles. The cause of death is determined to be an overdose of heroin, possibly combined with the effects of alcohol.