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HARRY OLIVER'S MEDIA STUFF

Here are images and tunes from various
materials by and about the Old Mirage Salesman

Desert Rat Scrap Book

CLICK AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE

99 DAYS IN THE DESERT WITH SANDY WALKER

99 Days in the Desert with Sandy Walker

99 Days in the Desert with Sandy Walker

Corona, California. Green Lantern Print Shop, 1941. 42 pp.

Harry Oliver, whose wit is ". . sharp as desert cactus . ." has compiled articles from his newspaper column Desert Briefs into an attractive booklet called 99 DAYS IN THE DESERT . . . WITH SANDY WALKER. History, travel, odd bits of information are written with dry humor, and seasoned with the fresh simple philosophy of an imaginary character, Sandy Walker, who probably is a rough characterization of the author himself. Attractively covered in brown art paper with hand block prints.


A KISS FOR THE DESERT

Front Cover
A Kiss for the Desert, Front cover - 67k

Back Cover
A Kiss for the Desert, Back cover - 71k

Title Page

A KISS FOR THE DESERT
from Harry Oliver

Compiled by Betty J. Stohler
Distributed by Betty Stohler
"Old Sunshine" Press
25964 Edgemont Dr.
San Bernadino, California 92404
Desert Printing Co., Inc.
Indio, California
© Betty J. Stohler 1978

A KISS FOR THE DESERT FROM HARRY OLIVER (no ISBN) is the only 'bio-graph' of the Old Dream Merchant. Written enthusiastically, this book is a treasure trove of details about whatever bits of Harry's life he chose to disclose. It is also lavishly illustrated, both with reprintings of Harry's work, and with Ms. Stohler's own illustrations. The sketches seem to be Ms. Stohler's renderings of old photos. For those interested in Harry's life and work, this book is highly recommended.

DESERT ROUGH CUTS

Desert Rough Cuts, Palm Springs

DESERT ROUGH CUTS
A Haywire History of the Borrego Desert

Los Angeles, California. Ward Ritchie Press, 1938. 66 pp.

A true desert classic with all the excitement of lost mines, prospectors, and gold. An artists delight as it is illustrated with woodcuts by the author.

"You see now, it's up to me to write these Rough Cuts about my gold findin' friends in this Desert Valley." — Harry Oliver

From San Diego History
"Borrego's Hollywood connection were not all directors. . . . the best-known was Harry Oliver [1888-1973], an art director at Fox. He became fascinated with the legends and lore of the Borrego Desert, and in 1938 published Desert Rough Cuts -- A Haywire History of the Borrego Valley, a fanciful piece that foreshadowed his famous Desert Rat Scrapbooks which began publication in 1946."

DRSB IN ARIZONA HIGHWAYS

Harry wrote this interesting article, arrayed in a splendid four-page spread, for the March 1953 issue of ARIZONA HIGHWAYS magazine.

To read Harry's ARIZONA HIGHWAYS piece, click HERE.

AH cover: 118k AH page4: 139kAH page5: 135k AH page6: 139kAH page7: 121k

DSRB PRINTING PLATES

These plates were found at a local dumpground by Danny B. a few miles from 1000 Palms where Harry used to live.

Packet 3 of Pouch 9
Plate 1 - 54k

Mirrored
Plate 1 Mirrored - 54k

Packet 3 of Pouch 10
Plate 2 - 77k

Mirrored
Plate 2 Mirrored - 54k

HARRY'S RECORD ALBUM


Pea Hicks has graciously contributed .MP3s and .JPGs of HEAR YOUR DESERT RAT HARRY OLIVER album of Harry reading a bunch of his yarns.


Harry's album


John Norman's Desert Records, D-109, Palm Springs California

CLICK ON A SELECTION BELOW TO HEAR IT!

Side 1
Harry's album, Side 1

The Cold Nose Caper - 238k
The Coyote That Sang Grand Opera - 265k
The Wonder of Desert Cactus - 256k
A Damn Good Miner - 138k
Bull Durham - 50k
Haywire Weather - 552k
Whiskey Joe - 410k
Up With the Stars - 86k
No Burros No Gold - 385k

Side 2
Harry's album, Side 2

Fame for Nothin' - 700k
Packrats, Dynamite and Earthquakes - 314k
Death Valley Scotty - 338k
The Typical Tourist - 33k
The Singing Sands of Old Fort Oliver - 281k
Mine Lost as Stockholders Look On - 254k
Music and Booze - 417k

Entire Album (zipped) - 4.67m

THE OLD MIRAGE SALESMAN

The Old Mirage SalesmanThe Old Mirage Salesman

THE OLD MIRAGE SALESMAN
A Whimsical Desert Digest of Refreshing Nonsense

Heralding the life of the Southwest's foremost story telling Desert Rat, Harry Oliver; Editor, Humorist, Historian, Publicist, Pioneer, Philosopher, Prospector, Showman, Builder, Hermit, and Secessionist. (Palm Springs: The Printery, 1952. 111 pp.)

A book published in 1952 by Amy Fern Roessel and Mary Alice Ballenger, Harry Oliver's daughters, and dedicated "To the World's Greatest Optimist, The Desert Prospector." It is "A Whimsical Desert Digest of Refreshing Nonsense" — a compilation of Harry's works, lavishly sprinkled with his drawings and woodcuts. Amy and Mary wrote, "It has been a work of great pleasure to both of us. We lived with the creation of these characters during those happy years in the old home place in Palms, California (the last slice of La Ballona Rancho), and also on the porch of the rambling old HO Ranch, Dad's sprawling adobe in Borrego, and later at old adobe Fort Oliver, 1000 Palms, California. Many of the stories have been published as long ago as 1926 and '28. Six of them published in Life Magazine in 1932. Others in "The Gold Miner," "Todo" — Mexico City, "the Grizzly Bear," Rob Wagner's "Script," "New Mexico Magazine," and "Calico Print." Now Dad was anything but a literary man, but we believe that for originality and choice of colorful props, no one could beat him. Each story has humor as well as a great deal of true Desert atmosphere. And he sure did know his Desert! We believe that this book belongs in every Desert library. Dad was born in Hastings, Minnesota, April 4, 1888. Dad's father was an ardent Mark Twain fan, and Dad grew up in a Tom Sawyer atmosphere. As a boy he knew, and mingled with the trappers, the steamboat men, and the woodsmen; the shack and shanty life became a vivid part of him. This cropped out in his career in motion pictures as a character art director and is the very soul of his desert tall tales — even though Dad didn't come to California till 1909."


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