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Dan Robbins & Paint by Number History
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Whatever Happened to Paint by Numbers?
Read the Book! See the DVD!

A Grand American Journey...from Detroit in 1949, where one artist and an entrepreneur started it all...to the mighty 'Galveston Wall' in 1997 where one artist and 14,000 'assistants' (mostly school children) painted the world's longest paint-by-number mural.

This book is more than just a collection of nostalgic memories, anecdotes and personal experiences. It is a behind-the-scenes look at what it took to bring a simple idea from near failure to a national craze with millions of people filling in numbered spaces with numbered colors creating all kinds of paintings, from small still lifes to large detailed landscapes and ...everthing in between.

Dan's Book graphic It's about the beginning of the do-it-yourself era: an autobiographic account of what it took to bring a simple idea from near failure to a national craze. A classic entrepeneurial story.

Now, more than half a century later, paint-by-numbers has come full circle, not as a craft or hobby but as a valued collectible recently enshrined in the Smithsonian Institution as part of our cultural heritage.

Told with wit and humor, Robbins describes those events that made paint-by-numbers the singular most poular hobby of the times.

Over 330 pages filled with photos, Robbins' illustrations and other memorabilia recalling those "good old days." Reads like a novel with a cast of real characters. Provides many laughs and a few tears. A fun read.

 Dan's DVD graphic
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WGTE's production, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO PAINT BY NUMBERS?, traces the 1950's craze from its beginnings as a post-World War II hobby to its current resurgence as a collectible by enthusistic fans. The DVD includes the entire 30-minute episode of Toledo Stories featuring Dan Robbins. It features rare archival photographs and film footage, and includes interviews with paint by numbers artists, collectors and historians to illustrate how an artistic pastime became a fixture of American popular culture.

From the "Fad of the Fifties" ...to America icon...to treasured collectible...

MORE THAN JUST A GREAT BOOK ABOUT PAINT-BY-NUMBERS...it's about the beginning of the do-it-yourself era. A book all crafters should buy, read and sell to others.
Maurice Gherman, Publisher Emeritus, Hobby Publications

LONG OVERDUE...wonderful stuff from the man who was there.
Jack Mulqueen

A FAD SO CONTAGIOUS...that it amounted to a national mania. Robbins tells his story with verve and gusto...befitting the subject at hand.
Karal Ann Marling

READS LIKE A NOVEL...filled with wonderful 'real life' characters with love and pathos for all. It is not Neil Simon, but Robbins and Klein were definitely the 'Odd Couple' of the hobby and toy industry.
William Weller

WELCOME TO THE SMITHSONIAN...it is a manufacturing story, a marketing story, the making of business and cultural legend.
William L. Bird. Jr.

WARM, WITTY AND INSIGHTFUL...truth is stranger than fiction and in this case a whole lot funnier.
Micheal Browne

ART AND BUSINESS...came together in the 50's and the legend began...renewed in our minds by this wonderful memoir...
Diane Kolaczek Curran

Call it what you will...folk art, fad, fake or "kitsch." It really doesn't matter. Robbins tells us that a growing number of galleries and collectors are using terms like "treasured memorablia" to describe the growing interest in paint-by-numbers as collectibles. Once available in flea markets or thrift stores for just a few dollars, these paintings and sets are becoming harder and harder to find...and the price keeps going up. Is there a treasure in your attic?
To get your Autographed copy of my book or DVD, send $20 each...or $35 for both (plus postage) in a check or money order to:

Dan Robbins
7113 Creeks Crossing
West Bloomfield, MI 48322
To arrange a speaking engagement, interview or personal appearance:
Phone: (248) 737-4821 Fax: (248) 737-4867
E-mail: jrobb820@comcast.net

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