Amos Sewell Space TravellerNovember 8, 1952

Children of Invention

You may recall Rutherford B. Hayes’ comment after making the first ever presidential phone call on Alexander Graham Bell’s new telephone. “An amazing invention,” he said, “but who would ever want to use one?”

Our cover artists, quite inventive in their own right, have been chronicling America’s quirky new devices for decades. In observing our reactions to them, they have shown we are all pretty much like kids with new toys (with the exception of Rutherford B. Hayes, that is). It’s the kids, however, who take to the “new” at lightning speed, be it telephones, computers, or e-books. They garner new technologies for their own use, leaving their clueless elders far behind. And kids are inventive, too. But look out when they start thinking they are Henry Ford, the Wright brothers, or Alfred Nobel (inventor of dynamite). Kids in inventor mode, our artists suggest, can sometimes be unsettling.

: Burt Glinn
September 14, 1963

: Jack Welch
Artist in the Bathtub
August 14, 1950

: Amos Sewell
Space Traveller
November 8, 1952

: John Falter
Learning to Fly
November 8, 1952

: Thornton Utz
Stealing Cake at Grownups Party
September 10, 1960

: William Meade Prince
August 16, 1924

Contributing writer: Joan SerVaas.

1 Comment

August 24, 2009

One Comment ( Post a Comment )

Jay Dunlap

Posted November 3, 2009 at 2:21 pm | Permalink

I am interested in the covers of the Saturday Evening Post that John Falter of Falls City, Nebraska painted One particuliar painting I own it is a threshing harvest picture where the crew is eating at the house and in the background the threshing machine is operating. You can see the wheat field. I wonder if this painting was ever used as a cover of the Post. I grew up in the 30′s and 40′s and my family were great fans of the Saturday Evening Post. If you could give me some insite on this particuliar cover I would greatly appreciate it. Jay Dunlap

Artists

America’s Artist

Norman Rockwell didn’t create his celebrated images using only brush and paint. They often took shape first as scenes that Rockwell literally acted out. Showing their appreciation for his storytelling talents, film directors George Lucas and Steven Spielberg share their private Rockwell collections with the Smithsonian for the upcoming exhibit Telling Stories.

April 5, 2010 | Read more »

Dogs Hate School!

If there’s anything I’ve learned from studying hundreds of magazine covers for the Post and Country Gentleman, a sister publication, it is that dogs hate school! If you’re bummed about returning to school, you’re not the only one.

August 28, 2010 | Read more »

Excuse My Dust! The Art of Speeding

So you’re feeling sorry for yourself because you got a speeding ticket. Well, maybe it will help to know that speeding is nothing new. Okay, maybe it won’t help, but you’ll have a great time looking at these old Post and Country Gentleman covers.

August 21, 2010 | Read more »

August Cool-Down

Is there any relief from this heat? Yes! It’s August, and the dog days of summer are upon us, but we found delightful covers from 1912 to 1955 showing ways to get wet and cool down. We wouldn’t recommend all of them.

August 14, 2010 | Read more »

Leading Men

Sure, 1960's and 70's covers depicted the Vietnam War and politics. But happily, on occasion, a celebrity showed up. Last week, it was leading ladies. This week, celebrity covers showing some of the hottest male actors of the 1960s and 70s. We'll call them our "leading men."

August 7, 2010 | Read more »