With Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of the well-loved novel in the spotlight, we’ve been admiring vintage 1920s illustrations and advertisements from the pages of The Saturday Evening Post.

Here’s a look at some of the Post‘s Gatsby-era artwork. For more original illustrations and beautiful cover images, check out Gatsby Girls, available for purchase in print and digital editions.

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Vintage Gatsby-Era Art The Saturday Evening Post

The devastating explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, happened 66 years after one of the nation’s worst industrial disasters—also caused by a fertilizer explosion. On April 16, 1947, more than 500 people were killed and 3,000 injured as a series of violent explosions and fires demolished the Gulf Coast seaport of Texas City, Texas.

The Post reported on the events leading to the explosion of the S.S. Grandcamp vessel; the minute-by-minute account of the terrible blast; and the legal battle that followed.

As in West, Texas, many of the firefighters were killed, and there is speculation that the volunteer firemen may not have known how to fight a fertilizer fire. The Post noted that although they knew how to fight ship fires, oil, benzol and propane fires, there was no general current knowledge that ammonium nitrate would explode.

It is impossible to estimate the force of the Grandcamp explosion, but it is difficult to exaggerate it. Terminal buildings ceased to exist. Monsanto’s warehouse—a steel-and-brick structure—was flattened. The main power plant was similarly crushed, and, as the blast fanned out, walls of manufacturing buildings fell, partitions shredded, pipelines carrying flammable liquids were torn apart. Two sightseeing light planes, 1,500 feet above the Grandcamp, were blown out of the air, with the loss of four lives. Windows in Galveston and Freeport were shattered; the explosion was felt in Palestine, Texas, 200 miles away.

Read more in “Death on the Water Front” by Milton MacKaye (October 26, 1957).

Fertilizer Explosions: What Have We Learned From Past Disasters? The Saturday Evening Post

Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player: “Some spectators are thoughtless and some greens are like peanut brittle.” (The Saturday Evening Post, April 13, 1963)

Legendary performers Jack Nicklaus (73), Arnold Palmer (83), and Gary Player (77) teed off for the 77th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club as honorary starters.

Fifty years ago, the Post interviewed the big three: Palmer was noted as the game’s acknowledged master; Player, the small, sensational South African; and Nicklaus, forecasted to be golf’s next superstar. In the April 13, 1963, article, the golfers discussed how the travel was endless, the pressure was fierce, but the money was great.

On the topic of the Masters, Nicklaus said, “There has never been a golf course in the history of the game that has suited a man more than Augusta National suits Arnie. Never! He’s got a four-stroke bloody advantage before we tee off. Almost every hole is a dogleg left.”

Read the full interview here.

Masters’ Champs Nicklaus, Palmer, and Player The Saturday Evening Post

Before and after.

I wanted to wake up to a little more sunshine each day. My solution? Adding a bold splash of yellow to the bedroom by refinishing an old dresser.

Painting furniture is an easy way to add a pop of color to any room. And if you live in a rental apartment or home, it saves you the hassle of painting—and repainting—the walls.

This DIY project is affordable, customizable, and easy to complete in a weekend.

Easy Furniture Makeover The Saturday Evening Post

As we honor the victims of Sept. 11, we are also reminded how our country came together to stand as one.

The Golden Rule
by Norman Rockwell
April 1, 1961

We love Norman Rockwell’s 1961 Post cover, The Golden Rule, which reflects that same sentiment. Each person depicted in this illustration is one of Rockwell’s neighbors from Arlington, Virginia, and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It represents the universal fact that all men, great or unknown, are members of one family.

After The Golden Rule appeared as a magazine cover, Rockwell was presented with the Interfaith Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, recognized for “his dedication to the highest ideals of amity, understanding, and cooperation among men.”

Remembering Sept. 11 The Saturday Evening Post