Washington Crossing the Delaware

It is daunting to consider the work realist painter Stevan Dohanos put into this painting. Reproducing images of over a dozen students (and their teacher) with meticulous detail should have been artistic challenge enough, but duplicating Emanuel Leutze’s famous 1850 painting is mind-boggling.

Much has been criticized about Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware: “The crossing was at night (not daytime)”; “That particular version of the flag came later”; and “Washington was only in his 40s and not the elderly man we see here”; to name a few. While the historical inconsistencies are worth noting, the huge 21-by-12-foot painting of that 1776 Christmas night is still a magnificent accomplishment and a tribute to a critical turning point in American history. The painting today is part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

From 1942 to 1958 Dohanos painted 123 Post covers, which can be viewed in our online gallery or at art.com.

First Farmer of the Land

N.C. Wyeth was described in a 2011 Post article by Edgar Allen Beem as “a larger-than-life figure, a swashbuckler of a man whose dramatic illustrations fired the imaginations of generations of readers.” This portrait of Washington was Wyeth’s last work. Country Gentleman editors noted in 1946, “He was working on it at the time of his tragic death at a grade [train] crossing last fall. It is, therefore, an unfinished work. We preferred to have you see it this way than let some lesser artist finish it.”

Wyeth, who had used George Washington as a subject several times, was a natural choice to illustrate the article about the farming habits of the former president. “Mr. Wyeth did exhaustive research on Washington’s farming operations so that this picture might be accurate in every detail,” editors noted. Those details clearly include the depiction of slave labor, a factor not addressed in the article, which concentrates on the minutiae of crops and agriculture. According to the article, Washington was so thorough in his farming procedures that he was determined to find out how many seeds of various cereals were in a pound in order to calculate how many pounds to sew per acre. He carefully counted 8,925 barley seeds per pound; 71,000 seeds of red clover; and 298,000 of timothy (this was before the days of grain estimates.)

George Washington and W.W.I Soldiers

Five of J.C. Leyendecker’s 322 Post covers were portraits of George Washington. His July 1927 cover (George Washington on Horseback) shows a magnificent Washington on horseback in full command of the Revolutionary forces.

This 1917 cover shows the general astride his horse for a latter-day conflict. The United States was involved in World War I and for the Fourth of July holiday, Leyendecker evoked the spirit of the Revolutionary War hero to guide modern-day soldiers through the latest conflict. It was a stirring patriotic scene at yet another critical time in U.S. history.

Father and Time

No real farmer sees a clock at this advanced hour. Editors of Country Gentleman, from the same publisher as the Post, said of this 1946 painting, “Griffith may have been thinking of his own design for living when he painted this nine-o’clock farmer.” Echoed the artist: “I am originally from Nashville, Tennessee, and was brought up under the quaint old Southern theory that nothing is quite as important as a man’s politics, hot buttermilk biscuits, and plenty of sleep.”

This cover is one of seven Griffith did for Country Gentleman and the weather-hardened farmer with a soft spot for animals is reminiscent of Rockwell’s beloved Farmer and the Bird (below).

Farmer and the Bird

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) was a New York City slicker who loved depicting the ideal rural life. Notable among his country scenes were the 15 covers of Cousin Reginald, a city boy visiting his country cousins, that the artist did for our sister publication, Country Gentleman.

The contrast between the ruggedness of the farmer and his gentleness with the fledgling make this 1923 cover an endearing work. “If you are interested in the characters that you draw,” Rockwell said, “and understand them and love them, why, the person who sees your picture is bound to feel the same way.”

Basket of Kittens in the Barn

This 1924 cover of a farmer’s predicament was typical of the lighthearted themes depicted by artist Reginald Bolles (1877-1967). This was one of four Country Gentleman covers by the Cape Cod native who also did one Saturday Evening Post cover. In addition to book illustrations, Bolles also illustrated covers for Modern Priscilla (1887-1930), a women’s publication.

Snowy Farm Scene

Far-flung relatives begin gathering for the holidays in this cheerful 1953 cover by Charlotte Joan Sternberg (1920-2003). Charming scenes of the New England countryside were a common theme for this Connecticut-born artist, but this farm was really close to home.

Her neighbor, dairyman Clayton Robert Hall, whose family had farmed the 140 acres near Meriden since the early 1800s, guided the artist through the farm, which she began to paint the previous summer when the surrounding landscape was still green. The photo below shows the artist and farmer, along with a couple of disinterested cows, consulting on the illustration destined to become a magazine cover.

Best known for her Americana landscapes, many of which can be viewed at The Art of Charlotte Joan Sternberg website; she was a successful commercial artist and painted portraits, including one of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Winter Wonderland

Of winter’s lifeless world each tree now seems a perfect part;
Yet each one holds summer’s secret deep down within its heart.
—Charles G. Slater

This scene with its impressionistic, stark, winter trees is an inside illustration from Country Gentleman, a sister magazine of The Saturday Evening Post. The artist, Walter Emerson Baum (1884-1956), was born in Sellersville, Pennsylvania, and painted many landscapes of his home state. He is particularly known for his rugged work ethic; he frequently painted outdoors, even as winter storms raged.

Baum, in addition to illustrating and producing fine art, was an art teacher in Allentown, Pennsylvania, from 1926 to 1956. He was also a writer, a columnist for the Sellersville Herald and eventually he became the paper’s editor. He wrote the book Two Hundred Years, a history of the Pennsylvania Germans in his hometown.

Tumble from Sled

This Dominice Cammerota illustration shows the fun side of winter. The artist painted two more Post covers, also of women enjoying seasonal pastimes: a summer sunbather reading the paper on her rooftop (August 3, 1940) and a springtime gardener in a wheelbarrow (May 10, 1941). If only there was a fall cover to complete the set.

Interestingly in this issue, which went to press while Gone With the Wind was captivating Americans in the theater, an editorial offered up the fate of a fraudulent manuscript purportedly written by Margaret Mitchell, whose book the movie was based on. The editorial included the first paragraph of the 50-page manuscript, noted that the editor had contacted the real Margaret Mitchell, and advised readers: “We’re holding the manuscript,” then asked, “Would the author like to collect it?” Not surprisingly, there were no takers.

No School Today

We don’t know how far this young man trudged through the snow to get to school, but it was all for naught. The sign on the door says it all. This 1923 cover was typical of the humorous, homespun style of Angus MacDonall (1876-1927) who did 21 covers for sister magazines, The Saturday Evening Post and Country Gentleman. He was a cartoonist and illustrator for Life for many years and contributed artwork to other publications such as Harper’s and Ladies’ Home Journal.

MacDonall came from St. Louis but eventually moved to the seaside town of Westport, Connecticut, where he helped establish it as an art colony. Among its list of famous residents throughout the 20th century are Post artist Stevan Dohanos, American author F. Scott Fitgerald, and actor Paul Newman.

Herding in Winter Storm

Matt Clark (1903-1972) and his brother Benton, also an illustrator of Western art, came from a Coshocton, Ohio, family whose lives revolved around horses. Both artists were inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2008. The society, in describing the brothers’ similar styles, summed up this 1944 cover aptly: “Not reliant on close-ups or facial expression to express the emotions of the characters, they used the attitudes or the actions of whole figures to describe their relationships. That also included the settings—letting the landscape play a role.”

The Clark brothers did more than 100 illustrations for fiction in The Saturday Evening Post, and Matt Clark created six Western or rural-themed covers for Country Gentleman magazine.

Snow on the Farm

“My approach was to look for human interest subjects and then try to place them in a proper setting to fit the idea,” illustrator John Clymer (1907-1989) said. The children (along with cat and dog) playing in the snow in this 1956 cover are all but overwhelmed by the beautiful landscape. Clymer could say what he liked about his human subjects, but his landscapes always dominated the 80 covers the artist did for the Post.

Painting covers for The Saturday Evening Post was a career highlight for any illustrator, but they often learned the hard way about accuracy, as Clymer told art historian Walt Reed in John Clymer, an Artist’s Rendezvous with the Frontier West: “There was only one drawback about doing covers for the Post. They went everywhere in the country, and because I picked and painted actual places, there would be several hundred people who lived nearby who’d scrutinize every detail to try to find something wrong. There would always be someone like a telephone lineman who’d write in and say, ‘I don’t think that was the kind of insulator they used in that area.’” But only once did Clymer have to correct a cover he submitted: “I sent in a picture that had an automobile in the foreground. I had completed everything, lights, chrome, trim, spokes, but forgot to paint the door handle.”

Romantic Skate

While searching the archives for holiday covers, we’ve come across many joyful Santas, bustling shoppers, and even post-holiday scenes. So, it’s not often that we find a romantic Christmas cover in the bunch, but this 1937 illustration by Manning de Villeneuve Lee (1894-1980) fills the bill admirably.

At the time this sentimental cover was created, the artist and his wife (Eunice Celeste Sandoval) had been married for 25 years. Together they created children’s books; Manning Lee did the illustration and his wife wrote them (under the pen name Tina Lee). They also created artwork for Jack and Jill, a children’s magazine from the same publisher as The Saturday Evening Post and Country Gentleman magazines.

Main Street at Christmas

From the 1920s through the 1940s, Helck was a successful magazine illustrator and advertising artist, writes Timothy Helck, a grandson of the artist, who maintains a website dedicated to his grandfather. The website shows examples of Peter Helck’s work, including complex industrial scenes for National Steel and beautifully executed automotive paintings done for Esquire magazine in 1944.

Helck created two other covers for Country Gentleman; both, appropriately designed for the rural American magazine, were farm scenes. He did 20 illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post, and many of these were for fictional stories on auto racing. Helck, who grew up in the late 1890s and had followed auto racing since its infancy, authored and co-wrote several books and numerous articles on the subject. Some are still available today, including 1961’s The Checkered Flag and Great Auto Races and Grand Prizes from 1976. The Grand Prix History website gives an interesting overview of Helck’s lifelong involvement with the sport.

Drum for Tommy

Norman Rockwell did 35 Country Gentleman covers between 1917 and 1922. One reason he stopped in 1922 was the high demand for his work, a heady situation for an artist only in his mid-20s. In addition to The Saturday Evening Post covers (between 6 and 18 per year during the 1920s) and inside illustrations for Ladies’ Home Journal, Rockwell had a growing stable of advertising clients, including Interwoven Socks, Jell-O, and Edison Mazda Lamps, among several others. In the 1920s, he also began illustrating calendars for Boy Scouts of America, the beginning of a 50-year relationship with that organization.

Although his Santa covers for The Saturday Evening Post (which started the year after this 1921 cover) became classics, this jolly old elf is less well known. It is the only Country Gentleman Rockwell Santa.

Baby’s First Christmas

Artist Haddon Sundblom (1899-1976), who was born in Michigan to a Swedish family, was best known for the classic Santa Claus he painted for Coca-Cola ads from the 1930s through the 1960s, he was also well recognized for pin-up art in calendars. In fact, his last assignment was a Playboy cover in 1972.

Because of the popularity of his later work, it is easy to forget Sundblom did anything in his pre-Coca-Cola days. But his earlier work, like this 1929 Country Gentleman cover, “Baby’s First Christmas,” should be remembered for its impressionistic style. His technique was inspired by, among others, artists Howard Pyle and John Singer Sargent, and is described on Leif Peng’s blog as “first stroke,” using the fewest strokes possible to depict a subject. Peng shows several beautiful examples of Sundblom’s paintings using this technique.

Simeon and the Christ Child

In the Gospel of Luke, God promised Simeon, a righteous and devout man, that before his death, he would see the Christ child. Simeon took the child into his arms and blessed him. From Rembrandt to children’s illustrators, the biblical scene of Simeon and the Christ child has had many manifestations. We recently discovered this image in our archives from the December 1921 Ladies’ Home Journal.

This beautiful rendition of Simeon is by Marion Boyd Allen (1862-1941). Also well established as a portrait painter, Allen preferred the vertical format to horizontal, even for nature scenes. The website McDougall Fine Arts shares an intriguing story about Allen’s landscape painting.

Teddy the Pumpkin

Theodore Roosevelt was the U.S. president from 1901-1909. Yet in 1912, when this J.C. Leyendecker cover (left) appeared, Roosevelt was still a force of nature. That same year, he had a falling out with former good friend and then-President William Howard Taft and decided to challenge him in the upcoming election. The Republican bigwigs favored Taft though people like this youngster said “Bully!” for Roosevelt.

Halloween, 1904

In the 1930s, Anne Estelle Rice (1877-1959) left illustration and began a career designing operatic sets and costumes in London. But her passion for theater was showcased in her illustrations, such as the 1904 cover (left). Rice often drew figures in theatrical costumes and settings. This cover is one of three she did for the Post; the contour lines and simple details shown in the uncomplicated silhouette are definitive of her style.

Woman in Masquerade Costume

An invalid as a child, Charles Allan Gilbert (1873-1929) drew pictures to entertain himself. He officially took up the study of art at age 16, and at 21 he studied for a year at the Académie Julian in Paris, where greats such as J.C. Leyendecker were trained.

Gilbert chose beautiful, buxom women as subjects, much like his contemporaries: Charles Dana Gibson and Howard Chandler Christy. Besides four covers for the Post, Gilbert illustrated books, posters, and calendars, but his work is often overlooked for the one image he is best remembered for: The intriguing 1892 double image called All is Vanity.

Looking for Future Husband

German-born Frederick Lowenheim (1870–1929) was a storybook illustrator in the early 1900s. Like his book illustrations, Lowenheim’s 15 covers for Country Gentleman were often scenes depicting children in amusing situations, such as the Halloween prank on the October 28, 1922, cover (left).

A poem from an early 1900s postcard explains the girl’s horrified expression: “On Hallowee’n look in the glass, Your future husband’s face will pass.”

Halloween Fiddler

Norman Rockwell painted 35 covers for Country Gentleman, which like The Saturday Evening Post, was published by Curtis Publishing Company. Known as “a journal for the farm, the garden, and the fireside,” Country Gentleman‘s content included farm news, gardening and canning advice, and fiction.

Most of Rockwell’s covers for the farm centric magazine centered around a character he created: city-slicker Reginald, who visits his country cousins frequently, only to be made the butt of their jokes.

In the 1921 Halloween cover (left), however, Rockwell shows us a more peaceable side to country living.

Sleeping Farmer

This landscape from 1947 was about as sentimental as artist John Atherton got. Most of his 47 Saturday Evening Post covers were still life studies, or a factory, a grain elevator, etc. He detested human-interest or sentimental covers.

Once he asked his friend Norman Rockwell what he was working on. “Oh, you don’t want to know, Jack,” Rockwell replied. Atherton insisted until a very reluctant Rockwell spilled the sappy details of a painting for a Boy Scout calendar where the boys are looking reverently at a cloudy image of George Washington praying. “Jack grunted horribly and grabbed at his back, twisting about in his chair as if he’d been stabbed,” Rockwell recalled. “But Jack was deeply loyal. If anyone else disparaged my work, he’d light into them.” Atherton knew what he was good at and that nobody was better than Rockwell at what he did.

Surveying the Cow Pasture

It is intimidating to have several large beasts staring at you while you work. Fortunately, despite their full-sized figures, they tend to be gentle animals. The surveyor’s biggest fear should be stepping in a cow pie.

Artist Amos Sewell illustrated 45 Saturday Evening Post covers, and well over a hundred fictional stories within the magazine.

Yakima River Cattle Roundup

“When I got into my early teens, like all boys, I got to wondering what in the world could I do to make a living and live in the mountains? One day I got to thinking about it and thought, That’s it! I’ll paint pictures and then I can live wherever I want to live,” said John Clymer. Where he lived as a boy was not far from this view of the Yakima River in Washington.

For 20 years, from 1942 to 1962, Clymer illustrated nearly 90 Post covers, most of them scenic and many, like this one from 1958, pretty enough to momentarily take your breath away. He and his father did not round up cattle as we see here, but editors inform us that they did fish the Yakima “for trout and, furthermore, caught some.”

Slow Mooving Traffic

Well, this is disruptive. One might say—all together now—udder chaos. Artist Ben Prins got the idea for this illustration, which was his first Post cover, because he had been in a similar situation where he “performed heroically as one of the toreadors,” claimed Post editors.

Little Cowboy Takes a Licking

The little cowpoke is certainly dressed for the part, but we wonder if he will ever be a hardcore ranch hand. This 1938 cover was by our most prolific artist, J.C. Leyendecker. He illustrated Post covers over a remarkable time span, from 1899 to 1943, often sumptuous and elaborate art of elegant ladies or gentlemen. So it comes as a delightful surprise when we find the artist’s humorous side.

Shoo the Moos

Before dragging grandma and baby through the barbed-wire fence, dad might want to wait and see if the cows will cooperate and vacate this ideal picnic spot (click on the artwork for a larger image).

Post editors noted that the bovines were not all that obliging when artist Stevan Dohanos was painting this 1950 cover. A cow aimed north by the local dairyman would stubbornly decide to go east or west. And as we can see, the white cow seems disinclined to move at all. This cover was painted in Westport, Connecticut, at the “Blue Ribbon Dairy Farm and Cow-Posing Academy.”

Post cover artist John Falter

“Nothing ever quenches the artist in him. … The world is his studio,” wrote The Saturday Evening Post in 1971 when artist John Falter came to visit.

While the Post‘s art director was preparing a portfolio of Falter paintings for that profile, intent over his drawing board, “he turned to find John scrunched down behind him, pencil in hand, sketching swiftly and surely.”

“Covered Bridge”

Unlike the art of Rockwell, Leyendecker and most Post artists, John Falter’s work was less about people and more about settings. It was all about perspective, and the paintings seemed to be from the viewpoint of a bird in a nearby tree.

The lettering on the bridge warned: “$5 Fine for Any Person Riding or Driving Over this Bridge Faster Than a Walk or Smoking Segars On.”

Hey, the artist didn’t write it, he just painted it.

Post editors speculated that maybe Falter should be fined $5 for letting that kid walk on the wall. We’ll not fine him this time, since we love how he captured this 1954 Pennsylvania scene, which makes the viewer long to be a kid on a lazy summer day, riding his bike and wading in the creek.

“Home From Vacation”

Our bird is looking down at a family returning from vacation in August 1952—and perhaps wishing they hadn’t. Not only is the lawn in desperate need of attention, but that little bird forgot to tell them to cancel the newspapers and milk (oh dear, how old is that milk?). While dragging out the mower, mister, you might want to get the ladder—it appears a couple of newspapers landed on the roof. But, be it ever so neglected, there’s no place like home.

An interesting tidbit from the Post article noted above was that Falter always painted from the south, so we are looking north. In this instance, the ominous northern sky greets the weary travelers with the news that they probably need not get the mower out just yet. One can only hope the house key isn’t at the bottom of a suitcase.

“Country Auction”

It looks like everything from farm implements to household goods are going in this country auction, including the neglected Victorian loveseat in the foreground, much to the dismay of the offended hen who was using it for nesting. This cheerful cover was surely a treat in 1944, when war news was everywhere, including inside this issue.

Born in 1910, Falter succeeded at a young age. He was landing prestigious assignments at magazines like McCall’s, Cosmopolitan and Life when he interrupted his career to enter the Navy during World War II. Promoted from boatswain to lieutenant, he designed over 300 posters and other materials for the Navy recruitment program.

It is interesting to compare these bucolic covers with Falter’s cityscapes, again from the bird’s eye view, which were covered in “Can You Guess the City?”

“Eighteenth Hole”

It is estimated that John Falter completed over 5,000 paintings. This is not all that surprising, said a 1991 Post article, considering that “Falter awoke every morning at 3 o’clock to concentrate on the work in progress, and that he painted until 5:30 p.m. six days a week.”

It is doubtful he had much time for such pastimes as golf. As much as he enjoyed the outdoors, clearly his passion was art. “It has to be a love affair every time,” Falter said. “If you aren’t in love with what you are trying to put on that canvas, you better quit”.

“Evening Picnic”

“Sometimes Nature rains on a picnic; sometimes she is just neutral; and sometimes, as in this mood caught by John Falter’s brush, she glories in the occasion herself, painting a magic sunset, smoothing the waterways into mirrors, tempering the temperature, even arranging for the watermelons to be at their most luscious ripeness.” Post editors in 1951 waxed poetic over this cover of an evening picnic.

The 1971 Post profile echoed, “Falter’s masterful treatment of light stems from the fact that he is a nature lover and happily gifted to reflect her moods.”

Nature continued to be a focus after his Post years (the magazine covers went from illustrations to photos in the 1960s). A 1991 Post article noted that one of his projects was “190 canvases of scenes depicting the western migration from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains.”

That love of nature lasted until his death in 1982, noted the article. “His ashes were cast into the mouth of the Platte River where they would flow down the Missouri—the setting of many of his historical paintings.”

“Soldier on Motorbike” by Lawrence Toney

Yes, motorcycles were used in World War I, as this 1917 Post cover indicates. The U.S. military used mainly Harley-Davidson or Indian bikes, and not surprisingly, the British used Triumph, while Germany used BMW motorbikes.

“The Army used an estimated 20,000 motorcycles during the war,” wrote Lisa Gregory in a 2003 issue of Soldiers Magazine. “In fact, the first American to enter Germany after the ceasefire was reported to be motorcycle dispatch rider Cpl. Roy Holz.”

In the first world war era you’d see motorcycles, cars, trucks, and airplanes juxtaposed with cavalry!

“Indian Bike Ad” – September 7, 1918

This 1918 Indian ad confirms that thousands of bikes were placed in the service of the Allied armies.

Indian states: “our factories are working night and day to supply the needs of Uncle Sam. … We feel sure that our civilian customers who have suffered delay by this condition will be patient until such time as we can resume our regular deliveries.”

“Indian Police Motorcycles” – February 15, 1913

Very early in motorbike history, police departments learned the advantage of their maneuverability and convenience. And supplying police and military became a competitive business early in the 20th century.

Although Harley-Davidson delivered a bike to the Detroit Police Department in 1908, this ad from a February 1913 issue of the Post shows the Detroit police with squad of Indian bikes.

Click here for a virtual museum on the history of motor law enforcement.

“Indian Motorcycle With Side Car” – May 9, 1914

This 1914 ad shows that bikes were not just for work. The ad says this motorcycle with sidecar has all the touring comfort and efficiency of an automobile at the cost of trolley fares.

“A spin on a summer’s evening. A weekend trip. A coast-to-coast tour,” the ad rhapsodizes. Well, I don’t see that last one happening on 1914 roads, but we get the idea.

“Yale Bike Ad” – November 2, 1907

The first motorcycle ads in the Post appeared in 1907—105 years ago! This ad appeared in November of that year for a 1908 Yale California advertised for $200. It is difficult to imagine how many folks could afford that kind of outlay, which would be around $5,000 in today’s dollars.

“Tex’s Motorcycle” by Stevan Dohanos

We showed this cover last year in a piece about illustrator Stevan Dohanos. See more of his work in The Great Covers of Stevan Dohanos.

Mil Blair, an expert at bike building, restored the Harley-Davidson. Blair saw the bike on the Post cover when he was 11 years old and fell in love with it, undoubtedly like every other boy who saw that issue. But wait until you see it today!

“Tex’s Motorcycle”

What are the chances of a long-time staffer for The Saturday Evening Post running across a motorcycle made famous by that 1951 Post cover…literally right down the street? The Post’s Dwight Lamb is a frequent visitor to the beautiful Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis. Although the Eiteljorg is known for a superb collection of Indian and Western art, the museum was having a display of classic, outlandish or otherwise unique motorcycles. Lamb was stunned when he turned a corner and saw this big, blue…and oddly familiar bike. And yes, motorcycle buffs, Mil Blair, who restored this beauty, rode this classic to the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

“Lunchtime at the Grocery” by Albert W. Hampson

The grocery cart was only a three-year-old invention when this 1940 cover was painted. Invented in 1937, the “double basket” didn’t immediately catch on. People were used to carrying a woven basket, but to women the cart seemed a bit much. Older people were afraid they’d appear feeble and men wanted to appear manly, as if handling a few groceries were no big deal. The inventor of the cart, Sylvan Goldman, finally hired models of all ages and both sexes to shop, using the cart. It caught on enough by 1940, that a Saturday Evening Post cover featured the now ubiquitous baskets on wheels.

“Thoughtful Shopper” by Norman Rockwell

Before the days of the shopping cart, grocers went around the store fetching items according to your list. According to Norman Rockwell’s 1924 cover, sometimes they had to do so much more. The gentleman in this painting was J. L. Malone, who appeared in at least one other Rockwell cover. The artist appreciated Malone’s reading voice and the model sometimes read aloud for hours while Rockwell worked on an illustration such as this. The usual fare? Classic Dickens.

“Penny Candy” by Frances Tipton Hunter

No one promised the grocer an exciting career. Even the dog has fallen asleep while the children try to decide which candy to get. In 1939, a penny was a lot to a little kid. For more covers by Frances Tipton Hunter — guaranteed sweeter than penny candy — see The Art of Frances Tipton Hunter.

“Grocery Line” by Stevan Dohanos

As sure as you just want to pay a bite to eat and get on with your day, a slow-moving line looms ahead. Artist Stevan Dohanos had everything he needed in this painting except for just the right guy to portray the stalled shopper. To heck with it; the artist just went ahead with his summer vacation in Martha’s Vineyard. There he spotted a fellow vacationer in shorts and a fishing hat, yelled, “Hey, wait!” and proceeded to explain his Saturday Evening Post cover predicament. Sure, I’ll pose, the stranger said, and headed home to put on his city clothes. The man, H.R. Knickerbocker, was already known as an illustrious war correspondent, but now he was immortalized on a Post cover. The shopping carts are unique, quite different from the below cover from three years later.

“More Money, Honey” by George Hughes

This 1951 cover with the sleek metal cart looks more like today’s groceries, except perhaps for the milk bottles and the gentleman’s fedora. Oh, and the fact that she’s using a strange thing called cash rather than a credit or debit card.

“Babies and Bananas” by Stevan Dohanos

This is not an example of how a grocery store operates these days, but this 1952 cover is a fine example of why artist Stevan Dohanos is a Post favorite. Dohanos had done some farm scene murals for the grocery store and decided to use the actual grocer in a painting destined for The Saturday Evening Post. The artist just happened to have a cute baby to use for the cover — his own little tyke, Tony.

“April Showers” by J.C. Leyendecker

This 1919 cover shows a lady prepared for a downpour, but not everyone is ready for the worst.

“Baseball Rained Out” by Charles A. MacLellan

Game called on account of wetness. The artist, Charles A. MacLellan, did almost fifty Saturday Evening Post covers and this 1917 one is a treat.

“Commuters in the Rain” by John Falter

Making a run for it in 1961 are these commuters rushing from the train. Why does the rain on the plains fall mainly when we detrain? This was by one of our favorite cover artists, John Falter, who cheated: he painted the railroad station in Gynedd Valley, PA while it was sunny and dry.

“Cub Scouts in Phone Booth” by Richard Sargent

Somehow on their country hike, these Cub Scouts were able to use their tracking skills to find a phone booth. “We realize this is an awfully small Cub pack,” Post editors wrote, “but artist Dick Sargent simply couldn’t pack any more boys into the booth.” Good luck finding a phone booth these days, but this cover was from 1961.

“Flat Tire, Flat Evening” by Ellen Pyle

It’s raining, you are in formal wear, and a tire goes flat – anything else? Oh yes, the nearest garage is five miles away. This 1934 cover is a unique one for delightful artist Ellen Pyle; most of her Post covers were of adorable children or young ladies.

“Splashed” by John LaGatta

Stylish, willowy ladies and gorgeous colors – it must be the work of artist John LaGatta. But as we learned from the cover above, being elegantly attired tempts fate. What can be more of an affront than looking urbane and polished and getting splashed by a passing car? We have an answer below. (See more of The Elegant Art of John LaGatta.)

“Muddied by Dry Cleaning Truck” by Stevan Dohanos

Adding insult to wetness, these pedestrians are getting soiled by, what else? A dry-cleaning truck. Ever the realist, artist Stevan Dohanos followed delivery trucks around Bridgeport, Connecticut for a while in order to study “splash detail.” Once he got the technique, that twisted humor that afflicted so many of our fine cover artists kicked in and he decided to paint a truck delivering clean laundry. We’re sure it was a driver oversight and not an attempt to drum up business. For more wonderful art by this artist, see “The Great Covers of Stevan Dohanos.”

“Queen of Spring”

We’re celebrating the spring birthday of our most prolific cover artist with three very different springtime covers. This 1931 cover we call “Queen of Spring” is what J.C. Leyendecker was known for: an elaborate tapestry of a painting, lush in detail.

“Ready for Spring Cleaning”

Leyendecker (March 23, 1874-July 25, 1951) also painted delightful character covers, such as this very different spring queen: a take-no-prisoners woman from 1937 ready for spring cleaning.

Norman Rockwell stopped at 321 Post covers out of deference to the artist he idolized, J.C. Leyendecker, who painted 322. “Between 1900 and 1945, Joe Leyendecker painted like a machine gun,” state Lawrence S. Cutler and Judy Goffman Cutler in their 2008 book about Leyendecker.

“Two Children with Easter Flowers”

Leyendecker was adept at sweet depictions of children, like these two from 1908, all dressed-up for Easter.

Leyendecker painted covers for a number of magazines in addition to the Post, but perhaps ironically, he is best remembered as the illustrator who created the handsome “Arrow Collar Man.” But from 1899 all the way through two world wars, he created a glorious body of work for The Saturday Evening Post for which we are most grateful.

“Fixing a Flat” by Norman Rockwell

How to put together a cover for The Saturday Evening Post: First, get an idea and run it by the art director for approval. Second, find the setting for the scene. Locating a ramshackle cabin in Vermont proved difficult, so Rockwell found a nicely kept hunting lodge and, to say the least, took liberties.

Next, borrow a couple of goats from a neighbor. Finally, choose your models. The lazy, good-for-nothing onlooker on the porch was a friend of the artist who was nothing like the shiftless character portrayed here. The young ladies were daughters of friend and fellow cover artist, Mead Schaeffer. And the landscape? It sprang from the imagination and palette of the artist. “You just couldn’t make it look like Vermont,” Rockwell said, “because in Vermont, they’d yelp.”

“Convention” by Norman Rockwell

Rockwell liked faces with “character,” so this pretty young lass is atypical of his models. The scene is somewhat atypical as well—a big city convention. First jobs often consist of being a babysitter or a soda jerk, but a coat rack? Can she remember which black umbrella went with which gentleman?

“The Charwomen” by Norman Rockwell

Certainly Rockwell was loved for his paintings of children, but what other illustrator would think of painting two elderly charwomen? Typical Rockwell touches include the minute detail of the patterns on the aprons, a well-worn mop handle, and an environment less than “perfect”—a little debris here and there. That was part of Rockwell’s brilliance—so many artists “cleaned up” the setting, even of kids playing outside.

The ladies in question were well-respected neighbors of the artist, who had reservations about posing as cleaning ladies. Rockwell convinced them they were only acting, and they played their roles very well. They were delighted with the result and said they would pose any time without arguing about the roles to be played. It wasn’t always thus. One matron was “Rockwellized” as a portly maid and never spoke to him again.

“The Flirts” by Norman Rockwell

A gorgeous blonde in a convertible? How can it not be love at first sight? Stopped at a red light (which we see reflected in the truck’s mirror), a trucker picks petals to determine if “she loves me” or “she loves me not.” A few questions spring to mind: why did the guy just happen to have a daisy on hand, and how did the lady keep her hat on—never mind her hair perfect—driving an open car? And why, oh why have people complained that this cover is an example of sexual harassment? Oh, please! It’s clearly all in the spirit of fun! (Geez, I thought the blonde in the convertible needed to lighten up…)

Two unique things about this cover: This was the first cover where the artist just used his streamlined initials instead of his full name, and Rockwell played with the masthead as part of the truck signage.

“The Decorator” by Norman Rockwell

Another cover that doesn’t look “like a Rockwell.” Hubby’s favorite chair may be in for a bit of spring brightening up, and he may not be pleased with the idea. Or maybe he just wants to enjoy his sports page and pipe in peace.

“First Evening Gown” by Norman Rockwell

Far from home in Vermont in late 1948, Rockwell rented a studio while visiting sunny California. Only it wasn’t. That particular winter was rainy, and the poor natural lighting in the studio frustrated the artist to the point that he kept taking this painting into the men’s room to review it in better light. The result, despite the problems, is a delightful bobby soxer checking out her first gown. Somewhere there must be a mother grateful to see the dungarees, loafers and socks disappear, if only for an evening.

“Second Thoughts” from August 16, 1947

Norman Rockwell painted many Saturday Evening Post covers featuring kids in everyday situations, beginning in 1916. Still going strong in the 1940s, the artist remained a master at capturing youth.

“Second Thoughts” from August 16, 1947

Striving for realism, Rockwell took a long board and stuck it out of a second story window. Then he told son Peter, “I want you to crawl out onto that board and look scared.” Rockwell models became adept at acting a part. Peter was not acting; he was terrified.

“We’re all on diving boards, hundreds of times during our lives,” Steven Spielberg said in a 2010 article in The Oregonian. “Taking the plunge or pulling back from the abyss…is something that we must face. For me, that painting represents every motion picture just before I commit to directing it—just that one moment, before I say, ‘Yes, I’m going to direct that movie.” Hmm, maybe we should all have this one on our walls.

“The Census Taker” from April 27, 1940

In 1790 the U.S. Government decreed that a census be taken every ten years to keep track of the ever-populating land called America. In 1940, this census taker shows up with his big black book to interview an ever-populating housewife. She appears to be much like the old woman who lived in a shoe, with so many children she didn’t know…how to recall all their birth dates. Or perhaps she’s even trying to remember just how many cute little red-haired moppets there are!

“Home From Camp” from August 24, 1940

Just as they do today, droves of youngsters in the 1940s made their way to camps for an outdoor adventure. This particular one came home with everything except the cabin, making it a perfect vehicle for Rockwell’s passion for detail. She seems sad to leave the friends she made and get back to real life, where it remains to be seen if Mom and Dad will go along with the critters she collected.

“Devil May Care” from March 21, 1942

Rockwell and his wife were not blessed with girls, so the artist must have located a young lady’s vanity among his neighbors. The background is even pink to emphasize that this is girl territory. Rockwell did have three boys, however, and this was one of them. If young Tommy Rockwell did have a sister, no doubt the little scamp would be having a ball sneaking a peek at her diary for the juicy stuff.

“Cover Girl” from March 1, 1941

People often call after finding old issues of the Post, thinking they’ve uncovered a gold mine. They often forget that for many decades, it was printed by the millions, and then the would-be nouveau riche take our advice and troll the Internet for sites that sell vintage magazines. They are disappointed to find an issue they thought was old (1940s, for example) may go anywhere from $4.95 to $25.00. On occasion, up to $75.00. With the exception of this issue.

Sure it has an adorable Rockwell cover, but that isn’t why this is the most sought-after issue of the Post. If you can find it, be prepared to pay over $1,000 because of its rarity. And the rarity is because of the groundbreaking Jack Alexander story, “Alcoholics Anonymous.” AA had been showing striking success in the past six years (since its founding in 1935) in achieving sobriety for the “medically helpless.” Thousands of reprints were requested and the article was key to spreading the idea that alcoholism is a disease rather than a character flaw. (Read more about the “Alcoholics Anonymous” article here.)

Groundbreaking story and issue rarity aside, back to our man Rockwell with his Saturday Evening Post cover-within-a-Post-cover. Leave it to Norman to show how yellow socks and scuffed oxfords contrast with perfect make-up and a sophisticated chapeau.