Overheard Lovers

Overheard Lovers
Norman Rockwell
November 21, 1936

Even the most bookish gent can find real life more intriguing than the printed word. This fun but often overlooked 1936 cover is a good example of Norman Rockwell’s droll sensibilty. The set-up was simple: two plain park benches, a disinterested pooch and no background scene to detract from our bookworm’s delightful expression. Rockwell often painted dogs, but it was usually the same spotted mutt that fit in well with his active freckle-faced kids. At one point Post publisher, George Horace Lorimer, asked the artist, “Why do you always use the same mutt in your covers?” Rockwell replied, “I have a good dog and he’s a good model, and I use him because it’s easier.” However, here he used a small, well-dressed breed to go with its rather foppish master.

Fall Gossip Session

Fall Gossip Session
Constantin Alajalov
November 7, 1953

Love is “a condition brought by spring, the glory of autumn, the humidity of summer, winter’s exhilaration or paralysis, and other odd manifestations of nature,” noted Post editors of this 1953 cover. In this quaint autumn painting, artist Constantin Alajalov (1900-1987) focused on three neighbors who seem quite fascinated by a budding romance. A refugee from the Russian Revolution, Alajalov arrived in New York in 1923 and worked his way up painting murals in restaurants to his first New Yorker cover within three years. He painted 73 Post covers from 1945 to 1962.

Eavesdropping on Love

Eavesdropping on Love
Amos Sewell
August 13, 1960

Words of love are in the air, and Post editors speculated they went something like this: “It seems like we’re alone on a desert island. Just you and me and the sun and the surf.” But the lovebirds on Amos Sewell’s 1960 cover have company. “There’s another young couple in the vicinity,” editors noted, “and this mushy discussion positively fractures them.”

The need for cover illustration was waning in the early 1960s, as the Post was going with photographs in order to modernize the magazine’s look. Amos Sewell, who illustrated the first of his 45 covers in 1949, created his final one in 1962. During the ’40s and ’50s, Sewell also produced hundreds of story illustrations for the Post and its sister publication, The Country Gentleman.

Classic Covers: Romance is in the Air The Saturday Evening Post

“I love you just the way you are … and as soon as you give up smoking, drinking and those morons you call friends, I’ll love you even more.”

November/December 1990

“Zip.”

March 1952

“The plot’s thickening!”

March 1952

“I’ll be quiet as a mouse.”

March 1952

“Now, I really enjoyed that—pity Mary Jane isn’t at home to enjoy it too!”

May 1952

“REFRESHMENTS!”

December 1952

Cartoons: Young Lovers The Saturday Evening Post

“God Bless You” by Norman Rockwell

"God Bless You"
by Norman Rockwell
From October 1, 1921

The road to courtship and romance is sometimes a bumpy one, as artists from the Post and sister publication Country Gentleman have shown in these covers from 1914 – 1956.

“Schoolboy Crush” by Charles A. MacLellan

"Schoolboy Crush"
by Charles A. MacLellan
From January 17, 1914

Poor Red! From 1914, this is one of nearly fifty covers that artist Charles A. MacLellan did for the Post. And like this one, many of them resemble Rockwell’s work.

“My Secret Valentine” by Henry Hintermeister

"My Secret Valentine"
by Henry Hintermeister
From February 1, 1938

The look on her face says it all: she has poured her heart out in a Valentine to a special boy, and he’s sending one to every girl in town! This adorable 1938 cover was on our sister publication, Country Gentleman.

“ God Bless You” by Norman Rockwell

"God Bless You"
by Norman Rockwell
From October 1 1921)

Just when you are making romantic progress, you find you are not alone. The snooping brother was not an uncommon theme for covers, and this one from 1921 was by Norman Rockwell.

“First Valentine” by Richard Sargent

"First Valentine"
by Richard Sargent
From February 11, 1956

Great cover artist Dick Sargent captured the look on this young man’s face perfectly: he is dealing with new feelings (didn’t he hate girls just last week?) and he is a little embarrassed. The colorful Valentine cover is from 1956.

“Two Boys Bringing Girl Ice Cream” by George Brehm

"Two Boys Bringing Girl Ice Cream"
by George Brehm
From July 5, 1924

Nice to be waited on—if you’re the girl. The boys vying for the young lady’s attention in 1924 are not alone in this situation. Rockwell painted young rivals two years earlier (below).

“Rivals” by Norman Rockwell

"Rivals"by Norman Rockwell
From September 9, 1922

These would-be romancers showed up at the same time. In the coat of arms above the door, is Rockwell suggesting that if this were 1822 instead of modern, civilized 1922, that a duel might be the solution? Fortunately, it shouldn’t come to that, but someone might just walk away with a black eye.

Classic Covers: Love Hurts The Saturday Evening Post

The late Don Asher and Dr. Lois Goodwill, his partner of more than two decades, discovered their answer and share the tale in the memoir Entangled: A Chronicle of Late Love.

Don Asher was an 80-year-old pianist in San Francisco, and Lois, who goes by Sarah in the book, was a 69-year-old semi-retired clinical psychologist with a penchant for travel and art. They seemed happy together, but after twenty-two years with Don, Lois met a former Jesuit priest and formed a startling romantic connection with him, triggering an excitement in her that she hadn’t felt since she was young.

The results of her departure and subsequent love affair obviously shook both Don and Lois and Entangled offers both sides of the couple’s story. (Don’s perspective is written after the events while Lois’ diary is written during them.)

It’s not easy to read about Don’s depression and anxiety, but the memoir paints a vivid picture of the fractured relationship, and the story of how each of them picked up the pieces and moved forward is both intense and startlingly beautiful.

Surprisingly, I was most drawn to Lois’ diary entries, written while she was embarking on a new course and starting a new relationship. Her thoughts, worries, and pleasures make her seem open and alive, still enjoying life at nearly 70 years of age.

Don Asher previously wrote for the Saturday Evening Post, and his half of the book is equally intense as he lets us into his life, revealing his fears about returning prostate cancer and his sadness about losing his love.

Entangled is truly a story of new life and new love, showing us that love and affection never truly die, even as we get older.

Entangled: A Chronicle of Late Love is available from Heyday at a list price of $14.95.

Book Review: Entangled The Saturday Evening Post

To learn more about prayer shawls, visit shawlministry.com.

Prayer Shawls The Saturday Evening Post

Love and Marriage: A Cartoon Gallery The Saturday Evening Post

Voices of Love The Saturday Evening Post

Now the 11th  generation of Americans has been born; now it is starting through the fundamental phases of life. Each phase prepares for the next: The love the infant learns in his mother’s arms helps him become a loving child; puppy love introduces the adolescent to a deeper kind. So natural is the process that we assume it, yet often the transitions are difficult. Many of us falter, even fail. But just as every failure spreads to affect other lives, so does every success, and there is in fact much love in this land. On these pages are seven glimpses of today’s Americans as, in their own manner, they obey the ancient urges to share the prime intimacies of life and to send posterity into the future they will never see.

View the 1966 photo gallery.

The Seven Ages of Love The Saturday Evening Post