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All of these delightful covers are available in reprints at: www.curtispublishing.com

A Norman Rockwell Spring The Saturday Evening Post

San Francisco is the city with the sunbathed background in the September 29, 1945, cover by artist Mead Schaeffer. Frisco was a jumping-off place during the war, and the sailors in the cover are all jumping onto a streetcar heading toward the Golden Gate Bridge. The angle of the sunlight and shadow is intriguing;

Watching ChaplinNorman RockwellOctober 14, 1916

A good buddy of artist Schaeffer, a guy named Rockwell, knew a thing or two about lighting, and one of our favorite examples is from 1916. The whole family is watching a movie—notice the Chaplin programs. Rockwell, as we’ve said before, is all about faces, and their expressions are magical, enhanced by theater lighting.

One of the loveliest examples of lighting we found was the luminous glow of a Jack-o’-lantern in artist Pearl L. Hill’s November 1, 1924, cover. It’s hard to steal the scene from a pretty girl in a party dress, but the mean ol’ carved pumpkin is almost doing just that.

Church Christmas TreeStevan DohanosDecember 27, 1952

The light casts eerie shadows in J.C. Leyendecker’s December 1, 1934, cover. We doubt the cook in this cover planned it this way, but she couldn’t have picked scarier lighting for her spooky story. She seems like a good storyteller, but let’s hope the little boy (and cat) doesn’t have nightmares.

We love the way cover artist Stevan Dohanos plays with light in his holiday cover from 1952. We have a voyeuristic view into a church where the Christmas tree is being decorated, and just enough light is spilling from the door to show us the hardworking man and boy bringing in armloads of pine boughs. Love the too-tall Christmas tree, but we have to say lighting is the star of this one.

Gallery

Classic Covers: By the Light … The Saturday Evening Post

The charming scene of children attempting to get friendly with an irresistible colt is one of the many beautiful landscapes John Clymer did for the Post. Little Sis is a bit leery, but her brother knows his way around horses. Clymer also loved horses, as we see on the October 20, 1956, cover of the two horseback riders against multihued tamaracks in Washington State. Alas, the young man seems more interested in observing his blushing riding partner than in the blushing tints of the trees.

If you’re over 40, we’re willing to bet you have four distinct autumn memories from childhood:

Walking Home Through Leaves by John Clymer, October 7, 1950

1) Shuffling through the leaves on your way home, as depicted in the October 7, 1950, cover of the boy, girl, and dog (also by artist John Clymer).

2) Playing in a pile of freshly raked leaves, like the boy in Clymer’s October 16, 1954, cover. (Isn’t that why you rake them in the first place?)

3) Burning leaves, as the man and boy on J.C. Leyendecker’s November 6, 1937, cover and the couple on artist John Newton Howitt’s December 1936 cover are doing.

4) The chill of an autumn rain, captured on Clymer’s October 20, 1962, cover. “If there is a puddle to be found, kids will find it and walk in it,” the artist said.

Autumn also celebrates the harvest, as we see in artist Mead Schaeffer’s October 1948 cover. And flying south for the winter, as the mallards are doing on another gorgeous Clymer cover from October 1957. And hayrides! The young folks on Alan Foster’s September 30, 1933, cover enjoy the crisp evening air. If you click on the image and observe, it raises an interesting question: When is the last time you wore a tie and spiffy shoes on a hayride, such as the young man with the ukulele? Never mind—they’re having a blast.

Classic Covers: Autumn Art The Saturday Evening Post

I really like the basic (and low-budget) decorating ideas and tips at www.homedecoratingsense.com. Hmm, maybe it’s finally time to do something with the upstairs bathroom; the one that features silverish swirls on blackish wallpaper and a Hollywood-style light fixture complete with glaring round bulbs!

I’ll keep you posted on that possible endeavor. What project are you planning or currently working on?

Spring Fever The Saturday Evening Post

Spring is here, and our northern areas are encountering the almost-forgotten sights and sounds of this gently blustering season. There are whitecapped millponds, stretching and tossing after their icy hibernations; pussy willows sunning themselves like wise kittens; and increasingly frequent flashes of bright birds back home after their vacation down South.

There’s the first faintly perceptible yellowing of bare-limbed maples beginning to get dressed in their cool summer green; snow banks of spiraea blossoms making believe that winter has come back; lines of Monday-morning wash whipping like bright flags under the high-riding sun.

There’s the sound of peepers in springtime pools, reminding us that even April can get a little frog in her throat in such changeable weather; the drip of maple sap from a boy-broken tree branch and the back-to-work buzzing of bees; the chirping of newly hatched chicks; the eager rush and gurgle of city gutters and country trout streams; the satisfying crack of the first clean-hit ball and the mud sucking sound of boys’ shoes, unfettered by galoshes, as they play catch in a soggy field.

There’s a new ring to Sunday church bells, unhurried but clear over the balmy air, telling us that perhaps it is not yet irrevocably later than we think, that there is always a new beginning, another chance for our sad old world, one more hope for us all.

If you would like to order a fine art print of any classic Post cover, please visit http://curtispublishing.com/pdf/order_prints.pdf or call Janie Mahoney at 317-633-2070 for more information.

"Apple Blossoms" by Howard Scott; 1944

"Spring Storm Moving In," by John Falter; 1952

"Flying Kites," by John Falter; 1950

"Windy City," by John Falter; 1946

"Hardware Store at Springtime," by Stevan Dohanos; 1946

"Chicks in Incubator," by Stevan Dohanos; 1949

"Recess at Pine Creek," by John Clymer; 1960

"Harbinger of Spring," by John Clymer; 1955

"Oregon Baseball," by John Clymer; 1951

Artists Brush with Spring The Saturday Evening Post

Pruning

Late February and early March is the ideal time to prune grapes, roses, holly bushes, and fruit trees. Prune apple trees by no more than 30 percent to avoid overgrowth of suckers. Peaches and nectarines can be pruned back 70 percent. Cut hybrid-tea roses back by one-third to one-half, leaving canes about 18 inches long. Prune climbing rose canes back to three of four buds.

Spraying

This is your last chance to use dormant sprays on roses and fruit trees.
Planting

As long as they have not sprouted buds, most bushes and deciduous trees may be transplanted at this time of year as long as the soil is not frozen.

Fertilizing

Bring out the fertilizer. Fertilize shrubs and evergreens using an acid type rhododendron fertilizer for evergreens, conifers, broad leaf evergreens, rhododendrons, azaleas, and camellias. Use an all-purpose fertilizer on roses and other deciduous trees and shrubs.

Burning Etc.

This is a good time to burn ornamental grasses allowing the new grass shoots room to emerge come warm weather. If clumps are large and near other shrubs and trees that could be scorched by the heat, a good option is to use a chain saw, cutting the grass clumps as close to the ground as possible.

Zone 8 and Above

If you live in zone 8 or higher you may begin rejuvenating your annual flower beds and planting cool season vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, and onions. Plant out cold hardy annuals such as pansies and Icelandic poppies. Begin dividing perennials.

Get Going in the Garden! The Saturday Evening Post

Some flowering plants require early planting, and depending on where in the country you live, February may be the time to get going and gain a jump-start on the growing season. Some flowers, such as larkspur, definitely require planting as early as possible if you plan to enjoy their spectacular blossoms at all.

The following is a partial list of flower seeds that can be planted directly in the soil if your ground is thawed and workable:

• Abronia
• Ageratum
• Alonsoa
• Alyssum
• Amaranthus
• Anagallis
• Anemone
• Antirrhinum
• Aquilegia
• Arctotis
• Baileya
• Bloomeria
• Brachycome
• Browallia
• Calendula
• Callistephus
• Carnation
• Celosia
• Centaurea
• Charieis
• Chrysanthemum
• Clarkia
• Cleome
• Collinsia
• Convolvulus
• Coreopsis
• Cosmos
• Cynoglossum
• Convolvulus
• Coreopsis
• Cosmos
• Cynoglossum
• Dahlberg Daisy
• Dahlia
• Diascia
• Dimorphotheca
• Emilia
• Eschscholzia
• Exacum
• Flax
• Forget-me-not
• Gaillardia
• Gilia
• Godetia
• Gomphrena
• Gypsophila
• Helichrysum
• Hunnemannia
• Immortelle
• Impatiens
• Kochia
• Larkspur
• Linaria
• Lobelia
• Lonas
• Lupine
• Malcomia
• Mallow
• Marigold
• Maurandya
• Mentzelia
• Mimulus
• Nasturtium
• Nemesia
• Nemophila
• Nicotiana
• Periwinkle
• Petunia
• Phacelia
• Phlox
• Poppy
• Primula Quamoclit
• Salpiglossis
• Salvia
• Scabiosa
• Schizanthus
• Stevia
• Stocks
• Strawflower
• Sweetpea
• Thymophylla
• Verbena
• Zinnia

New Flower Varieties for 2009 from the National Garden Bureau (ngb.org)

Poppy ‘Jelly Beans’
Eschscholzia californica
Double flowered California poppies.
2 to 2½-inch flowers in orange, salmon, rose, and gold. 10 inches tall Full sun.

A. maritimum
Seven unique colors that flower simultaneously.
Compact, 3 to 4 inches tall. Full to part sun.

Z. hybrida
2- to 3-inch hot pink flowers that bloom summer through fall.
Full sun.

Tagetes erecta
Dwarf African marigold with large, 3-inch flowers.
6 to 8 inches tall. Bloom in 45 days. Full sun.

Early Bird Planting The Saturday Evening Post