Many mid-century households aspired to have the perfectly manicured suburban lawn. These covers show folks doing their best to achieve the American Green.
Tidy and Sloppy Neighbors
John Falter
July 1, 1961
I’d Rather Be Golfing
Thornton Utz
May 20, 1961
I’d Rather Be Golfing shows us a neighbor saying to heck with yardwork by, guess who? Yes, apparently cover artist Thornton Utz used much of his artistic creativity in devising ways to avoid lawn maintenance. One has to admire a man like that.
Saturday Rain
Earl Mayan
April 25, 1959
Shade Tree
Richard Sargent
April 12, 1958
Spring Yardwork
Thornton Utz
May 18, 1957
Thornton Utz, the artist who painted the above cover, has yet another option to yardwork. Just let the darn thing go. While industrious neighbors are raking, shoveling, planting, and so forth, Joe just sits back, communing with nature and catching the game on his portable TV. Well, communing with crabgrass. If you click on the cover for a close-up view, you’ll see he even has a fan rigged up to blow cool air from a large block of ice. Hey, when watching the game in living black and white, no comfort is overlooked.
Lemonade for the Lawnboy
George Hughes
May 14, 1955
Put the Tree There?
George Hughes
April 9, 1955
Painting the Patio Green
Thornton Utz
May 2, 1953
The way Harry figures it, you can spend all summer planting, mowing, and watering—or you can just paint the dadgum patio green and relax in your hammock for the duration of nice weather. Admit it, you wish you had thought of it. This was by cover artist Thornton Utz, who apparently had a thing about yardwork.
Baseball Player Mowing the Lawn
Stevan Dohanos
July 20, 1946
Croquet Game
John Falter
September 29, 1951
Businessman Mowing the Lawn
J.C. Leyendecker
August 6, 1910