Cover Gallery: Setting Sail
Have the doldrums? These illustrations of schooners and sloops will buoy your spirits in no time.

By George Gibbs
February 24, 1900
Illustrator George Gibbs was also an author, having written more than 50 books. Most of his books fell into the the spy and adventure genres, making him a perfect fit to paint this cover to accompany Cyrus Townsend Brady’s story. Gibbs was the illustrator of the first color cover of the Saturday Evening Post, which was published on December 30, 1899.

Artist Unknown
August 17, 1901
This cover by an unknown artist was drawn a year after sailing first debuted at the Olympics, in Paris, France in 1900. A Swiss sailor at the games, Hélène de Pourtalès, was the first ever female Gold medalist of the modern Olympic era, according to sailing.org.

By Eugene Iverd
February 04, 1928
Artist Eugene Iverd grew up in Minnesota, giving him plenty of opportunities to observe ice boating. Iverd was known for painting indelible childhood moments of kids around the campfire, on the football field, in the swimming pool, or on a windswept, frozen lake.

By Anton Otto Fischer
September 20, 1930
Anton Otto Fischer painted hundreds of covers and interior illustrations for the Post. He also illustrated books such as Moby Dick, Treasure Island, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

By Anton Otto Fischer
January 23, 1932
This Fischer illustration beautifully captures a moment of drama and also serves as a metaphor for the encroachment of the industrial age over the old ways.

By Norman Rockwell
November 8, 1930
This illustration by Norman Rockwell is a departure from his typical “slice-of-America” scenes.

By Gordon Grant
September 29, 1934
Artist Gordon Grant was well known for his maritime covers, particularly his watercolor of the USS Constitution. He was also the cover designer for the first edition of the Boy Scout Handbook in 1911.

By Charles R. Chickering
May 09, 1936
Charles Chickering got his start as a medical illustrator of the wounded and dead during the World War I, and went on to a career as a postage stamp designer, before painting this winsome cover for the Post.

By Ski Weld
June 29, 1940
Ski Weld’s covers always depicted action – skiers jumping, snow geese flying, or, in this case, a stunning regatta of boats sailing.

By Dale Nichols
July 19, 1941
Dale Nichols was best known for his paintings of red barns in rural, Midwestern landscapes. This northern scene was a departure from his usual subject matter.

By Richard Sargent
August 22, 1959
Artist Richard Sargent (1911-1979) painted 47 Post covers between 1951 and 1962, when photographs were rapidly replacing magazine illustrations. Sargent often used a playful narrative style where one picture did indeed express a thousand words.
The Modern Vacation
Fun for the Whole Family!
The educational road trip leading up to a spectacular vista is not always appreciated by those for whom all that effort was expended. Artist Richard Sargent was also a father and the complex and often hilarious child-parent dynamic was a regular theme.

Richard Sargent
The Saturday Evening Post
July 18, 1953
Beached
Retirees in the 1930s may not have known how to dress down for the shore, but they seem to be enjoying the sand just as much as their modern-day equivalents do.

J.C. Leyendecker
The Saturday Evening Post
February 20, 1937
Dedicated vacationers march to the water first thing in the morning, forming an impromptu parade.

John Falter
The Saturday Evening Post
August 2, 1947
Baggage
Universal Truth No. 1: After a week at the beach, you will accumulate at least twice the baggage that you arrived with.

Stevan Dohanos
The Saturday Evening Post
September 8, 1956
Universal Truth No. 2: Vacations are short and much anticipated, which doesn’t leave time for unpacking — at least not in Dad’s view.

Thornton Utz
The Saturday Evening Post
June 18, 1960
Disappointment
When your job is to help others achieve their dreams as is the case for this travel agent, sometimes you need a quiet moment to dream one up for yourself.

Constantin Alajalov
The Saturday Evening Post
February 12, 1949
You can’t plan the weather for that dream vacation, but this family is determined to get in as much outdoor time as humanly possible.

Stevan Dohanos
The Saturday Evening Post
July 31, 1948
Back Again
When you go away for what looks to be about three weeks — judging from the number of newspapers on the lawn, strewn about the front entry by some lout of a paperboy — there’s a lot of cleanup to be done. The weight of this realization is quite evident in the droop of Father’s shoulders.

John Falter
The Saturday Evening Post
August 23, 1952
There may be no place like home, but after a long trip, Rockwell’s family requires rest.

Norman Rockwell
The Saturday Evening Post
September 13, 1930