We’ve chosen Post covers between 1909 and 1960 showing the American teenager as depicted by Norman Rockwell, Stevan Dohanos, John Falter, and other great illustrators.
Woman with Basketball
Woman with Basketball
Carol Aus
November 20, 1909
Very little is known today about Norwegian-born illustrator Carol Aus (1878-1934) except that she was known for portrait painting. That talent shines through in this 1909 basketball player.
The Post published seven of Aus’ portraits, all of which appeared on the cover.
Schoolgirl Primping
Schoolgirl Primping
Paul Stahr
September 10, 1921
This pretty cover girl, whose only concern is looking good in a new hat, was created the same year Albert Einstein was lecturing about his new theory of relativity in Stahr’s home state, New York. As a longtime resident of Long Island, Stahr (1883-1953) was close to the East Coast’s publishing companies, and he took full advantage of it. He illustrated for Life and Colliers and was versatile enough to become known as a pulp magazine artist.
The pulps were inexpensive fiction magazines popular from the 1890s through the 1950s (they were printed on cheap paper from wood pulp, hence the name). From 1924 to 1934, Stahr created a number of covers for Argosy magazine, a pulp that boasted authors such as Upton Sinclair and Zane Grey.
Movie Star
Movie Star
Norman Rockwell
February 19, 1938
The Saturday Evening Post had reached its 3-million-circulation milestone just before this cover was published. Rockwell liked to have fun with the familiar logo, and in this case, he obscured part of it with dormitory regulations. The rules state that male companions are not allowed in the dorm at any time, but with a stash of movie-star photos, these teenagers have found a loophole. The idol in hand is actor Robert Taylor, who made millions of female hearts beat faster in his starring role opposite Greta Garbo in Camille. Movie magazines were just then becoming a national pastime—at least among teenage girls, who were trading and swooning over glossy photos of the current heartthrobs.
Rockwell created several covers that included pictures within a picture. Another example of this is The Great Debate, where the newspapers in the illustration clearly show 1948 presidential candidates Truman and Dewey.
March Band at Football Game
March Band at Football Game
Stevan Dohanos
October 19, 1946
Playing an energetic march while keeping a close eye on the game requires dexterity only a teenager can manage, but Stevan Dohanos made sure the rest of us could watch the game in the tuba’s reflection.
Dohanos began this 1946 painting by filling his Westport, Connecticut, home with equipment borrowed from a local high school band. “The tough job,” he said, “was keeping my guests away from the instruments.” Post editors reported “almost everyone who dropped in while Dohanos was at work turned out to be a former musician, the kind who hasn’t laid lip to a trombone for 10 years, but is sure he hasn’t lost the old knack or wants to see if he can still play the second-coronet part from ‘Under the Double Eagle.’”
Fortunately for Post readers, Dohanos did get the job done, and he learned a lesson about his visitors in the process: “I never knew my friends had so much musical talent, or lacked so much.”
Father’s Homework
Father’s Homework
John Falter
May 7, 1960
Of this 1960 cover Post editors asked the question, “If one furrow-browed father spends x hours failing to solve the quadratic equations of one boy, how long would it take two furrow-browed fathers to fail to solve the quadratic equation of two boys?”
Though artist John Falter (1910-1982), a self-proclaimed “dunce in algebra,” may have struggled to find a solution for x, he never struggled to find work as an artist.
He was described by the Post as a workhorse sketching six days a week from 3:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. When he entered the Navy during World War II, he found a way to continue his career: he designed more than 300 posters and other recruitment materials for the military. The same year he enlisted, he created his first of 125 covers for the Post.That prodigious output continued throughout his life; it is estimated that he completed more than 5,000 paintings.
Reduce to Music was the third of 17 covers Frederic Stanley (1892-1967) created for the Post. But his work might never have come to fruition if the self-taught artist hadn’t been willing to take a big risk.
Young Stanley, who worked as a mechanic by trade and created art in his free time, carried some of his paintings to New York with an ultimatum attached: If the paintings sold, he would devote his life to art; if they didn’t, he would remain a mechanic at his brother’s Massachusetts Buick agency. As it turned out, his brother soon had to post a vacancy. Not only did Stanley sell his work, he returned home with a contract for three more pieces.
In the mid-1940s, Stanley took a break from his successful career to recover from meningitis. Penicillin—only recently available to the public—saved his life, but the illness took its toll, and for a year he made no attempts to paint. When he returned to his canvas, he focused on portraiture of prominent citizens. His first client was H. Nelson Jackson, a wealthy physician, who along with Sewall K. Crocker became the first men to drive an automobile across the United States in 1903. Stanley was working on his final portrait of the Governor of Florida at the time of his death.
Former Figure
Former Figure
Amos Sewell
January 26, 1957
“Ah, the lighthearted, light everything-else years when Mrs. Portleigh was constructed like that!” wrote Post editors of this unforgettable 1957 cover. Since the editorial staff enjoyed noting foibles of cover illustrators, they added that artist Amos Sewell (1901-1983) “borrowed that dress form in Westport, Connecticut, and walked to his car with it under his arm, and nobody gave him the raspberry. In artist colonies people evidently become shockproof.”
At the time San Francisco-born Sewell painted this cover, he had been living in New York for more than 27 years. But he certainly took the long way from San Francisco to arrive in the Big Apple: via the Panama Canal, he worked on a lumber boat to pay his way to the big city where he would launch his career as a commercial artist. After arriving in New York, he studied at the Art Students League and at the Grand Central School of Art under renowned artist and instructor, Harvey Dunn.
Sewell produced hundreds of story illustrations for the Post and its sister publication, The Country Gentleman, often depicting children. Beginning in 1949, he did 45 Post covers until 1962, when the magazine turned to mostly photographic covers.
Soda Fountain Dieter
Soda Fountain Dieter
Stevan Dohanos
January 30, 1954
The life of Stevan Dohanos (1907-1944), the artist of this 1954 cover, reads like a classic American rags-to-riches success story. He was born third of nine children to Hungarian immigrants, and worked an odd number of jobs before settling into the steel mill where his father was employed.
In fact, it was at the steel mill where he began selling crayon-colored copies of famous artists’ work to fellow employees for $2 to $3 a piece. Copies of Norman Rockwell’s early Post covers quickly became his best sellers. Later Dohanos reflected on that time in his autobiography American Realist: “I did not know then that years later I would produce art for the famous Saturday Evening Post and Rockwell would become a personal friend.” Nor had he dreamed that, like Rockwell, he would become one of America’s most successful illustrators.
Working Out
Working Out
Kurt Ard
March 14, 1959
“Every boy has a spell of yearning to resemble Hercules or Tarzan or some other bulging being,” wrote Post editors of this 1959 cover. “To accomplish this he yearns for fairly expensive gadgets, scorning his father’s theory that a superb body can be built with a snow shovel or a spade. … Kurt Ard purchased those awesome exercisers, but you needn’t feel sorry for his model—the expanded springs were fastened to the studio walls and all the lad had to exercise was his face.”
According to the editors, Danish artist Kurt Ard (1925-present) sought modeling volunteers “in the streets, parks, or by posting ads in the papers—and one day a lovely girl named Ulla answered an ad. She became his best model, then his best girl, then his wife.”
Working Out was one of seven covers Ard created for the Post. He sold his first magazine illustration in Scandinavia for $1.43 when he was 17. By age 31, he had more than 1,000 illustrations in Europe’s top-flight magazines.
No Desserts
No Desserts
Constantin Alajalov
March 12, 1949
Russian-born artist Constantin Alajálov (1900-1987) was discussing cover ideas with a Post staffer while dining in a New York restaurant: “I was thinking of doing one about a stout lady in a cafeteria,” Alajálov said. “She’s on a strict reducing diet, see, and she has to carry her tray past a long line of fancy desserts.”
From concept to reality. The result of that dinner conversation was this entertaining 1949 cover accompanied by an amusing quip from the editors: “The plight of the stout lady is agonizing indeed, but not much more so than that of our representative as he ate with Alajálov that night. Our man was on a diet, and Alajálov is one of those slim people who can eat their way through the richest dishes on a menu without ever gaining a pound.”
Considering how brilliant and lighthearted Alajálov’s covers are, you may find it hard to believe that the illustrator began as a government artist, painting huge propaganda portraits and posters during the Russian Revolution. By age 21, he had made his way to Constantinople—at the time a refugee haven—where he sketched portraits in bars and created murals for nightclubs, managing to save enough money to pay his way to America in 1923. In New York, he was still painting murals, until he landed his first New Yorker cover and shortly after the first of many for the Post.
Beautiful art deserves to be remembered and enjoyed. We’ve found Christmas illustrations from Country Gentleman and Ladies’ Home Journal magazines, which were sister publications of the Post for many years.
Romantic Skate
Romantic Skate
Manning de Villeneuve Lee
December 1, 1937
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
Main Street at Christmas
Peter Helck
December 1, 1944
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
Drum for Tommy
Norman Rockwell
December 17, 1921
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
Baby’s First Christmas
Haddon Sundblom
December 1, 1929
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
Simeon and the Christ Child
Marion Boyd Allen
December 1921
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.
The phonograph manufacturer was well aware that the purchase was a major expense. This 1909 ad suggested that “if every member of the family would take the money he or she expects to use to buy presents for the other members of the family, and put it together, there will be enough not only to buy an Edison Phonograph, but also a large supply of Records.” This was perhaps optimistic. Despite Edison’s desire to see “a phonograph in every home,” the machine cost $12.50 to $200.00 (equivalent to between $300 and $5,000 today).
Interwoven Socks
Interwoven Socks advertisement J.C. Leyendecker December 17, 1921
“Get him a box for Christmas” says this 1921 ad for Interwoven Socks, a major contract for J.C. Leyendecker. Considered by many the 20th century’s greatest illustrator (he was Norman Rockwell’s mentor), the prolific Leyendecker kept up an almost frenetic pace. He was The Saturday Evening Post’s most prolific cover artist, with 322 covers between 1899 and 1943. For decades, he was as well known for his stunning advertising art as for his covers for The Saturday Evening Post and several other publications. His handsome Arrow Collar man was masculine ideal for more than 30 years. And of course, he drew what would become a timeless St. Nick for Post covers and ad work alike.
Campbell’s Soup
Campbell’s Soup advertisement Grace Drayton December 24, 1932
The Campbell’s Soup Kids came about almost by accident. In 1904, Grace Drayton’s husband, an advertising man, had an appointment with the Joseph Campbell Company. He asked Grace to add a few characters to his advertising copy that might work for Campbell’s soup. A children’s illustrator, she drew her typical tots with rosy cheeks, dimpled knees and all. Campbell’s loved the little cuties and, at a time when women weren’t encouraged to have careers, a career was born.
The kids went from magazine ads beginning in 1905 to radio in the 1930s to television in the 1950s. Merchandising also began in the 1930s and even today, an unbelievable amount of merchandise, from dolls to mugs and so forth, is available bearing the chubby-cheeked images. This 1932 ad shows the cherubs in full Christmas spirit with the poem:
If we could only have our wish
To give the truest wealth,
On every doorstep we would leave
The gift of glowing health!
Candy
National Confectioners’ Association Candy advertisement December 21, 1946
From 1946 comes this ad promising what we all need during the holiday season: quick energy. It further notes that “candy is something the body can really use as well as something the heart and mind can really enjoy,” which is somewhat more eloquent than the slogan at the bottom: “Candy’s Dandy … Keep It Handy.” The ad was placed by The National Confectioners’ Association, an organization founded in Chicago in 1884 and which, yes, is still around today.
Cream of Wheat
Cream of Wheat advertisement Edward V. Brewer December 6, 1922
American artist Edward V. Brewer (1883-1971) created distinctive advertising art for Cream of Wheat cereal. The iconic chef would appear in each ad, perhaps front and center and at times, as in this 1922 ad, more obscurely placed (in this case, in the newspaper on the floor). There are divergent views on the depiction of the chef: some see it as racist, a sort of Uncle Tom character; others see the chef as kind and trustworthy. This was a different era, after all, and we present it here as part of America’s cultural history. Because of their historical significance, and the quality of the artwork, the old Cream of Wheat ads are highly collectible today and originals often fetch between $7,000 and $10,000.
Rockwell Plymouth
Chrysler Plymouth advertisement Norman Rockwell December 22, 1951
We don’t need a picture of a gleaming new car, nor copy details about hydraulics, torque, or ease of handling. The simple text: “Oh, Boy! It’s Pop with a new PLYMOUTH!” and the faces of the family are enough. And it doesn’t hurt that the illustration is by Norman Rockwell. Yes, along with iconic covers for The Saturday Evening Post, America’s favorite artist sold everything from socks to mouthwash, as we’ve seen in “Norman Rockwell, Ad Man.” The Plymouth ad is from 1951.
Chrysler Plymouth
Edison Mazda Lamps advertisement Worth Brehm December 9, 1922
Click this image for a close-up and you’ll observe the family peeking from the doorway at the classic toys, such as Raggedy Ann and Andy. Post cover artist Worth Brehm created this illustration for Edison Mazda Lamps. Another artist who did quite a few ads for Edison was Norman Rockwell.
If you were born around 1950, you probably remember watching TV in black and white, swinging on a jungle gym, and playing house. Below, some of our finest cover artists illustrated what being a youngster was like in postwar America.
More Clothes to Clean
More Clothes to Clean George Hughes April 17, 1948
Although he was already a prominent illustrator by the late 1940s, George Hughes took his first crack at The Saturday Evening Post’s cover in 1948 (left)—and it was a smash hit right out of the ballpark! Reader response secured his position as one of the Post’s main illustrators alongside the likes of Norman Rockwell, John Falter, Stevan Dohanos, and Richard Sargent. “That copy arrived just as I have completed a washing much the same as pictured,” wrote one woman. “Only a blue-jeaned tomboy sister alongside junior is needed to get a complete story from my angle.”
Determined to be accurate, Hughes spent an entire day studying clothespins for the illustration. He knew if he didn’t get every detail right, there would be a barrage of letters to the editor telling him so. Employing a neighbor boy as the model, Hughes completed the painting. It was returned for a correction: “The editors asked me to ‘clean up the boy a bit, since he isn’t old enough to get that dirty.’ Actually, he was fully that dirty. But I pleased both the editors and his real mother by cleaning him up a little.” It was a fine line artists walked between pleasing, or at least not displeasing, Post readers and editors.
Good Guys Wear White Hats
Good Guys Wear White Hats John Falter November 9, 1957
“Young Sammy Sixgun, using the classic hat-over-the-rock routine, will now restore law and order to the old TV-West,” wrote Post editors of this 1957 cover (left). Blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding around him is artist John Falter’s own dog, Ralph, snoozing on the couch.
John Falter (1910-1982) was born in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, and began sketching at the ripe old age of two—on a chalkboard his mother gave him. “His first commission came from a local soda shop that paid the budding artist in chocolate milk shakes for a well executed mural,” according to a 1991 article in the Post. He continued “to draw, sketch, and paint at an inspired pace for the rest of his life, completing, by his own estimate, more than 5,000 paintings.”
Playing House
Playing House Stevan Dohanos January 31, 1953
This January 1953 cover (left) shows that Santa’s recent visit left some perfect items for playing house. Though contemporary Post editors saw them as lessons in “learning how to boil water without forgetting it and melting the pot down into the stove, and other complex principles of homemaking.” The editors noted, “The only uneducational toys in sight are the dolls, for they are not sniveling or hollering.”
Stevan Dohanos (1907-1994) was born in Lorain, Ohio, the son of Hungarian immigrants. His artistic career began, uniquely enough, in a steel mill. Employed as an office boy, Dohanos would copy the artwork he found on calendars and sell them to co-workers for 50 cents. Encouraged by family and friends, he took a two-year home study course and then went on to Cleveland Art School. His style is classified as American Realist, depicting the design and form of everyday objects like fire hydrants and milk bottles. He illustrated 123 Post covers between 1942 and 1958.
Hat Bridge
Hat Bridge Thornton Utz January 25, 1958
It’s difficult to say whether this young man at left will grow up to be a fireman or an engineer, for the precocious one structured what Post editors termed “an overpass” through which “he is lickety-tooting down a through way to a conflagration,” adding, “Heaven help that poor fedora in his path.” While giving the lad points for ingenuity, they couldn’t help but speculate what would come to pass when the guests come to sort out their property. “Those without a rollicking sense of humor,” they concluded, “may become a bit indignant—mad hatters, let’s call ’em.”
Like many artists, Thronton Utz (1914-2000) began his Post career illustrating short stories. His first cover came seven years later in 1949, and soon his art was known for its humorous twist on everyday life.
A Day in the Life of a Boy
A Day in the Life of a Boy Norman Rockwell May 24, 1952
It’s a busy day for Charles Marsh Jr., the model for this cover: Get up; brush teeth; then, of course, there’s that bothersome school to deal with. Baseball and a charming lass provide diversions until it’s time to go home, do homework, and turn in.
Marsh modeled for Rockwell from the time he was a baby until he was 12 when Rockwell moved from Arlington, Vermont, to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. (Hear what it was like to work with America’s best-loved artist in “A Day in the Life of Norman Rockwell Model Chuck Marsh.”)
A good friend to him, Marsh considered the artist outgoing and community-minded. But no one knew just how community-minded until Rockwell donated the original painting A Day in the Life of a Boy to the Community Club for their annual raffle. Today, Rockwell’s Willie Gillis’ Package from Home, up for auction in Chicago, may fetch $3 to 5 million. But in the early 1950s, this particular painting went for a grand total of 50 cents.
A few months after the cover was published, there was a follow-up called A Day in the Life of a Girl, which featured Marsh in what he called “the toughest time I had posing”—because he was supposed to kiss the girl. For that story and other Rockwell kids of the ’50s, see “Rockwell in the 1950s–Part I of III.”
Jungle Gym
Jungle Gym George Hughes November 7, 1959
At left, the upside-down boy on top may look foolish to adult eyes, but he is King of the Jungle (gym) to the little blonde he is trying to impress. Once George Hughes became an established artist, he was able to move to Arlington, Vermont, and away from his native city, New York. He liked the idea of raising his children in a small community; he and his wife had five girls. There was the added bonus of being in an artists’ community, where he befriended Norman Rockwell and other Post artists.
“Autumn … the year’s last, loveliest smile,” wrote American poet William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878). Post cover artists illustrate why we love this time of year.
Fall Horseback Ride
Fall Horseback Ride
John Clymer
October 20, 1956
Most of the 80-plus Post covers by John Clymer feature natural settings: a shimmering lake surrounded by summer greenery, a charming New England harbor enveloped by snow, and, of course, views like the one at left of Washington, the beautiful state from which the artist hailed.
The riders are passing through a forest of tamaracks, which possess a rare trait among conifers; the needles turn gold in the autumn and fall to the forest floor. The fallen needles reflect the light, giving the ground an almost luminescent quality.
“In fall, every tamarack forest byway becomes a yellow brick road down which you can skip in a haze of glowing splendor,” writes Lori Micken in an online column for Montana Outdoors. The tamarack is a common sight in Clymer’s home state, and in this Post cover he captured just such a yellow brick road in Wilson Canyon, Washington.
Fall Harvest
Fall Harvest
John Atherton
October 27, 1945
The corn hanging on a neighbor’s barn in Arlington, Vermont, inspired John Atherton to begin sketching the harvest still life (left). “Knowing any harvest picture would need a pumpkin, he went into the garden and got one,” wrote Post editors in 1945. Deciding autumn leaves were needed, the artist gathered some along the road. Ferns would also add to the arrangement, so out he went to gather a few. The ferns died very quickly, and he gathered more. “By the time he had set his stage, Mr. Atherton had done quite a little of harvesting himself,” wrote the editors.
Between 1942 and 1961 Atherton painted 47 Post covers. His style was realism, known for its accurate, almost photographic portrayal of its subjects. This was a far cry from the idealized images depicted by his friend, Norman Rockwell. Atherton’s critical attitude to such sentimentality is noted in the feature, “Till the Cows Come Home.” But the painter was not completely immune to sentiment: Note the initials carved in the beam at left, presumably signifying the love between him and his wife Maxine Breeze.
Fall Leaves
Fall Leaves
W. Haskell Coffin
November 5, 1927
“The making of a portrait is an imaginative work, because of the blending of two personalities, the sitter and the artist,” William Haskell Coffin (1878-1941) told Charleston, South Carolina, reporters upon returning to his hometown.
Coffin studied portraiture while at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., and in Europe. But the formative years of his artistic career were spent in New York, where he won critical acclaim painting portraits of the chorus girls from Ziegfeld’s Follies—some of whom modeled for his 32 Post covers.
The attractive young women were often posed with a single object, such as a book or floral bouquet. In this 1927 illustration, the props are merely a few autumn leaves, some gray clouds, and the chill autumn breeze.
Apple Picking Time
Apple Picking Time
John Falter
September 27, 1947
“It has to be a love affair every time,” artist John Falter said about his work. “If you aren’t in love with what you are trying to put on canvas, you’d better quit.”
Falter started the painting at left by sketching the barns and rail fence at a farm near Weston, Missouri, and then completed it at his home in Pennsylvania. The trees, the apple pickers, and the farm woman were done from memory. As Post editors noted in 1947: “It wasn’t hard to recall similar scenes from his own boyhood (in Nebraska), although as he worked, the phase of apple picking Falter recalled most vividly was fresh apple pie.”
One of the Post’s most popular illustrators, Falter did more than 125 covers frequently employing a bird’s eye view of the scene. (See “Can You Guess the City?”)
Bring Home Pumpkins
Bring Home Pumpkins
John Falter
November 1, 1952
“Falter’s masterful treatment of light stems from the fact that he is a nature lover, and happily gifted to reflect her moods,” wrote the Post in 1971. “Most of his paintings interrelate human and natural life, and Falter seems ever drawn to the sky.”
The sky in this 1952 cover is nearly black, allowing the artist to contrast the golden haystacks with light from an unknown source, be that parking lot lights or lanterns. The blues, greens, and reds from the family heading back with their trophies add a needed dash of color.
Girl Walking to School
Girl Walking to School
Sarah Stilwell-Weber
October 9, 1909
In the heart of the Golden Age of Illustration, Sarah Stilwell-Weber (1878-1939) trained under the best: Howard Pyle. He and fellow students, such as Post illustrator N.C. Wyeth, greatly influenced her work.
A prolific artist, she illustrated over 65 Post covers between 1904 and 1925. During this period, she also worked for many other leading magazines, including Vogue, Collier’s, and Better Homes and Gardens.
Jack-o’-lanterns, masks, and merriment—in the early 1900s, the ghoulish holiday wasn’t so different than it is today.
Teddy the Pumpkin
Teddy the Pumpkin
J.C. Leyendecker
October 26, 1912
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
Halloween, 1904
Anne Estelle Rice
October 29, 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
Woman in Masquerade Costume
C. Allan Gilbert
October 12, 1907
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
Looking for Future Husband
F. Lowenheim
October 28, 1922 Country Gentleman
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 Hallowe’en look in the glass, Your future husband’s face will pass.”
Halloween Fiddler
Halloween Fiddler
Norman Rockwell Country Gentleman, October 22, 1921
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.
We know how it is: If you hear “I approve this message” one more time, you’ll throw your shoe at the TV. Maybe both shoes. Well, we have a fresh look at some vintage election art from The Saturday Evening Post archives, and we think you’ll approve.
Norman Rockwell at the Voting Booth
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
advertisement
Norman Rockwell
November 5, 1960
“Here I am on November 8. As you can see, it’s not easy for me to make up my mind…” Norman Rockwell says in the caption of this 1960 Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company advertisement (left).
The ad was one in a series of 81 pencil drawings Norman Rockwell sketched in the ’50s and ’60s for the insurance company. The advertisements depicted family life and ran in magazines such as Newsweek, Time, and The Saturday Evening Post. His artwork graced many ads, if not from A to Z, then at least from Acme Market to Western Union. The insurance series was Rockwell’s largest body of ad work.
Though we don’t know if he cast his vote for Richard Nixon or John F. Kennedy, we do know that he enjoyed working with both men in 1960, painting each of their portraits for The Saturday Evening Post covers. He found Nixon “as warm and friendly as the father of two pretty daughters could be.” And when he arrived to paint young Senator Kennedy, he found JFK still in his PJs. “The pajamas were rumpled, but he was wonderful,” Rockwell said. See “Post Presidential Covers” for both portraits.
Boy With Portraits of Taft and Bryan
Boy with Portraits of Taft and Bryan
J.C. Leyendecker
October 31, 1908
The third time was not the charm for William Jennings Bryan (portrait right). He lost the 1896 and 1900 presidential elections to William McKinley. And with the backing of popular incumbent Theodore Roosevelt behind William Howard Taft (portrait left) in 1908, Bryan lost again. J.C. Leyendecker, the Post‘s most prolific cover artist illustrated more than 320 Saturday Evening Post covers, from 1899 to 1943.
Leyendecker’s art ran the gamut, from lavish and elegant to humorous. Few covers were of a political nature, as Post editors preferred eye-catching portrayals of pretty girls or amusing scenes with children. However, Leyendecker depicted George Washington on five Post covers and did a memorable sketch of the corpulent William Howard Taft on the occasion of his 1909 inauguration (see “Post Presidential Covers”).
Votes for Women
Votes for Women
J.C. Leyendecker
December 30, 1911
For 37 consecutive years, J.C. Leyendecker welcomed the dawn of a brand new year with that famous New Year’s baby. Often, the cover was a reflection of the times: The 1910 New Year’s baby was flying a new-fangled biplane; the 1914 tot was riding a ship across the Panama canal. The precocious infants were aware of Prohibition and worried about the first global war and the Great Depression. The last New Year’s baby in 1943 wore a helmet and stabbed a swastika with a bayonet.
Our young lady (left) welcoming 1912 is ahead of her time; women didn’t get the vote until 1920. We’re reminded of Hillary Clinton’s quote from the 2008 primaries: “My mother was born before women could vote. But in this election my daughter got to vote for her mother for president.”
He Won’t Win!
He Won’t Win!
J.F. Kernan Country Gentleman, October 25, 1924
J.F. Kernan illustrated nearly 30 covers for the Post and 28 for its sister publication, Country Gentleman, left. With arresting use of color, he depicted old sailors and frequently painted outdoor hunting and fishing scenes. It is indicative of his skill as an illustrator that he could move from a blue seascape or woodsy scene to a droll interior.
Four years before this issue of Country Gentleman hit newsstands, the 19th Amendment was passed, granting American women the right to vote. Women were still striving for political equality. In this cover, hubby is more than a bit skeptical of his wife’s choice. Clearly the artist was on her side: See Her Man Won! (below) which appeared on the very next cover (November 1, 1924).
Her Man Won!
Her Man Won!
J.F. Kernan Country Gentleman, November 1, 1924
The Post’s sister publication, Country Gentleman occasionally ran two-part covers in the late 1910s and early ’20s. Part one of this scene appeared on the October 25, 1924, cover (see above). Left, the artist J.F. Kernan illustrated hubby having to eat crow after deriding his wife’s choice.
Another artist who had fun with the “wait until next week” concept was Norman Rockwell. Normally associated with The Saturday Evening Post, Norman Rockwell did 35 covers for Country Gentleman.
The Losing Candidate
The Losing Candidate
Norman Rockwell
November 8,1958
The model for this cover (left) was indeed politician Bernard T. Casey of Boston. For some years prior to this cover’s appearance, Casey, a telephone company executive, had served eight terms in the state legislature. He then quit running, but this natural-born leader with the winning smile never did quit helping other people campaign and win.
The cigar-chomping man to the right was Tom Carey, a fixture in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where Illustrator Norman Rockwell lived. Carey delivered the mail from the railroad station to the post office via horse and buggy for more than 50 years. During the summer, he also drove tourists around the countryside in his surrey, pointing out places of interest such as the Old Corner House, which served as the Norman Rockwell Museum for 24 years.
First Vote in the New States
First Vote in the New States
Constantin Alajálov
November 12, 1960
“This week, for the first time in history,” wrote Post editors in 1960, “the citizens of the Sandwich Islands and of ‘Seward’s Folly’ go to the polls to help elect a President of the United States.” It was a record-breaking ballot year, and Russian-born artist Constantin Alajálov couldn’t resist illustrating the contrast between the voters of the two recent additions to the United States, Hawaii and Alaska.
Concerning Alajálov’s subject, editors wrote, “And who knows, perhaps one of them, an orchid-picker or a seal skinner, is casting the vote that carries the state that swings the election. … This amalgam of people living together in harmony is bright evidence of the democratic way of life they’re voting to preserve.”
Mama said there’d be days like this. You overslept, forgot your wallet, and are having a lousy hair day. Actually, compared to these Post ‘toons, that’s a pretty good day.
Winter 1973
Nov/Dec 1992
"All I did was hit the delete button."
Nov/Dec 1992
"Is there a doctor in the house and a damn good lawyer?"
Winter 1971
"Where does the time go?"
Sep/Oct 1997
"Don’t just sit there—the place will be crawling with cops in a few minutes."
Dog on the Field by Lonie Bee from October 18, 1941
One of the indignities of the job. Rover is going for a touchdown and ignoring the ref’s whistle. This 1941 cover is by artist Lonie Bee, who, although little known today, illustrated for magazines like Collier’s, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan and Woman’s Day in the ’40s.
Ref Out Cold
Ref Out Cold by Stevan Dohanos from November 25, 1950
Stevan Dohanos, one of the best and most prolific of the Post cover artists, witnessed such a catastrophe at a Yale-Dartmouth game in 1949. Darned if the callous son of a gun didn’t immediately think, “ah, this would be a great Post cover!” But despite being steamrollered by a young Goliath, the real referee survived just fine. It’s a rough game.
Third Down, Goal to Go
Third Down, Goal to Go by Thornton Utz October 15, 1949
This bird’s-eye (blimp’s eye?) view shows how rough situations, like the one above, can come about. The football is nearly on the 0-yard line and the ref is in the way of a thundering herd rushing in to see what they can do about it.
It’s hard to imagine what it takes to paint a crowd like this. If you have an eagle eye, you’ll spot a lot of detail along that wall: coffee cups, pop bottles (glass—a complete no-no at sporting events these days), binoculars, and one man to the left using an umbrella to try to retrieve his hat. Thornton Utz painted this for a mid-October Post cover in 1949.
Football Pile-up
Football Pile-up by Constantin Alajalov from October 23, 1948
Russian-born artist Constantin Alajalov had a wry way of depicting everyday American life, which he happily did for many Saturday Evening Post and New Yorker covers. The poor ref in this 1948 cover doesn’t have a clue who to start whistling at.
Coin Toss
Coin Toss by Norman Rockwell from October 21, 1950
We can’t salute referees without this classic 1950 cover by Norman Rockwell. The artist liked to wander over to the local high school football field during breaks from the easel, and watch the kids play. This sunny October scene also boasts a fairly detailed crowd of noncombatants in the background.
But, Ref!
But, Ref! by Lonie Bee from October 22, 1938
Here’s another cover by West Coast artist Lonie Bee. In fact, the model in this 1938 cover looks like the same referee who was working hard to get that dog off the field in the 1941 cover. Bee did half a dozen Post covers, all with a sports theme. The title for this one is apt: But, Ref!
Now, sit back and enjoy the game—and maybe lay off the refs a bit.
Charlie Chaplin Fans by Norman Rockwell from October 14, 1916
Norman Rockwell was thrilled when he sold his first Post cover in 1916. “I used to sit in the studio with a copy of the Post laid across my knees,” Rockwell wrote in his autobiography. “’Must be 2 million people look at that cover,’ I’d say to myself. ‘At least. Probably more. Two million subscribers and then their wives, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, friends. Wow! All looking at my cover.’” Needless to say, his fantasy of himself as a famous illustrator came true in spades.
This cover was one of his finest of that era, with an already masterful use of light—in this case reflected from the flickering screen onto the delighted faces of the theatergoers.
Old Folks at the Theater
Old Folks at the Theater by Watson Barratt from January 15, 1916
Pops clearly thinks Vaudeville is a hoot in this 1916 cover, but the more puritanical Missus does not approve. This is the only Post cover by Watson Barratt, about whom little is known today.
It is interesting to note an article inside this issue on World War I by H.G. Wells and one of many stories the Post published by the delightful P.G. Wodehouse.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Edgar Franklin Wittmack from March 26, 1927
Next to the Bible, Harriett Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was the best-selling book of the 19th century. Yes, it has long been decried for racial stereotypes, but Stowe made it clear that no Christian could condone slavery. This 1927 cover by Edgar Franklin Wittmack shows an Opera House featuring the play. We’re guessing the actor shown here was portraying the cruel slave owner whose name has become synonymous with greed and evil: Simon Legree. Artist Wittmack illustrated more than 20 Post covers.
Summer Stock
Summer Stock by Norman Rockwell from August 5, 1939
Norman Rockwell was full of surprises. On occasion, a Rockwell cover just doesn’t look “like a Rockwell.” Case in point is this 1939 illustration of a very pretty actress in full Elizabethan regalia. Contrast her elaborate costume with her stark “dressing room”—backstage at a barn, with an old crate serving as a dressing table. Her assistants? A couple of helpful barnyard residents.
Man Asleep in Theater
Man Asleep in Theater by Emery Clarke from July 27, 1940
We laughed, we cried … we fell asleep. While the lovely lady with the hanky and the gentleman behind her appear to wipe away a tear, one moviegoer was moved … to nap. This 1940 cover was by Emery Clarke, who, while not a well-known artist, did half a dozen other Post covers.
Cousin Reginald is the Hero
Cousin Reginald is the Hero by Norman Rockwell from April 6, 1918
In 1917-1919, Norman Rockwell painted a series of covers for Country Gentleman magazine, a sister publication to the Post. The characters he created were a group of often mischievous, if not downright ornery, country boys and their visiting city cousin, Reginald. Cousin Reginald was a geeky kid who was always bested by the kids’ rural activities: fishing, swimming, etc.
Rockwell must have finally tired of the tribulations he put Reginald through, for in this 1918 cover, cousin Reginald gets to be the hero. The cousins are in a rather clichéd school play, where the villain is throwing the poor maiden out for nonpayment of rent, when good old Reggie comes through with the deed to the house just in time! For more on these delightful covers see: “Norman Rockwell’s Cousin Reginald.”
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
Surveying the Cow Pasture by Amos Sewell July 28, 1956
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
Yakima River Cattle Roundup by John Clymer May 10, 1958
“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
Slow Mooving Traffic by Ben Kimberly Prins April 11, 1953
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
Little Cowboy Takes a Licking by J.C. Leyendecker August 20, 1938
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
Shoo the Moos by Stevan Dohanos July 1, 1950
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.”
Do you have a cover theme you would like to see or a favorite Post artist you want to learn more about? Just let us know.
Reprints of Saturday Evening Post covers are available at Art.com.
“I began working for The Saturday Evening Post in 1916,” wrote Norman Rockwell, “and Leyendecker was my God.”
There are parallels between the two great illustrators, who later became friends. Both had very long careers with the Post: 45 years for Joseph Christian Leyendecker (from 1898 to 1943) and 47 years for Rockwell (from 1916 to 1963). Each artist created more than 300 Post covers.
“Hurdy-Gurdy Man”
“Hurdy-Gurdy Man” from May 25, 1912
Street or barrel organs were popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Although this century-old cover may be charming to us, the organs were not popular with everyone. According to Wikipedia, the organ grinders were often considered a nuisance and the cranking made some cranky. Charles Dickens complained that he couldn’t get a half hour’s writing in before one of those blasted organs disturbed him.
“To ask outright for money is a crime,” later echoed George Orwell, “yet it is perfectly legal to annoy ones’ fellow citizens by pretending to entertain them.” Be that as it may, the delightful little girls here are having a jolly time.
“Littlest Soldier”
“Littlest Soldier” from September 30, 1916
Leyendecker did a dozen Post covers revolving around World War I, from the tragic to the fairly light, as in “The Littlest Soldier” from 1916. Although it really isn’t light fare, considering that the children are undoubtedly acting out a scene they have witnessed among grown-ups.
Like the cover above, Leyendecker designed this to be noticed on newsstands to carry “further because a good cover has a distinct silhouette,” he noted in a 1932 Post story. “It should, too, tell its story in pantomime. A cover that carries an explanatory legend defeats itself.”
“Knight in Shining Armor”
“Knight in Shining Armor” from July 17, 1926
This is the kind of opulent illustration many think of when they hear the name Leyendecker. Milady has found her knight in shining armor on his lavishly bedecked steed. Leyendecker was born in 1874 and grew up in Montabaur, Germany, a tiny town that goes back to the year 959. A medieval town wall, Crusader influence, and ancient buildings surely fueled the artist’s fascination with the middle ages, in particular coats of arms and armor. We’re not sure what the coat of arms carried by our knight on this 1926 cover symbolizes, but the golden banner at the bottom says “lune de miel,” a French phrase that means honeymoon.
“Kuppenheimer Ad”
“Kuppenheimer Ad” from March 23, 1929
Leyendecker illustrated ads for Kuppenheimer men’s clothing, Arrow Shirts and others. Whether in ads or on Post covers, Leyendecker’s women and men tended to be beautifully dressed. The young lady in this 1929 ad was Phyllis Frederic. According to the book J.C. Leyendecker by Laurence S. Cutler and Judy Goffman Cutler, Phyllis “passed Joe’s (J.C.’s) studio almost daily on her way to meet her father at (Norman) Rockwell’s studio.” Her dad, William Frederic, better known as “Pops,” is familiar to you if you’re a Rockwell follower, as he posed for that artist for several Post covers (see below).” (The name is spelled “Frederic” in the Cutler book; other sources spell it “Fredericks”)
“Doctor and the Doll” by Norman Rockwell
“Doctor and the Doll” from March 9, 1929 by Norman Rockwell
“The Doctor and the Doll” from 1929 was the most beloved of the many covers “Pops” Frederic posed for. Many artists used the same models. Not only were Mr. Frederic and his daughter, Phyllis, hired by Leyendecker in 1922, but the deal included another family member—Phyllis’ dog, Spot! Spot was a popular model with both Leyendecker and Rockwell.
“George Washington on Horseback”
“George Washington on Horseback” from July 2, 1927
The first president was a popular theme with illustrators, especially for the Fourth of July, as in this 1927 cover. Leyendecker chose a heroic pose for Washington, who was a cover subject 10 times, 5 times by Leyendecker. Although we doubt the general had been blessed with such an elegant saddle, we agree with the artist—he should have been. Leyendecker portraits on Post covers included Kaiser Wilhelm II, and a delightful rendering of William Howard Taft (see presidential covers).
“Living Mannequin”
“Living Mannequin” from March 5, 1932
If you look up Leyendecker in a pricey, high-end art book, much of what you will see are his more elegant, lavish illustrations, such as the “Knight in Shining Armor” above. Often overlooked or forgotten are his comic renderings.
The bottom line is that Leyendecker had more diversity of illustrative work than almost any artist. Some are humorous or cute, like our 1932 “model” here. His 300 Post covers, depict more than four decades of the heartrending (a devastated WWI mother receiving “the dreaded telegram”), the practical (a current politician), the fun, and of course, the elegant.
Next: “The Other Leyendecker”: Joe’s talented but less-successful brother, Frank X. Leyendecker.
Reprints of The Saturday Evening Post covers are available at art.com.
“Soldier on Motorbike” by Lawrence Toney from October 20, 1917
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
“Indian Bike Ad” from 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
“Indian Police Motorcycles” from 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
“Indian Motorcycle With Side Car Ad” from 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
“Yale Bike Ad” from 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
“Tex’s Motorcycle” by Stevan Dohanos from April 7, 1951
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”
Photo by Dwight Lamb of The Saturday Evening Post
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.
Acknowledgements:
The history of motorcycle companies like Harley-Davidson are available online and are interesting even if you’re not a motorcycle buff! Click here for the history of the Indian Motorcycle.
A special thank you to Dwight Lamb, who rediscovered and photographed our big, beautiful Harley.
What a career! Yogi Berra spent almost 19 years with the Yankees as an outfielder and catcher, was named American League Most Valuable Player three times, and participated in 21 World Series (as a player, manager, and coach).
And he’s one of the most quotable people on the planet.
Earl Mayan posed Berra in Yankee Stadium for this 1957 cover. Most of the yelling, cat-calling, complaining fans behind the catcher were friends of the artist who, editors assured us, “were real nice-looking people till he asked them to look like baseball fans.”
The “fans” are keeping an eye on the action, heeding Berra’s advice, “You can observe a lot just by watching.”
Berra is playing his part well, concentrating on that high, fly ball because, “baseball is 90 percent mental—the other half is physical.” But, actually, we don’t know how much of this is true, since, “I didn’t really say everything I said.”
Gotta love the guy.
“Saturday Rain”
“Saturday Rain” from April 25, 1959
“Mr. Moore” to the left isn’t overly concerned with nature’s bounty. He had one little bloom and let it get all droopy.
Although the sign on the house says “Moore,” he doesn’t fool us: As our cover artists sometimes liked to do, the part of the disappointed golfer was played by illustrator Earl Mayan himself. A Long Island buddy of the artist posed for the part of the happy gardener.
“Madame Forty-Four”
“Madame Forty-Four” from October 5, 1951
Mayan illustrated 10 Post covers and over a hundred fictional stories that appeared in the magazine in the ’50s and ’60s. The stories ran the gamut from spy thrillers to detective mysteries to this gem we found from 1951.
A saloon singer in the gold mine camps of 1853, Prudence Ledyard, came out with two revolvers blazing when she came across some toughs trying to jump her claim. Turns out they weren’t as tough as they thought they were, and thereafter the demure saloon girl was known as “Madame Forty-Four,” which was the title of this 1951 story by Michael Foster.
“Wedding and Rehearsal”
“Wedding and Rehearsal” from June 2, 1956
One thing we can say about the slackers in the first panel: They clean up good. The groomsmen are slouching, the bridesmaids are yawning or applying make-up and the flower girl is yo-yoing. But a magic wand was waved and somehow this group materialized into a proper ceremony. And it was an actual wedding that Mayan painted.
Editors noted “when Mayan felt sorry about having to paint the Very Rev. Albert Greanoff’s back view, he then put him in the pews a couple of times, front face. This may surprise the rector.”
“Traffic Jam”
“Traffic Jam” from April 28, 1956
In the post-war ’50s, urban sprawl created problems such as traffic jams. Or perhaps it was just pretty girls.
Frustrated drivers are understandably irate as the traffic cop lingers in a female-induced coma, but we get a terrific view of the mid-1950 automobiles.
“Plowed-Over Driveway”
“Plowed-Over Driveway” from December 18, 1954
Geeze! Dey complain if you don’t plow, then complain if you do!
Okay, we know you’ve heard this story before, but isn’t it nice seeing all that snow during the summer sizzle?
“Sleepy Inning”
“Sleepy Inning” from April 23, 1955
One more, because this is one Earl Mayan cover I can’t resist. It’s the top of the ninth, the score is tied, and there are two strikes on the board, for crying out loud.
What I love most is the “what can you do?” look on dad’s face as he hauls away the little fan who couldn’t last any longer.
The most prolific cover artist from The Saturday Evening Post, J.C. Leyendecker, influenced the way we look at Santa during Christmas, turkeys and pies at Thanksgiving, and fireworks on the Fourth of July.
“Fourth of July, 1911”
“Fourth of July, 1911” from July 1, 1911
A style that went from comic to elegantly lavish to sentimental made J.C. Leyendecker the most versatile of all the Post artists. His March 1909 cover gives us a delightful rendition of newly inaugurated William Howard Taft (See Post Presidential Covers) and an April 1912 cover shows a sumptuously attired couple on their Easter walk. From there he ventures into humor as in this cover of an urchin courting trouble.
Leyendecker was hired by legendary publisher, George Horace Lorimer, who purchased the Post in 1897, when it had a circulation of a few thousand. Less than 15 years later, this cover boasts of a circulation of “more than a million and three-quarters weekly.”
“July Fourth at the Beach”
“July Fourth at the Beach” from July 2, 1921
Leyendecker illustrated more than 300 Post covers from 1899-1943 and became the go-to artist for the holidays. His New Year’s baby was legendary and it is a testament to the illustrator’s longevity that he did 36 of these. He also did more Christmas covers (although Rockwell was close behind) and far more Thanksgiving and Fourth of July covers (27 each) than any other Post artist.
The Leyendecker baby mostly, but not exclusively, represented the fresh, young New Year. The tot showed up occasionally at Easter, and as we see here, dressed in red, white, and blue for a 4th of July beach holiday.
“Fourth of July Parade”
“Fourth of July Picnic” from July 3, 1915
Joseph Christian Leyendecker was born in a tiny village on the Rhine in 1874. His brother, Frank X. Leyendecker came along three years later. Frank, who also became an artist, did 15 Saturday Evening Post covers.
The family immigrated to Chicago in 1882. Joe was able to devote himself to art full time at age 16, although the family, which was lower middle class, could barely afford the luxury of art instruction for their sons.
The hottest day of the year is not deterring this corpulent couple from attending the local parade in this 1915 cover. By the way, mom and pop might want to keep an eye on Junior — those are firecrackers he’s hiding.
“Washington and WWI Soldiers”
“Washington and WWI Soldiers” from June 30,1917
Wartime brings out the patriotism, and Leyendecker invoked the spirit of George Washington to march along with the soldiers of World War I. This 1917 cover was the first of five times the artist painted Washington on the cover.
The following issue of the Post showed another side of the artist’s talent and patriotism: a recruitment ad for the United States Navy:
“Why Not Now?”
from July 7, 1917
“Fourth of July, 1913”
“Fourth of July, 1913” from July 5, 1913
Newspaper hats in the early 20th century seemed to show up for festive occasions: a Christmas 1903 cover shows children wearing newspaper hats while playing with their new toys; a 1919 Rockwell cover shows a child wearing just such a hat to welcome a homecoming soldier; and these children are decked out in stars, stripes, and newsprint to salute the 4th on this cover from 1913.
“Minute Man”
“Minute Man” from June 29, 1929
In this 1929 cover it is the image of a rugged, can-do Minute Man that symbolized independence for the 4th. Both Leyendecker and his friend and admirer, Norman Rockwell, relished period costumes and loved painting them. This is also the image most associated with Leyendecker: the handsome, dignified, chisel-featured man who was personified in his ads for Arrow Collars. Beginning in 1905 and continuing for 25 years, the “Arrow Collar Man” was the ideal American male.
“Arrow Collar ad”
from 1914
A 1914 ad for Arrow Collars. Leyendecker was as well known for the Arrow Collar man as for his hundreds of magazine covers.
Questions about Post artists or covers can be addressed to [email protected]. Reprints of covers are available at Art.com.
