Treasures and Musings @ Modern Graphic History Library

Go to the Circus With Robert Andrew Parker

Robert Andrew Parker turns 86 today!  To celebrate his birthday, Modern Graphic History Library is going to the circus.

 

  Circus of the Wolves, p. 8.

Many of Parker's circus-themed illustrations can be found in the 1994 children's book, Circus of the Wolves by Jack Bushnell.  Parker's illustrations bring to life the story of a timber wolf named Kael.  After falling into a pit, Kael is discovered by circus workers, who capture the wolf and add him to their pack of performing wolves.

 

  Circus of the Wolves, p. 18.

Kael learns how to perform tricks and entertain the crowds while traveling with the circus for a year.  He then discovers a way he can return to the wild, and must decide if he really wants to leave this new life and the trainer he has grown to trust.

  Circus of the Wolves, p. 13.

In addition to the book illustrations, Parker has created other circus-themed works. 

You can't have a circus without clowns ...

 

  Girl with clown, date unknown

Or a flying trapeze ...

  Trapeze artists on postcard, February 1949.

To learn more about Robert Andrew Parker and the Robert Andrew Parker collection, check out our Finding Aid.  Circus of the Wolves is available to read in Modern Graphic History Library's reference section.

Happy Birthday Robert!

Honoring Mom This Mother's Day

This Sunday is Mother's Day.  It's the day to honor your mother for all she's done for you.

When she cared for you as an infant...

 
   John Gannam's Balanced Pacific Sheets advertisement, Saturday Evening Post, Feb. 19. 1919.

 

And stayed with you when you couldn't sleep...

   

Al Parker illustration from Jane's Blanket, 1963

 

When she made sure you had practiced for your music lesson...

 
 Haddon Hubbard Sundblom's fiction illustration, Ladies Home Journal, Jan. 1936.

 

And made sure you ate a healthy, germ-free breakfast...

 
  Listerine advertisement, Delineator, Feburary 1930

 

So this Sunday, make sure to do something nice for her.

 
  Al Parker's December 1939 Ladies Home Journal cover

 

Offer to do some of the housework  ...

 
 Bon Ami advertisement, Delineator, May 1929

 

Or help with the laundry ...

 
   McCall's cover by Haddon Hubbard Sundblom, March 1933.

 

You could always give her flowers ...

Shredded Wheat advertisement, McCalls, April 1930.

 

Or just give her a hug...

 

Fiction illustration by Al Parker for Joy Street, by Betty Gor, McCalls, Feb. 1949

 

And wish her a Happy Mother's Day!

Al Parker's Jane's Blanket drawing and fiction illustrations are part of the Al Parker Collection. The Haddon Hubbard Sundblom illustrations and John Gannam's Balanced Pacific Sheets advertisements are part of the Charles Craver Collection.  Advertisements from Delineator and McCalls are from the Periodicals Collection. 

 

May Day Outfit Suggestions

Modern Graphic History Library wishes you a Happy May Day! 

In order to celebrate, you will need something nice to wear.  Why not make a paper dress?  It's economical and easy to make, plus very fashionable. (Just be careful sitting down, so your hard work doesn't get crumpled or torn!)

Ladies Home Journal, May 1913

To create these dresses, you will need:

• paper
• stiff netting
• ribbon
• appliqués
• paste (to glue the appliqués on the paper)
• strong thread (to sew the paper onto a white slip) 

This assumes you have a white slip to use as the foundation for the dress.  If not, you can easily buy one at a local department store for 75¢, or you can just use an old white dress you no longer want.

Ladies Home Journal, May 1913

The violet dress is the least expensive to create at $1.10.  The rosebud dress only costs $1.45, but you save 25¢ if you can leave off the rose leaves on the hat.  The most expensive outfit is the daisy dress, at $2.60. 

A leaflet with full instructions for the dresses is available by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to the magazine.

Ladies Home Journal, May 1913

The children and teens will also need outfits, but paper dresses probably aren't the best option.  For something more durable, check out these "May styles" from Butterick. 

Delineator, May 1929

Patterns (with instructions and finishing ideas) range between 30¢ - 50¢, with most costing just 35¢.  You can order your patterns through the mail, or stop in at the Butterick store in St. Louis (located on Pine.)

Delineator, May 1929

Now that you have something to wear, you can enjoy the May Day Festivities, courtesy of University Archives.

All of the dress images are from Modern Graphic History Library's Periodicals Collection.

Four Views: Trees

In celebration of National Arbor Day this week, Modern Graphic History Library presents four different ways that illustrators have used trees in their work. In each of these examples, the artists have used the trunk and branches of the tree to frame their subjects and draw the viewer's eye to the actions of the people in the scene.

This R. John Holmgren illustration accompanied a story that ran in the October 1938 edition of Collier's.  Holmgren's work appeared in Collier's as well as Life and Judge magazines.  He was known for his colorful illustrations, which often featured shapely young women.

This black & white illustration is by Mario Ruben Cooper. It was featured in a story that ran in the September 1936 edition of Collier's.  In addition to being featured in Collier's, his illustrations also appeared in Cosmopolitan and Woman's Home Companion.

This advertisment for Jantzen Sun Clothes was drawn by Pete Hawley, who was well-known for his drawings of attractive young women. Hawley began illustrating for Jantzen in 1943.  This advertisement was featured in the July 1947 issue of Seventeen.

This Robert Andrew Parker illustration was created for the 1993 children's book, The Woman Who Fell From the Sky: the Iroquois Story of Creation, retold by John Bierhorst. Parker illustrated over 40 children's books in his lifetime.

Modern Graphic History Library has The Woman Who Fell From the Sky, plus many other Parker-illustrated children's books in its Reference section. For more infomation about Robert Andrew Parker and his collection, check out the finding aid. The Cooper, Hawley, and Holmgren illustrations are part of the Charles Craver Collection of tearsheets. 

Money Saving Tips from Sealed Power Piston Rings Advertisements

Now that tax season has come and gone, you may find that your pockets are pinched and you are needing ways to spend less.  Here are some money-saving tips from a series of Sealed Power Piston Rings advertisements.

• Darn your own socks
• Do your own ironing
• Roll your hair in curlers instead of going to the hairdresser
• Be frugal about where you eat lunch
• Use Sealed Power Piston Rings in your car to save on gas and oil

Advertisement from Collier's, February 8, 1941.

This ad series, drawn by Robert O. Reid, ran in 1941 in Collier's and Saturday Evening Post. In addition to the piston rings series, Reid illustrated for other automobile-related advertisements including General Tire and Oldsmobile. Reid also was a regular cover illustrator for Collier's magazine in the 1930s and 1940s. Examples of his covers  have been highlighted in this 2012 blog post.

Advertisement from Collier's, January 11, 1941.

Reid was known for drawing doe-eyed women with pointy, hourglass figures. The women typically found themselves in comical settings all-the-while standing or sitting in suggestive poses, which always drew attention to their waistlines and legs.

Advertisement from Saturday Evening Post, April 12, 1941.

In the Sealed Power Pistons Rings series, a housewife informs her husband how she is saving the family money and reminds him that he should save on oil and gas by using this brand of piston rings in the family car.  The wife, who is always in the forefront, very seriously talks about saving money, while her husband's face ranges from mild surprise to extreme shock.

Advertisement from Collier's, May 31, 1941.

The ads have a distinctive style and the color scheme is always black and orange, which coordinates well with the orange company logo.  Reid liked using a variety of patterns in the ads. He would often use polka-dots on or around the wife, with a contrasting pattern, often checks or stripes, for her husband.

All of these ads are part of Modern Graphic History Library's Charles Craver Collection.

Spring Cleaning with MGHL

Now that it's Spring, it's time for all the fun and excitement that comes from spring cleaning.  Yes, spring cleaning is supposed to be fun-- you will be smiling the entire time.  For those of you feeling skeptical about this and need proof, see below...

For all scrubing all of your wooden items, you will need Old Dutch Cleanser, at only 10¢ a can.  Don't worry: it comes with full instructions, so you can smile as you scrub.

 
   Advertisement in Ladies Home Journal, September 1913.

For the rest of the house, you can rely on Bon Ami.  It promises it will not scratch as it cleans, so you can happily wash the windows, the mirrors, the bathtub, and the woodwork.

 
   Advertisement in Ladies Home Journal, April 1911.

After you have cleaned your woodwork, you will need to continue to dust it.  With your free sample of Liquid Veneer, you will be one of millions of women around the world happily singing a dusting song. 

 
   Advertisement in Ladies Home Journal, April 1911.

When it comes time to clean the floors, you will need an O'Cedar Polish Mop, which promises that mopping and polishing will be "just like play." The mop costs between $1 - $1.50, and the polish only costs 25¢. You can try the mop risk-free for two days.

  Advertisement in Ladies Home Journal, December 1913.

After you've done all this work, you can't forget to clean the carpets.  For that, have a Hoover representative come to your house to demonstrate a vacuum, ranging from $59.50 - $135.

  Advertisement in Delineator, April 1929.

Now that your Spring Cleaning is finished, you should have brightened your day (as well as your house.)  However, if you are still feeling sad, a handsome stranger could always approach you and say:

"You could wash all the floors you wanted to in my house."

 Al Parker illustration for the short story Little Things are Big Things by Alice A. Fraser,  appearing in the August 1935 Woman's Home Companion.

All of the advertisements can be found in the MGHL's Periodicals collection, which includes Ladies Home Journal, Delineator, and McCalls.  The Al Parker fiction illustration is part of the Charles Craver tearsheet collection.  Happy Spring Cleaning!

Introducing the Mort Walker Collection

Modern Graphic History Library is excited to announce its newest collection of original Mort Walker comic strips. Walker is best known for creating Beetle Bailey and its spin-off strip Hi and Lois. 

Walker was born in El Dorado, Kansas and grew up in the Kansas City area. He was drafted while attending college in 1943 and was sent to Italy as an intelligence officer. His experience in the Army would provide the characters and source material he would later use in Beetle Bailey.

After being discharged four years later, he returned to college and after graduating, moved to New York to pursue a career in cartooning.  A Saturday Evening Post editor suggested he create a college-themed strip since Walker was familiar with the college scene. King Features picked up Walker's college-based strip about a slacker named "Spider" in 1951. After six months, it had a low syndication of 25 papers. 

A Philadelphia newspaper editor suggested sending Spider to the Army.  Walker knew that the interest in Army-themed comic strips during World War II faded after the war ended. Fearing the same would happen with strips during the Korean War, Walker was reluctant to add in the Army theme, but eventually did.  After Spider went to the Army, 200 newspapers picked up the strip, and Spider was renamed Beetle Bailey.

A Beetle Bailey strip originally published September 10, 1981.

In 1954, Walker teamed up with illustrator Dik Browne to create a spin-off strip about Beetle's sister, Lois, and her family living in the suburbs. Walker used his own family experience of raising seven kids to provide the gags he would write in Hi and Lois.  Readers never saw Hi and Lois argue, however, since Walker's wife feared that readers would think they were fighting in real life.

A Hi and Lois strip featuring Trixie, originally published March 18, 1982.

Walker then branched out into a fantasy-themed strip, Boner's Ark, with walking and talking animals on a ship.  Walker often signed these strips "Addison." While Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois were strips based on personal experience, Boner's Ark was his commentary on modern day mores.

A Boner's Ark strip originally published January 17, 1970.

Walker's style of using high-contrast images with simple scenarios and gags has set a standard still used by today's cartoonists. Unlike the typical "one strip a day" method used by many cartoonists, Walker chose to pencil a week's worth of strips in one day and ink them the next day. He would sketch ideas two days a week.

The Mort Walker Collection has eight Beetle Bailey strips, including four from 2012 that he co-created with his son, Greg Walker.  The collection also includes two strips from Hi & Lois and two from Boner's Ark.  All 12 strips will soon be available online.

For more information on the collection, check out our Finding Aid

For more information on Mort Walker, check out the following:

• Cartoonist Mort Walker Explains his Beetle Bailey Comics
• Mort's Biography
• These top cartoonists tell how they created America's favorite comics. Fort Lauderdale: Allied, 1964 (available through MOBIUS)
• Mort Walker conversations. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2005 (available through MOBIUS)
• Walker, Mort. Backstage at the strips. New York: Mason/Charter, 1975 (available at Olin Library)

Happy Spring from MGHL

Spring 2013 has arrived, even if it doesn’t yet feel like it. 

Modern Graphic History Library wishes you warm thoughts and the hope your days will be more like this …

and less like this …

Both images are by Al Parker and appeared in Boys Life, the official magazine of the Boy Scouts of America.  Parker drew covers and fiction illustrations for Boys Life issues from 1965-1985.

The beach image was featured in the August 1973 issue as an illustration to the story "The Time Machine Twins the Jamboree" by Keith Monroe.  The winter image was featured in the December 1980 issue to illustrate A.R Winnerton’s story, "White Christmas".

To learn more about the Al Parker Collection, check out the finding aid.

Thrill Seekers Exhibit Now Available Online

Remember that exhibit we mentioned a few weeks ago? Well, in case you aren't able to visit Olin Library, you can now view Thrill Seekers: The Rise of Men's Magazines online.

Like the in-person exhibit, the digital companion features the original artwork, tear sheets, and whole issues of mid-century magazines like Esquire, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, and Fortune, as well as lesser-known pulp fiction titles and girlie magazines. The exhibit draws on several of MGHL's collections and includes items like Robert Andrew Parker's illustrations for Vladimir Nabokov's fiction, Al Parker's take on the Monaco Grand Prix, 1930's ads from Esquire, Robert Weaver's illustrations for James Bond stories, and Ernest Trova's version of the Playboy bunny. The digital exhibit contains over 60 images -- some of which we weren't able to include in the in-person exhibit -- as well as a few additional features like recommending reading and relevant digital resources.

Below is one of our favorites -- an original Robert Andrew Parker watercolor for a Nabokov story that appeared in a 1965 issue of Playboy. To see more, check out Thrill Seekers online.

MGHL's Exhibit Thrill Seekers at Olin Library

MGHL's exhibit Thrill Seekers: The Rise of Men's Magazines opens today at Washington University's Olin Library. The exhibit charts the growth of men's magazines from the 1940s to the 1960s, and highlights original artwork, tear sheets, and whole issues of Esquire, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, and Fortune, as well as pulp fiction and girlie magazines. Artists featured include Al Parker, Robert Weaver, Ernest Trova, and Robert Andrew Parker, among others. The exhibit will be on display in the Ginkgo Reading Room and Grand Staircase Lobby until January 4, 2013. A digital version of the exhibit is forthcoming, but in the meantime, you can check out a few highlights below.

This Stetson hat advertisement, illustrated by Edwin Georgi, appeared in the June 1939 issue of Esquire

1950 issue of the pulp magazine Adventure

1966 issue of Debonair

 August 1957 cover of Fortune by Robert Andrew Parker

This article, illustrated by Robert Weaver, appeared in the April 1959 issue of Esquire

The December 1979 issue of Playboy featured this three-panel "Do It Yourself" insert by Ernest Trova