"ORIGINAL" COVER

 AN ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATED COVER... COVERS ARE BEING SOLD AS-IS WITH ALL DEFECTS AS SEEN IN PHOTO(S)

DATE OF ORIGINAL COVER:  NOVEMBER 19, 1950

SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS/DESCRIPTIVE WORDS: ONE OF THE  MOST DESIRED COVERS BY JC LEYENDECKER.  VERY SCARCE IN ANY CONDITION.

CONDITION : FAIR - TEARS, STAINS TO LEFT SIDE.

READY FOR FRAMING - SIZE  15.5" x 11"

ILLUSTRATOR/ARTIST:

Joseph Christian Leyendecker - was a German-American illustrator. He is considered to be one of the greatest American illustrators of the early 20th century. He is best known for his poster, book and advertising illustrations, the trade character known as The Arrow Collar Man, and his numerous covers for The Saturday Evening Post. Between 1896 and 1950, Leyendecker painted more than 400 magazine covers. During the Golden Age of American Illustration, for The Saturday Evening Post alone, J. C. Leyendecker produced 322 covers, as well as many advertisement illustrations for its interior pages. No other artist, until the arrival of Norman Rockwell two decades later, was so solidly identified with one publication. Leyendecker "virtually invented the whole idea of modern magazine design.

In 1899, the Leyendecker brothers set up residence in an apartment in Hyde Park, Illinois. They had a studio in Chicago's Fine Arts Building at 410 South Michigan Ave. On May 20 of that year, Joe received his first commission for a Saturday Evening Post cover – the beginning of his forty-four-year association with the most popular magazine in the country. Ultimately he would produce 322 covers for the magazine, introducing many iconic visual images and traditions including the New Year's Baby, the pudgy red-garbed rendition of Santa Claus, flowers for Mother's Day, and firecrackers on the 4th of July.

In 1900, Joe, Frank, and their sister Mary moved to New York City, then the center of the US commercial art, advertising and publishing industries. During the next decade, both brothers began lucrative long-term working relationships with apparel manufactures including Interwoven Socks, Hartmarx, B. Kuppenheimer & Co., and Cluett Peabody & Company. The latter resulted in Leyendecker's most important commission when he was hired to develop a series of images of the Arrow brand of shirt collars. Leyendecker's Arrow Collar Man, as well as the images he later created for Kuppenheimer Suits and Interwoven Socks, came to define the fashionable American male during the early decades of the twentieth century. Leyendecker often used his favorite model and partner Charles Beach (1881–1954).

Another important commission for Leyendecker was from Kellogg's, the breakfast food manufacturer. As part of a major advertising campaign, he created a series of twenty "Kellogg's Kids" to promote Kellogg's Corn Flakes.

The 1920s were in many ways the apex of Leyendecker's career, with some of his most recognizable work being completed during this time. Modern advertising had come into its own, with Leyendecker widely regarded as among the preeminent American commercial artists. 

As the 1920s marked the apex of J. C. Leyendecker's career, so the 1930s marked the beginning of its decline. 

Leyendecker's last cover for the Saturday Evening Post was of a New Year Baby for January 2, 1943, thus ending the artist's most lucrative and celebrated string of commissions. New commissions continued to filter in, but slowly. Among the most prominent were posters for the United States Department of War, in which Leyendecker depicted commanding officers of the armed forces encouraging the purchases of bonds to support the nation's efforts in World War II.

Many biographers have speculated on J. C. Leyendecker's sexuality, often attributing the apparent homoerotic aesthetic of his work to a homosexual identity. Without question, Leyendecker excelled at depicting male homosocial spaces (locker rooms, clubhouses, tailoring shops) and extraordinarily handsome young men in curious poses or exchanging glances. Leyendecker never married, and he lived with another man, Charles Beach, for much of his adult life. Beach was the original model for the famous Arrow Collar Man and is assumed to have been his lover. 

IMAGE SIZE: SEE PHOTO FOR DIMENSIONS ( ALL DIMENSIONS ARE IN INCHES) 

Item Condition: SEE PHOTO CAREFULLY...All original ads will have some sign of age use.. these are period ads and we take quality photo's & scans to show any flaws. If you have questions about condition please ask...  WE DO try and note any MAJOR flaws....otherwise please use the photo as part of the description...

**For multiple purchases please wait for our combined invoice. Shipping discount are ONLY available with this method.  Thank You.

THE COLLECTING OF MAGAZINE COVER ART IS INTRIGUING IN THE SENSE OF "THE FIND" AND ALSO "THE BRAG" ... BEING IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD-EPHEMERAL, MOST MAGAZINES WERE NOT INTENDED FOR LONG-TERM SURVIVAL.

AS WITH ALL EPHEMERA, CONDITION, SCARCITY,  DESIRABILITY ARE THE PRIME FACTORS INVOLVED IN PRICE.