| Show That Picture on the Calendar on Your WallIs Wall Is the Most Widely Known Known Also Also the Most Profitable Profitable Form Form of Art in America Today By fly ELMO SCOTT WATSON Released by Western Newspaper Union YOU V OU gaze upon one there on onI I I the walls of your home or your office office every day ay and nd you enjoy looking at it it Chances are that you never give a sec sec- second s second c- c cond ond thought to that picture on the calendar any more than you yo do to any other familiar object in iii your daily life But the truth is that when you look at a calendar picture youre you're looking at the most widely- widely known and most popular form of art in America today For calendar art is truly the art of the people and it itis itis is seen and enjoyed every year by more people than have seen or enjoyed the com com- combined combined combined output of all the Treat Great Masters in history Moreover More More- Moreover Moreover over its it's the most profitable form of art because the art- art calendar business is estimated ed at annually and that has been going on for a number of years Who selects these t ese pictures that adorn our calendars Certainly Ia not the grocer or hardware merchant merchant or insurance agent of t r some s m other business onan nan nn or institution ins which provides a new calendar at atthe atthe atthe the beginning of every year How do they what subjects will be appealing and draw the eye to the picture and incidentally to the ad ad- advertising advertising advertising message that's usually just below it Well the answer to those and many other interesting questions which suggest themselves when you begin Investigating the subject of calendar art can best be answered If you pay a visit to one of the Big Six art calendar companies- companies Brown and Bigelow of St. St Paul Minn Mimi the Osborne company of Clif Cut Clifton Clifton Cutton ton N. N J. J the Shaw-Barton Shaw com corn company company pany of Coshocton Ohio the Thom Thom- Thomas as D. D Murphy company of Red Oak Iowa the Gerlach-Barklow Gerlach company of Joliet Jollet Ill m. and the Kemper- Kemper Thomas company of Cincinnati ti Ohio Talk to the officials of one of these companies companies Brown Brown and Bigelow the S Sv v t t j S 4 bA I I Boy meets girl in an automobile was was was' wasa a favorite calendar art theme around 1912 biggest of the Big Six for lor In In- Instance stance stance and and you'll learn that they have experts whose business it is to keep their ears to the ground and find out out what kind of picture Mr and Mrs America like best on their calendars They get that kind of picture from American artists who are outstanding outstanding ing In the field of illustration illustration from from Maxfield Parrish Norman Rockwell Lawson Wood Rolf Roll Armstrong An An- Anton Anton Anton ton Otto Fischer Frank Hoffman N. N C C. Wyeth and Maud Tousey Fan- Fan Fangel FanI gel gel and and a few months later the art calendar company's giant presses are turning out full color full color or black- black white and-white reproductions of their paintings to adorn calendars which will hang in millions of homes and offices throughout the United States Since our fighting men have hav been serving overseas weve we've been hear hear- hearing hearing hearing ing a lot about up pin girls girls Betty Betty Grable Rita Hayworth Dorothy La La- Lamour mour and other Hollywood ties Are any of these the favorite up pin girls of civilian Amer lea ica as well as military America The answer is They are NOT I The favorite up pin girls in the American home are five little girls 7 5 S f S. S q 5 4 S S q l S S S SS S 5 S S 5 This Is one of Andrew Loomis' Loomis paintings of or the Dionne Quintuplets which appearing on a Brown and Bigelow calendar have made them Americas America's favorite up pin girls for the last Jast nine years who live up in Canada the Canada the famous Dionne Quintuplets Q Moreover they've held that honor for the last nine years and its it's doubtful if any Hollywood star or curvaceous Pow Pow- Powers Powers Powers ers model will ever displace them since it seems seems that the plain people of America have both figuratively and literally pinned their devotion to Annette Cecile Yvonne Emilie and Marie Dionne whose childish charms have been displayed the length and breadth of this land in paintings by Artist Andrew Loomis on Brown and Bigelow calendars By actual count calendars bearing the picture of the have sold into the tens of millions What Is true of this picture Is true to almost as great an extent of pic pie pictures pictures tures produced by other artists men men- mentioned men men- mentioned mentioned above For they have pro pro- produced produced du ed pictures in every field field land land landscapes portraits leg art and nudes also some of the Ule best known h sporting pictures in the world Un Un- Undoubtedly Undoubtedly Undoubtedly the average American knows the baby pictures of Maud Fangel better than the Boy With the Fife File of Manet and the Norman Rockwell Boy Scout bet bet- better better better ter than the Blue Boy of Gains Gains- boro He has become better ac ac- acquainted acquainted ac- ac acquainted with the the landscapes of Max Max- Maxfield Maxfield field Parrish Parri and feels closer to his famous famous' btU s and purples than to the landscapes of Turner and Corot And from daily glances in his of of- office office fice flee and on his living room walls the average American who hunts and fishes and there ther are 15 million more of him has come to know and love pictures like Frank Hoffmans Hoffman's ns n's At Bat Bay one of the outstanding calendar pictures in the Brown and Bigelow catalogue better than any of Rosa Bonheur's masterpieces No the average American may not be I tremendously conscious art-conscious but he be likes pictures and knows what he likes Moreover you'll find what he likes hanging in his office home garage work room and places of recreation And he can hardly wait till his bank grocery gas or tire company or other concern concern with whom he does business or doesn't sends him hima a calendar with his favorite artists artist's picture on it Whether its it's a nude or revealing revelling bit of anatomy by Rolf Roll Armstrong or Zee Ze or a more artistic by Maxfield Par Par- Parrish Parrish Parrish rish a comic situation painted in his inimitable fashion by Norman Rockwell or a hunting scene by Frank Hoffman each of these art art- artists artists artists has his fans and md as soon as the calendar is brought In by the post post- postman postman postman man it is unwrapped and the plain American or his Missus l hangs it up at the time-honored time spot on the wall The subjects they like run from the Dionne Quintuplets to historical scenes such as Columbus Discover Discover- Discovering ing America or Washington Cross Cross- CrossIng Crossing Ing the Delaware If you think the present pin up craze Is big re re- remember remember re- re remember member back to the days when practically every American home either hung September Morn on the wall or fought bitterly about the propriety and even morality of hav hay having having haying ing It there But the favorite subject accord- accord according accordIng ing big to a Brown and Bigelow sur sur- survey survey survey vey has always been the landscape The scene must be a homely com corn comfortable comfortable and comforting one one not not the over-colored over mod mod- modern modern modem noisy flashy ern em art However the outstanding favorite of the average American a favorite that has held its leadership for nine years are the calendars picturing the Andrew Loo- Loo Loomis Loomis' Loomis Loomis' Loomis Loomis' mis' mis drawings of Canadas Canada's chief peacetime Industry have sold into the millions each year 2 million at their peak In 1936 and never less than a million a year Girl calendars nudes leggy pic pie pictures pictures tures what is known to the news news- newspaper newspaper newspaper paper man as cheesecake are arc next in popularity Men like nudes best and steel companies and tire companies send these to their men customers contractors mechanics etc But a close runner up is the plain picture of a whole whole- wholesome wholesome wholesome some American girl the cut clean-cut type of young girl of about 17 These are favorites with storekeepers small town banks beauty parlors etc A more sophisticated type is chosen by city shops florists mil mil- milliners milliners milliners liners and laundry and dry cleaning pla places es Besides the who are the essence of human interest the hu hu- human human hu- hu human man interest scenes scenes go biggest in the like Nor Nor- Norman Norman Norman average home pictures home pictures man Rockwell's and the etchings of a boy and his dog Religious pic pie pictures pictures tures which had waned somewhat in popularity have spurted recently undoubtedly due to the war And the subject that is always sure of its popularity is the outdoor scene Even the busiest of executives like them hanging In the office because it gives them a chance to relax for fora a moment by imagining themselves n 0 the wide open spaces i Back in the decade from 1920 to 1930 the mother and child theme in Ini i calendar art was a popular one but it has fallen off olI somewhat In the last 10 years Just why no one knows Calendar makers will tell you you that that the idea is fundamentally sound and the only explanation they have haveis is that no artist recently has drawn a mother-child mother picture pi ture with exactly the right idea and technique Simi Simi- Similarly Similarly ship pictures pictures especially especially the 4 1 t M I I I j This bathing beauty was consid consid- considered considered ered a very snappy number for cal cal- calendars calendars back in 1901 sailing ship scudding along in a stiff breeze have breeze have declined In popularity However as the American navy wins more and more victories it Is probable that pictures of warships will appear more frequently But whether they choose the landscapes human Interest I or girl art the American public is up pin minded It has been long before the war and will be as long longas as about this time of the year the postman comes around with a cal cal- calendar calendar calendar and its picture by the Amer Amer- Americans American's Americans American's Americans American's ican's favorite artist |
