Show that picture on the calendar on your wall Is the most widely known also the most profitable form of art in america today toda by ELMO SCOTT WATSON released by western newspaper union YOU OU gaze upon one there on the walls of your home or your office every day and you enjoy looking at it chances are that you never give a second thought to that picture on the calendar any more than you do to any other familiar object in your daily life but the truth is 1 that when you look at a calendar picture youre cooki looking ng at the most widely known and most popular form of art in america today for calendar art is truly the art of the people and it is seen and enjoyed every year by more peo people ale than have seen or enjoyed the combined output of all the great masters in history moreover its the most profitable p bitable form of art because the art calendar business is estimated at annually and that is s been going on for a number of years who selects these pictures that adorn our calendars certainly not the grocer or hardware merchant or insurance agent or some other business man or institution which provides us with a new calendar at the beginning of every year how do they know what subjects will be appealing and draw the eye to the picture and incidentally to the advertising ver message 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 brown and bigelow of st paul minn the osborne company of clifton N J the shaw barton company of coshocton Cosh octon ohio the thomas D murphy company of red oak iowa the gerlach barklow company of joliet ill and the kemper thomas company of cincinnati ohio talk to the officials of one of these companies brown and bigelow the aily A e A I 1 A Y X boy meets girl in an automobile was a favorite calendar art theme around 1912 biggest of the big six for instance and learn that they have experts whose business it is to keep their ears to the ground and find 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 in the field of illustration from maxfield parrish norman rockwell lawson wood rolf armstrong anton otto fischer frank hoffman N C wyeth and maud fan gel and a few months later the art calendar companas comp anys giant presses are turning out full color or black 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 been serving overseas weve been hearing a lot about pin up girls betty grable rita hayworth dorothy lamour and other hollywood celebrities are any of these the favorite pin up girls of civilian america as well as military america the answer is they are NOT The favorite pin up girls in the american home are five little girls who live up in canada the famous E Z 2 FV ann this is one of andrew loomis paintings of the dionne quintuplets Quintuple ts which appearing on a brown and bigelow calendar have made them americas favorite pin up girls forthe last nin eyears dionne quintuplets Quintuple ts moreover held that honor for the last nine years and its doubtful if any hollywood star or curvaceous powers model will ever displace them since it 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 pictures produced by other artists mentioned above for they have produced pictures in every field landscapes portraits leg art and nudes also some of the best known sporting pictures in the world undoubtedly the average american knows the baby pictures of maud fangel better than the boy with the fife of manet and the norman rockwell boy scout better than the blue boy of gains borche has become better acquainted with the landscapes of maxfield parrish and feels closer to his famous blues and purples than to the landscapes of turner and corot and from daily glances in his office and on his living room walls the average american who hunts and fishes and there are 15 million more of him has come to know and love pictures like frank hoffmans at bay one of the outstanding calendar pictures in the brown and bigelow catalogue better than any of rosa Bonheu rs masterpieces no the average american may not be tremendously art conscious but he likes pictures and knows what he likes moreover 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 with whom he does business or sends him a calendar with his favorite artists picture on it whether its a nude or revealing bit of anatomy by rolf armstrong or zoe or a more artistic landscape by maxfield parrish a tragicomic comic cornic situation painted in his inimitable fashion by norman rockwell or a hunting scene by frank hoffman each of these artists has his fans and as soon as t the he calendar is brought in by the postman it is unwrapped and the plain american or his missus hangs it up at the time honored spot on the wall the subjects they like run from the dionne quintuplets Quintuple ts to historical scenes such as columbus discovering america or washington crossing the delaware if you think the he present pin up craze is big re 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 having it there but the favorite subject according to a brown and bigelow survey has always been the landscape the scene must be a homely comfortable for table and comforting one not the noisy over colored flashy modern 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 loomis drawings of canadas 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 pictures what is known to the newspaper man as cheesecake are next in popularity men like nudes best and steel companies and tire companies send these to their men customers garageman gara gemen contractors mechanics etc but a close runner up is the plain picture of a wholesome american girl the 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 is chosen by city shops florists milliners and laundry and dry cleaning places besides the who are the essence of human interest the hu man interest scenes go biggest in the average home pictures like norman Rock wells and the etchings of a boy and his dog religious pictures 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 a moment by imagining themselves in the wide open spaces back in the decade from 1920 to 1930 the mother and child theme in calendar art was a popular one but athas fallen off somewhat in the last 10 years just why no one knows calendar makers will tell you that the idea is fundamentally sound and the only explanation they have is that no artist recently has drawn a mo mother ther child picture with exacts exactly y the right idea and technique similarly ship pictures especially the 77 n 0 J wv X z mel va na WA P this bathing beauty was considered a very snappy number tor for calendars back in 1904 sailing ship scudding studding scud ding along in a stiff 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 or girl art the american public is pin up minded athas it has been long before the war and will be as long as about this time of the year the postman comes around with a calendar and its picture by the th americans favorite artist |