Season to be Jolly

Carl Barks' paintings brought Duckburg to some form of reality. This one is entitled 'The Season to be Jolly', adding another layer of reality to Uncle Scrooge.

Delicious and Refreshing

Below is a 10 year run of Coke ads featuring Haddon Sundblom paintings, beginning in 1933, just two years after he painted his first Santa.

If I had more time, I would show some comparison illustrations to demonstrate how Sundblom's Coca Cola Santa paintings were altered for various uses, as many of them were over the years. They were cropped and shifted, sometimes changing arm positions or moving props around. All in all, one of the most effective ad campaigns in history.

If you haven't been over there already, take a look at some other great Sundblom Coke Santas on Mr Door Tree's 'blog by clicking here.

1933

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1938

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1943

The above ad was a new painting that ran at the same time as a reworked Sundblom Santa from an earlier time was running. At least he was allowed to sign this illustration of a soldier on furlough, sweetly hanging out with his mom. My father would have been this soldier's age, and amazingly, his mother looked almost identical to this woman, but alas—my dad was overseas the entire duration of the war, with no furloughs home.

O, There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

Christmas in the 20s and 30s was such a cozy thing, if it can be judged by the graphics of the time. These images, from postcards of the time, are some of my favorite graphics and sentiments for the season.

Blessings to our soldiers who aren't so cozy, and best wishes for them to come home safely and soon.

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Why the Chimes Rang

There's only one Christmas story in this 1924 book, but I thought it was worth showing the other lovely stylized illustrations by Katharine Sturges.

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The Time Before Christmas

This is the time before Christmas that is so fun to be out among people. Under the right conditions, the air is filled with love and harmony, and, if you're lucky, a little bit of snow.

Above, one of Johnny Gruelle's famous 'bird's eye views'

Above, a similar view from Henry Soulen for Saturday Evening Post

Happy Winter Everyone!

Happy First Day of Winter, shortest day of the year. This art seems appropriate enough for that occasion. A really nice drawing from the 70s by Clive Dobson, then of Fifty Fingers.

ToyLand

The previous post about Santa's Toy Shop was a set-up for this post, a Carl Barks story originally from the 1948 issue of the Firestone Giveaway series. Carl Barks' Christmas tales were always the best. I don't remember a Christmas season, as a kid, that I didn't curl up in a warm corner to read and reread Barks Christmas stories.

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The 1948 cover to this story:

Santas's Toy Shop

Golden Books may be items of nostalgia for baby boomers, hopefully having fond memories attached to them. This book, originally published in 1950, was supervised by the Disney crew and is graphically noteworthy (for me) for the nifty rendition of Santa. He's lively and quick and truly a jolly old elf.

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