Tip the Wink

Norman Rockwell – 332 Magazine Covers edited and text by Christopher Finch, Abbeville Press/Random House 1979 oversized hardcover (12 x 15.5 inches, over 2 inches thick), 455 pages

Blame it on George Kelley. His post last week made me go to my oversize shelves to find this book, which I then spent a couple of days reading and studying.

This 1979 edition (11 7/8″ X 15 1/4″ X 2″) is a larger book than the later 2013 edition and 455 pages vs. 400 pages. It is the cover art from the 332 Saturday Evening Post covers, not the Post covers themselves, i.e. no Post banner, no words across the art saying what was inside that particular magazine, and so on. The format has a section of thumbnails of the covers in each section, with a commentary on each, followed by the full-size, color paintings, one to a very large page. The commentaries are accurate and insightful.

The book is divided into eleven sections:

• Overview: Norman Rockwell Portrayed Americans as Americans Chose to See Themselves
• From the Very Beginning Norman Rockwell Had An Uncanny Knack of Knowing What the Public Wanted – Saturday Evening Post Covers May 20, 1916–June 28 1919
• Although Still Under Thirty, Rockwell Was Rapidly Becoming The Post’s Premier Cover Artist – Saturday Evening Post Covers August 9, 1919–September 9, 1922
• Things Were Changing Too Fast and Rockwell Gave People Nostalgic Glimpses of the World They Had Left Behind – Saturday Evening Post Covers November 4, 1922–December 5, 1925
• Again and Again Rockwell Fell Back on Tried and Tested Themes – Saturday Evening Post Covers January 9, 1926–February 16, 1929
• Rockwell Was One of the Lucky Few Who Was Not Much Affected by the Depression – Saturday Evening Post Covers March 9, 1929–June 17, 1933
• Rockwell’s Work Was Becoming More Personal – Saturday Evening Post Covers August 5, 1933–February 19, 1938
• Rockwell Was Now on the Verge of a Major Breakthrough – Saturday Evening Post Covers April 23, 1938–July 25, 1942
• Rockwell’s Authority Was Based on the Trust of the American Public – Saturday Evening Post Covers September 5, 1942–November 16, 1946
• During the Postwar Years Rockwell Could Hardly Pick Up a Brush Without Producing a Memorable Image – Saturday Evening Post Covers December 7, 1946–January 3, 1953
• Rockwell’s Style Puts It’s Distinctive Mark on Everything – Saturday Evening Post Covers April 4, 1953–May 25, 1963

What the book does not include are the well known covers he painted for Look magazine, including the one of the Federal Marshalls escorting the small black girl to school. Neither does it include the Rockwell series of the Four Freedoms. But what it does include is well worth your time. Well conceived and executed, this is a must for the fan of periodical covers, the Saturday Evening Post and fans of Rockwell’s art.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (1943)

Reading When Books Went to War, about the armed forces editions during WWII, I discovered this was one of the most popular books among troops. I’d heard of it, of course, but never had read it, so I found a copy at the library.

Not really forgotten, instead this is a well-known and enduring classic story of poverty in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn. The story of Francie Nolan, her parents, and her brother Neeley begins in 1912.

Mary Frances “Francie” Nolan is the protagonist. The novel begins when Francie is 11 years old. The rest of the novel tells of Francie’s life until she goes to college at 17. Francie grows up in Brooklyn in the early twentieth century; her family is in constant poverty throughout most of the novel. Francie shares a great admiration for her father, Johnny Nolan, and wishes for an improved relationship with her mother, hardworking Katie Nolan, recognizing similar traits in her mother and herself that she believes are a barrier to true understanding. The story of Francie traces her individual desires, affections, and hostilities while growing up in an aggressive, individualistic, romantic, and ethnic family and neighborhood, though it also represents the hopes of immigrants in the early twentieth century to rise above poverty through their children, whom they hope will receive an education and take their place among “true” Americans. The book’s title, symbolizing Francie, is the “Tree of Heaven” that flourishes under the most unlikely urban circumstances.

I had no idea what to expect of this, not having read it or seen the movie, but I found it well worth reading and got very involved with the characters. It deserves to be considered a classic.

Chicken Every Sunday by Rosemary Taylor, with Donald Mackay, illustrator. Blakiston, 1944. Hardcover.

Reading When Books Went to War, about the armed forces editions during WWII, I discovered this was one of the most popular books among troops. I’m not sure I’d ever heard of it, let alone read it, so I found a copy at the library.

It’s a memoir of a family living in Tucson in the Thirties and early Forties. The father is a wheeler-dealer, often quite successful, always looking for his next business venture. The mother, always remembering her hardscrabble early years as the daughter of plantation owners ruined by the Civil War, makes her own money by taking in boarders and catering, often with what was then considered Mexican food for various parties, groups and charities. Their three children, including the author, contribute to the various family enterprises with varying degrees of enthusiasm and skill.

The tone of the book is lighthearted, the contrast between the big-dreamer father and the penny-pinching mother is funny, rarely bitter. The various boarders and their peculiarities are described with amused affection. There were school teachers, people connected with the mining business, Easterners sent to Arizona for the healthy climate. The author’s family took them in and made them part of the family for a couple of weeks or months, in a strange mixture of hospitality and commercial acumen. There are some really funny episodes, such as the time when Mother and the maid suspect that one of their boarders might be a German spy, or when a retired Easterner decides to go on a mine-prospecting trip with Father.

It’s important to remember that in the early 20th century, Tucson was still a brand-new city, and that many people had personal memories of the Civil War. People were still trying to get gold out of abandoned mines, and the city was developing and growing. So although there is a lot of hustle and bustle in the book, there are moments where the sense of connection with the past is marked.

Some modern readers may find common expressions of the time offensive, such as referring to a black cook as Mammy, but enlightened readers should be able to accept such. Sure, the book is dated, but that’s part of the fun. I’m glad I read this one.