List of Boy Scout calendar illustrations
Between 1925 and 1990, Brown & Bigelow released a yearly calendar for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) featuring a painting by illustrators Norman Rockwell (from 1925 to 1976) and (from 1977 to 1990) Joseph Cesatari. Rockwell only failed to complete a painting for two years: 1928 and 1930; Cesatari completed a painting for every year. The illustrations show scouts of different kinds – Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA (Boy Scouts at the time), Venturing (Explorers at the time), Sea Scouts, and Air Scouts – engaging in mostly outdoor activities. The calendars were large – 22 by 44.5 inches (56 by 113 centimeters) – and featured a single image for the year; the months were changed by tearing off a paper portion at the bottom.[1]
List of Boy Scout calendar illustrations | |||
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The first Boy Scout calendar painting, A Good Scout | |||
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The idea for the calendar series was thought up by an unknown staff member at Brown & Bigelow in 1923.[2] After seeing the impact on recruitment of the BSA's use of Rockwell's paintings for The Red Cross Magazine that were donated to the organization by the American Red Cross, the staff member wondered if Brown & Bigelow could help by publishing a calendar with one of the paintings. Later that year, James E. West, the Chief Scout Executive, agreed to Brown & Bigelow's proposal for a 1925 calendar with repurposed art.[3] The chosen painting, A Good Scout, was originally titled A Red Cross Man in the Making and depicts a scout bandaging a foot of a spaniel puppy under the eye of its mother.[3] Assuming the calendar would sell well, the BSA, Brown & Bigelow, and Rockwell worked out a deal for future calendars. Rockwell would paint his paintings years in advance so that it could be the cover of Boys Life early in the year to advertise that year's calendar.[4]
Two early years of the calendar series – 1928 and 1930 – were missed due to Rockwell having too many other commissions.[5] To prevent this from happening in the future and to control the content of the paintings, James E. West devised a yearly workflow.[6] Early in the year, the BSA and Rockwell would both pitch ideas for the painting to be used for the calendar in two years and decide on the theme. While Rockwell was working in his studio, a member of the BSA's staff would come by to check the details of the painting.[6] Every person depicted had to be the idealized version of a scout or scout leader and every uniform had to be depicted correctly. The tents and other outdoors gear that scouts use in the paintings had to be the right type and could not look like army surplus.[7] After the initial draft of the painting was finished, West and other BSA staff members would find issues that needed to be corrected.[8]
Between 1925 and 1976, Rockwell created 49 paintings for the BSA's Brown & Bigelow calendar. Every illustration, besides A Good Scout in 1925, was painted specifically for the calendar. Several of the paintings found a secondary purpose as the covers of the various handbooks the BSA publishes. Three paintings – Spirit of America, The Scouting Trail, and Come and Get It – were reused as the cover illustration of the Boy Scout Handbook.[9][10] The Adventure Trail was used as the cover art for the 1954 edition of the Den Chief's Handbook, and The Scoutmaster was repurposed as the cover of the 1960 edition of the Scoutmaster's Handbook.[11] A majority of the illustrations, including Forward America and Beyond the Easel, are in the collection of the National Scouting Museum.[12] In 2020 as a part of the BSA's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, the organization listed the paintings as assets.[13] The rest reside in private collections or the collections of museums such as The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.[14][15]
After Rockwell's retirement in 1976, the BSA asked Joseph Cesatari to take over the calendar series.[16] From 1969 to 1972, Cesatari was the art director in the advertising division of the BSA; he became the art director of Boys Life in 1973.[17] Between 1977 and 1990, Cesatari created 14 paintings for the BSA's Brown & Bigelow calendar. Like Rockwell, all of the illustrations were created specifically for the calendar. Unlike Rockwell, none of the calendar paintings were repurposed for handbook covers. Due to declining sales, Brown & Bigelow cancelled the calendars in 1990; The Scoutmaster was the final painting created for the series.[18]
Rockwell's illustrations
Year | Name | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1925 | A Good Scout | Originally printed in 1918 for The Red Cross Magazine under the name A Red Cross Man in the Making | [4] |
1926 | A Good Turn | [4] | |
1927 | Good Friend | [19] | |
1928 | No painting was created for the 1928 calendar | [5] | |
1929 | Spirit of America | Used as the cover art for the 3rd edition of the Boy Scout Handbook; in the private collection of Steven Spielberg | [9][14][20] |
1930 | No painting was created for the 1930 calendar | [5] | |
1931 | Scout Memories | In the collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis | [15][21] |
1932 | A Scout is Loyal | [6] | |
1933 | An Army of Friendship | [6] | |
1934 | Carry On | [6] | |
1935 | A Good Scout | [6] | |
1936 | The Campfire Story | [22] | |
1937 | Scouts of Many Trails | In the collection of the National Scouting Museum | [23][12] |
1938 | America Builds for Tomorrow | [24] | |
1939 | The Scouting Trail | Used as the cover art for the 4th edition of the Boy Scout Handbook | [9][25] |
1940 | A Scout is Reverent | [26] | |
1941 | A Scout is Helpful | [27] | |
1942 | A Scout is Loyal | [28] | |
1943 | A Scout is Friendly | [29] | |
1944 | We, Too, Have a Job to Do | [30] | |
1945 | I Will Do My Best | [31] | |
1946 | A Guiding Hand | [32] | |
1947 | All Together | [33] | |
1948 | Men of Tomorrow | [34] | |
1949 | Friend in Need | [35] | |
1950 | Our Heritage | [36] | |
1951 | Forward America | In the collection of the National Scouting Museum | [12][37] |
1952 | The Adventure Trail | Used as the cover art for the 1954 edition of the Den Chief's Handbook | [11][38] |
1953 | On My Honor | [39] | |
1954 | A Scout is Reverent | [40] | |
1955 | The Right Way | [41] | |
1956 | The Scoutmaster | Used as the cover art for the 1960 edition of the Scoutmaster's Handbook | [11][42] |
1957 | High Adventure | [43] | |
1958 | Mighty Proud | In the collection of the National Scouting Museum | [12][44] |
1959 | Tomorrow's Leaders | [45] | |
1960 | Ever Onward | [46] | |
1961 | Homecoming | In the collection of the National Scouting Museum | [12][47] |
1962 | Pointing the Way | [48] | |
1963 | A Good Sign All Over the World | [49] | |
1964 | To Keep Myself Physically Strong | [50] | |
1965 | A Great Moment | [51] | |
1966 | Growth of a Leader | [52] | |
1967 | Breakthrough for Freedom | [53] | |
1968 | Scouting is Outing | [54] | |
1969 | Beyond the Easel | In the collection of the National Scouting Museum | [12][55] |
1970 | Come and Get It | Used as the cover art for the 9th edition of the Boy Scout Handbook | [10][56] |
1971 | America's Manpower Begins with Boypower | [57] | |
1972 | Can't Wait | [58] | |
1973 | From Concord to Tranquility | [59] | |
1974 | We Thank Thee, O' Lord | [60] | |
1975 | So Much Concern | Stolen from the Elayne Gallery in 1978 and recovered in 2001 | [61][62] |
1976 | The Spirit of 1976 | Stolen from the Elayne Gallery in 1978 and recovered in 2001 | [62][63] |
Cesatari's illustrations
Year | Name | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1977 | The New Spirit | [64] | |
1978 | Scouting Through the Years | [65] | |
1979 | Eagle Service Project | [66] | |
1980 | The Reunion | [67] | |
1981 | After Hours | [68] | |
1982 | The Patrol Leader | [69] | |
1983 | Family Camping | [70] | |
1984 | The Strength of Scouting Though Volunteers | [71] | |
1985 | The Spirit Lives On | [72] | |
1986 | It's a Boy's Life | [73] | |
1987 | Values that Last a lifetime | [74] | |
1988 | Winter Camping Scene | [75] | |
1989 | You Can Do It | [76] | |
1990 | The Scoutmaster | Final calendar illustration | [18] |
References
Footnotes
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 12
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 91
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 92
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 95
- Hillcourt 1977, pp. 95–99
- Hillcourt 1977, pp. 99
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 116
- Hillcourt 1977, pp. 102
- Moline 1979, p. 134
- Atherton 1987, p. 290
- Moline 1979, p. 136
- Roman, Michael (2009). "Review: Norman Rockwell at the National Scouting Museum". Dallas Art News. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
- Bomey, Nathan (February 27, 2020). "Bankrupt Boy Scouts may need to sell Norman Rockwell art to pay sexual abuse victims". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 27, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- "Steven Spielberg, George Lucas share their Norman Rockwell collections for exhibit at Smithsonian". The Dallas Daily News. October 24, 2010. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- "Norman Rockwell's Scout Memories". The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 14
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, pp. 16–17
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 129
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 150
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 97
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 25
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 33
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 35
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 36
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 12
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 40
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 195
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 149
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 137
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 45
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 47
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 49
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 147
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 131
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 55
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 144–145
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 114
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 61
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 63
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 64
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 67
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 69
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 70
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 73
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 75
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 77
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 140
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 132
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 82
- Hillcourt 1977, p. 147
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 87
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 88
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 91
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 92
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 95
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 88
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 98
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 101
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 102
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 105
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 106
- "Stolen Rockwell paintings recovered". The Washington Times. December 13, 2001. Archived from the original on November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 108
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 113
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 114
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 115
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 117
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 118
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 119
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 120
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 121
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 123
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 124
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 125
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 126
- Cesatari & Cesatari 2009, p. 128
Bibliography
- Atherton, John (1987). "On The Official Boy Scout Handbook". Revue Française d'Études Américaines. 32: 281–295. doi:10.3406/rfea.1987.1279.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Cesatari, Joseph; Cesatari, Jeff (2009). Norman Rockwell's Boy Scouts of America. London: DK. ISBN 978-0-7566-3520-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Hillcourt, William (1977). Norman Rockwell's World of Scouting. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-8109-1582-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Moline, Marry (1979). Norman Rockwell Encyclopedia. Indianapolis: Curtis Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-89387-070-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)