I get caught up in the longevity of some old newspapers or magazines. When something so old survives the ravages of time and is still in one piece it just amazes me. I found this old Saturday Evening Post in a box of papers, not separated from everything else or in a protective sleeve, but just sitting in the bottom of the box. It was laying there..., a bit frayed around the edges, with some pages torn and it was dated February 10, 1912. Two areas were cut out with scissors ,like you would cut out a coupon. Both ads that were cut out said that you could send for more information. I guess someone did.
February 10, 1912. That's old!! In 3 years it will be 100 years old. For paper and ink that's just amazing. My parents weren't born yet. My grandmother was a teenager. We had not even been in a "World War" yet. Campbells soup was 10 cents a can and the center of population in the U.S. was Bloomington, Indiana?????
Wikipedia has some very interesting information on the history of this magazine if you're interested. If you go to this site you can read about it .
The illustrator of this cover is no where to be found. I don't mean the person himself, who is probably dead, but info. about him on the Internet. The famous artists/illustrators of the day like Clarence Underwood and J.C. Leyendecker did many of the covers for this magazine but F. Mehean Cuotes( Cootes, Coates????), it appears, only illustrated this one issue and never again. I can't read the signature clearly, so I may not be Googleing the right name but I looked up all the illustrators for Saturday Evening Post and this name never came up..., anywhere. It's a beautiful drawing. This artist must have been very good to have a drawing on the cover of this magazine.
The stories and articles are wonderful and depict the times that they were written in. Some things have changed drastically and some things haven't changed at all. For being written 97 years ago some of the worries and problems are strangely familiar.
What really surprises me is the advertisements and how many companies are still making these products....: Kellogg's corn flakes, Chiclets chewing gum, Quaker Oats, Campbells Soup, Grape-Nuts and Van Camp's Pork and Beans are all still available in our stores now. I find that very reassuring.
You could even buy a Ford Motel T touring car for $690 , a steel fireproof garage for $72.50 to put it in and build a 5 room bungalow to live in for $868. That included blue prints, specifications, lumber, millwork, floors, doors, and windows. If you wanted a fireplace mantel it was a whopping $11.75 more. Now I know why they called it the "good old days".
Please check out the other vintage items and stories on Past Due Tuesday and join us with your own wonderful things.
(Brasher Girl from Alabama just sent me a comment and gave me the right name for the illustrator of the magazine.She wrote..." I believe the cover illustrations for the February 10, 1912 issue was done by F. Graham Cootes." and she gave me a link. Thank you, thank you Brasher Girl. I really appreciate this.)
These are the photos of the advertisements in the magazine. Click on photo to enlarge the individual pictures.
