Filed Under: "commercial illustrations"

Spot illo, “New Competition for G.E.,” a brief 1953 article about Continental Electric Equipment Co. of Kentucky.

The title and date of this 1960s commercial tempera illustration are unknown, as is the periodical for which it was assigned (possibly LIFE or LOOK magazine). The mise-en-scène depicts historic incidents and major league baseball players associated with Busch Stadium (a.k.a. Sportsman’s Park), home of two St. Louis baseball teams: the luckless Browns (1902-53) and the perennially contending Cardinals (1920-66). The ballpark was replaced by Busch Memorial Stadium in 1966, an event which this illustration…

Illustration, Parade magazine, January 18, 1959. Article about people with genetic and/or psychological dispositions to behavioral patterns that cause health problems. The above tableau (from a tearsheet in the Flora archives) appears on page 9 beneath the semi-title ” … Disease Personality.” We’re missing page 8, which would provide the rest of the title.

Flora found them irresistible. Surplus heads too.

Seriously—you’d have to be crazy to play trumpet in this position. You can’t possibly concentrate on your playing. Hopping on one foot, using your left hand to work the horn and the right to tip your hat. You might be an entertaining showman, but from a musical standpoint, this is a caricature of a trumpet player. Seriously. Detail from Flora illustration for The Great Juke, a short story by Marguerite Young, Mademoiselle magazine, October 1947….

We’re not sure what this commercial illustration (ca. 1960) was intended to depict, because we don’t know the nature of the assignment or the client. Rather than impose a narrative, click on thumbnail to view enlarged image, create your own storyline, and post it in the Comments. If you happen to have a magazine tearsheet of this illo, please advise so we can settle all arguments before things get out of hand (which is, actually,…

Spot illustration, table of contents page Columbia Disc Digest, April 1946

Spot illustration, “College: Whether to Go / Where to Go,” Mademoiselle, 1953

Illustration, “Are You Superstitious?” Parade Sunday newspaper supplement, December 8, 1957 (from tearsheet).

business card, Davis Delaney Printing (ca. 1950s) adapted pencil and tempera figures from sketchbook

“Jim Flora’s vacation is over & he could use some new money. Why not buy a drawing now! And make him feel better fast! Telephone Jim Flora at PLaza 5-9832.” Text and images: undated business card, probably shortly after Flora’s 1951 return to the US from Mexico. Technically he wasn’t on “vacation”—Flora and wife (and two young kids) lived in Taxco for 15 months as artmaking ex-pats. Upon returning, Flora had to hustle for freelance…

Commercial illustration, late 1950s, publication unknown. Tempera mechanical found in the Flora archives. The illustration’s theme has contemporary resonance in the wake of the subprime meltdown.