Filed Under: "RCA Victor"

Sketches for RCA Victor LP cover, 1955; final design below:

Almost. The Flora pretzel-ized trumpet that graces the cover of this rare RCA Victor Living Stereo “cartridge magazine” originally appeared in 1958 on the back cover of the LP Portrait of Shorty Rogers. The illustration was recycled by RCA Victor’s art department on this 1960 Esquivel package, whose format was the (failed) forerunner of the cassette. The LP version of this classic album by the Mexican maestro had a completely different photographic cover. RCA also…

Esquire magazine, September 1954

The cover of the Weekly, anyway (print edition, September 19-25 issue), in conjunction with the just-opened exhibition at Fantagraphics Bookstore/Gallery. The illustration is a detail from Flora’s 1954 RCA Victor LP cover Shorty Rogers Courts the Count. The Weekly’s Fall Arts section includes this nifty Flora cavalcade and a dozen interior spot placements:

Jim Flora Art LLC recently sold #100 of the Mambo For Cats limited edition screen print. As originally announced, the first 100 prints (of 200 produced) were sold for $150/ea., with the caveat that prices would be increased as stock was depleted. JFA is now releasing a block of 25 more prints at $175/ea. The 1955 illustration originally appeared on a 12″ x 12″ RCA Victor LP cover, but the print measures an outsized 20″…

Artifact from the archives: 1954 RCA Victor requisition order for the {ahem!} legendary Mambo For Cats album cover illustration. The work was commissioned by label art director—and longtime Flora buddy—Robert M. Jones, who signed the PO (fee unspecified). The finished sleeve encased a 12″ slab of vinyl, we seem to recall. This iconic Flora design was featured in The Mischievous Art of Jim Flora, and has recently been marketed as a t-shirt, a fridge magnet,…

It’s just weird that RCA Victor, releasing a 1955 narrative kiddie record of The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Dr. Seuss, would assign cover art to Flora instead of using Ted Geisel’s original figures. Probably a copyright permissions—or lack of them—issue. Still, it’s weird. You’d think the Seuss rights owners who gave RCA permission to use the literary work would object to another artist’s commercial portrayal of the classic illustrations. Flora’s great, but Seuss…

Above is a rare Flora mid-1950s cover. (Granted, not one of his more spectacular illustrations.) We don’t recall where we obtained this lo-res gif, but it’s the only proof we’ve ever seen of this 7″ EP’s existence. We’ve been trawling for it on eBay and thru online rare vinyl dealers for years, with no success. We’d like to own a copy. We don’t care about the condition of the disc—it can be scuffed, gouged, or…

Holly of Sweetheartville, a self-described “bitch kitty on wheels,” finds a vintage Flora cover in—well, you’ll never guess where. She also observes that “covering a dining room wall with record sleeves hung with thumb tacks [is] too college.” Perhaps decoratistas can agree on a Flora exemption. UPDATE (02 MAY 07): Mr. Hall wonders if we’re “making fun of [Mrs. Hall] in some way.” No way!

‘Tis the season to Pete Jolly! A new silk-screen print has been introduced to our growing line of iconic Jim Flora merch—the artist’s swirly 1955 RCA Victor EP cover for the Pete Jolly Duo. This sleeve rarely turns up on eBay, and Floraphiles have been known to liquidate 401(k)’s to own battered copies. We don’t know much about pianist Jolly or his bassist, but apparently they couldn’t quit bopping long enough to sit still for…

Flora + cats + the mambo = a 1955 record cover that bags beaucoups bucks on eBay and nobody even cares if there’s a disc inside because they aren’t bidding for the music. We can’t sell you copies of this rare LP, but if you’d like a 20″ x 20″ limited edition, numbered, archival, acrylic silk-screen print of this iconic Flora design, click here. If you don’t want it on your wall, but prefer it…