American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell (73 page)

  
1
. By Christmas of 1942, the sheet music for “Rosie the Riveter” was selling well enough on the West Coast to slide into last place (number 15) on
Billboard
magazine’s bestselling sheet-music list.

  
2
.
Bennington Banner
, June 3, 1943, p. 1.

  
3
. David Mamet,
Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business
(New York: Random House Digital, 2008), p. 7.

  
4
. Buddy Edgerton, interview with the author, October 2005.

  
5
. MR, letter to her sister, March 1944, NRM.

  
6
. NR, letter to Clyde Forsythe, April 18, 1944; courtesy of Marianne Hart.

  
7
. Mary (Atherton) Varchaver, interview with the author, July 4, 2012.

  
8
. Julien Levy,
Memoir of an Art Gallery
(New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1977), p. 254.

  
9
. Maxine Atherton, unpublished interview with Susan Meyer, December 8, 1980, cassette tape, NRM.

10
. Ibid.

11
. NR, letter to Clyde Forsythe, April 18, 1944; courtesy of Marianne Hart.

12
. Willliam Hillcourt,
Norman Rockwell’s World of Scouting
(New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1977), p. 150.

13
. Ibid.

14
. James A. “Buddy” Edgerton and Nan O’Brien,
The Unknown Rockwell: A Portrait of Two American Families
(Essex Junction, VT: Battenkill River Press, 2009), p. 77.

15
. Mead Schaeffer, interview with Susan Meyer, September 30, 1980, cassette tape, NRM.

16
. Land deed, October 24, 1944, clerk’s office, Arlington, Vermont. Rockwell sold the house on March 16, 1946.

17
. Rufus Jarman,
The New Yorker
, March 24, 1945, part 2, p. 37.

18
. In 1936 the two illustrators first lamented their problem in an amusing pair of essays in the literary magazine
Colophon
.

19
. “Famed Artist Working at Studio in Alhambra,”
Los Angeles Times
, February 15, 1945, p. A7.

20
. “Magazine Shows Artist’s Picture of Scene in Troy,”
Troy
(NY)
Record
, May 23, 1945, p. 2.

21
. “Mr. Rockwell Scores Again,”
Bennington Banner
, May 13, 1945, p. 1.

22
. Arthur L. Guptill, letter to NR, May 16, 1947, NRM.

23
. Nancy Rockwell, letter to MR, February 26, 1946, NRM.

24
. Nancy Rockwell to Ida Hill, August 19, 1946, Cooper papers, NRM.

25
. Edgerton and O’Brien,
The Unknown Rockwell
, p. 205.

26
. “West Arlington,”
Bennington Banner
, February 7, 1947.

27
. MR, letter to Nancy Barstow, undated letter; courtesy of Thomas Rockwell.

28
. State of Massachusetts, report, July 6, 1947, NRM.

29
. “Norman Rockwell Won’t Be Able to Talk for Awhile,”
Bennington Banner
, July 19, 1947, p. 1.

30
. The models for the husband and wife (John and Gladys Cross) were actually married; the stony grandmother was an Edgerton (Elva); and Billy Brown is the boy hanging out the window.

17. “WE’RE LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO DRAW” (OCTOBER 1948)

  
1
. “13 Top-Flight Artists Prove They Have a Heart and Launch a School,”
Bridgeport Post
, September 18, 1948, p. 27; “Art Institute Opens,”
Bridgeport Post
, October 5, 1948, p. 30; advertisement in
The New Yorker
, December 4, 1948, p. 100.

  
2
. Steven Heller, in his online “Daily Heller,” February 2, 2011.

  
3
. In the July 1970 issue of
The Atlantic Monthly
, Jessica Mitford published “Let Us Now Appraise Famous Writers,” in which she accused the Famous Writers School of false advertising and unethical business practices. Her article did not take aim at the Famous Artists School, but left it tainted by association.

  
4
. J. D. Salinger, “De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period,” in
Nine Stories
(New York: Signet Books, 1954), p. 117.

  
5
. Owen Kampen, “Today’s Inspiration,” on Leif Peng’s blog about illustration, January 9, 2010.

  
6
. In 1961 the school became publicly owned and listed on the stock exchange as FAS. In 1965 it was sold to Crowell-Collier & Macmillan, at which point Rockwell sold his shares and ended his involvement.

  
7
. Al Dorne, letter to NR, August 24, 1950, NRM.

  
8
. Elliott Caplin,
Al Capp Remembered
(Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1994), p. 86.

  
9
. See David Apatoff,
Albert Dorne: Master Illustrator
, with a foreword by Jack Davis and an introduction by Howard Munce (San Francisco: Auad Publishing, 2013).

10
. Dorne’s admirers at
Mad
included Jack Davis and Will Elder.

11
. Walt Reed, conversation with the author, January 22, 2013.

12
. NR, letter to Al Parker, dated February 25, no year. He said he admired the illustration on page 34 of “the current” issue of
Ladies’ Home Journal
, probably the March 1949 issue, in which Parker illustrated the story “Under the Quiet Water.”

13
. “Models, Props, and Photographs,”
Famous Artists Course
, introduction (Westport, CT: Famous Artists School, 1960), p. 16.

14
. Mel Heimer, “My New York,” nationally syndicated column, various newspapers, October 3, 1948.

15
. Ibid.

18. GRANDMA MOSES (1948 TO 1949)

  
1
. “Talent Array to Firm—Hall Brothers Signs with Famed Artist Group,”
Kansas City Star
, February 15, 1948. Hall bought an art-card company founded by Harry N. Abrams, the future art-book publisher.

  
2
. “Yule Cards to Display Great Art,”
The Washington Post
, February 22, 1948, p. L2.

  
3
. Joyce C. Hall,
When You Care Enough: The Story of Hallmark Cards and Its Founder
(Kansas City, MO: Hallmark, 1992), p. 77.

  
4
. Grandma Moses and Otto Kallir,
My Life’s History (
New York: Harper, 1951), p. 135.

  
5
. “Rockwell Is Baker for Grandma Moses,”
Bennington Banner
, September 7, 1948, p. 1.

  
6
. Photo caption,
Bennington Banner
, September 15, 1948.

  
7
. See Bruce Bliven, Jr., “Grandma Moses Has a Birthday,”
Life
, October 25, 1948, p. 77.

  
8
. “Grandmother Who Gained Fame,”
The New York Times
, September 8, 1948, p. 31.

  
9
. Nanette Kutner, “Norman Rockwell Talks About His Neighbor Grandma Moses,”
McCall’s
, October 1949, p. 82.

10
. Ibid.

11
.
The Saturday Evening Post
, October 16, 1948, cover.

12
. “Norm’s ‘Butch’ Fox Trap Victim,”
Bennington Evening Banner
, November 1, 1948, p. 1.

13
. “Norman Rockwell Stops to Visit 15 Minutes,”
Salt Lake Tribune
, November 15, 1948, p. 17.

14
. Grace Barstow, letter to MB, November 16, 1948; courtesy of Thomas Rockwell.

15
. The school was then named the Los Angeles County Art Institute.

16
. NR, “Contemporary American Illustration” (lecture), Art Center School, Pasadena, California, February 24, 1949; introduced by Arthur Millier; cassette tape, NRM.

17
. Ibid.

18
. Joseph B. Shane, letter to MR, December 10, 1948; by permission of the Oakwood School.

19
. MR, letter to Joseph B. Shane, December 1948 (dated Thursday); by permission of the Oakwood School.

20
. “Son of Famous Artist Dies After Heart Attack,”
Troy
(NY)
Record
, February 11, 1949, p. 19; see also Moses,
My Life’s History
, p. 136.

21
. Police report, August 5, 1949, NRM.

22
.
The Saturday Evening Post
, July 9, 1949.

23
. NR, letter to Ken Stuart, May 31, 1949, NRM.

24
.
The Saturday Evening Post
, November 5, 1949.

25
. Ken Stuart to NR, August 18, 1949, NRM.

26
. NR, letter to Ken Stuart, July 13, 1949, NRM.

27
. Stuart to NR, August 18, 1949, NRM.

28
. “Grandma Moses 89 Today,”
The New York Times
, September 7, 1949, p. 27.

29
. John Currin, conversation with the author, October 10, 2003.

30
. NR, Art Center lecture, 1949, cassette tape, NRM.

19. SHUFFLETON’S BARBERSHOP (1950 TO 1953)

  
1
.
Bennington Banner
, February 8, 1950.

  
2
. Jim Shuffleton, e-mail to the author, June 8, 2012.

  
3
. Emilie Jungschaffer (the barber’s granddaughter), conversation with the author, June 9, 2012.

  
4
. John Updike, “An Act of Seeing: Norman Rockwell,”
Art & Antiques
, December 1990, p. 96. He also praised
Shuffleton’s Barbershop
in “Tote That Quill,”
The New Yorker
, August 14, 1978.

  
5
. “Rob’s Barber Shop Makes
Post
Cover,”
Bennington Banner
, April 26, 1950, p. 1. Shuffleton, by the way, was also a “news dealer,” who sold magazines at his barbershop.

  
6
. House sold on June 3, 1950; town clerk, Arlington, VT.

  
7
. Dr. Robert Knight’s appointment book; courtesy of his widow, Adele Boyd.

  
8
. Adele Boyd, interview with the author, August 25, 2008.

  
9
. Thomas Rockwell, interview with the author, December 17, 1999.

10
. Peter Rockwell, interview with author, June 22, 2000.

11
. Dr. Knight’s appointment book indicates that he met with Rockwell on March 1, March 3, April 23, May 14, and May 29, 1951; courtesy of Adele Boyd.

12
. Dr. Knight, letter to NR, March 9, 1951; courtesy of Thomas Rockwell.

13
. Ibid.

14
. Peter Rockwell, interview with the author, June 22, 2000.

15
. Warren Blair (art director of Smith, Kline), letter to to NR, November 9, 1951, NRM.

16
. Dr. Russell Twiss, letter to NR, May 21, 1951, NRM.

17
. Chris Schafer, interview with Susan Meyer, October 8, 1980, cassette tape, NRM.

18
. Eisenhower Library, e-mail to the author, June 8, 2010.

19
.
My Adventures
, p. 199.

20
. Don Hubert, Jr., interview with the author, July 3, 2012; clipping from the
Bennington Evening Banner
, November 1951; courtesy of Don Hubert.

21
. “President-Elect Says Soviet Demoted Zhukov Because of Their Friendship,”
The New York Times
, December 23, 1952, p. 16.

22
. The house was built in 1946; the architect was Dan Kiley, whom Atherton had met on a ski trip.

23
. Maxine Atherton, unpublished interview with Susan Meyer, December 8, 1980, cassette tape, NRM.

24
. James A. “Buddy” Edgerton and Nan O’Brien,
The Unknown Rockwell
:
A Portrait of Two American Families
(Essex Junction, VT: Battenkill River Press, 2009), p. 216.

25
. Robert Beverly Hale, letter to NR, October 24, 1950; archives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

26
. “Keeping Posted,”
The Saturday Evening Post
, February 21, 1953, p. 144.

27
. Dr. Knight, letter to NR, January 29, 1953; courtesy of Thomas Rockwell.

28
. Ibid.

29
. Mrs. Rockwell died at the Riverview Convalescent Home on March 5, 1953.

30
.
The Saturday Evening Post
, May 23, 1953.

31
. Unidentified clipping from a Pittsfield newspaper, January 22, 1953, NRM.

32
. Associated Press, February 21, 1953.

33
. Dr. Knight, “Norman Rockwell Summary,” memo, July 15, 1953; courtesy of the Austen Riggs Center.

34
.
Bennington Banner
, November 11, 1953.

35
. Chris Schafer, interview with Susan Meyer, October 8, 1980, cassette tape, NRM.

20. THE AGE OF ERIK ERIKSON (1954)

  
1
. A wire-service story on November 10, 1953, reported that he had been in Stockbridge for three weeks.

  
2
. MR, letter to Nancy Barstow, May 3, 1954; courtesy of Thomas Rockwell.

  
3
. NR, interview with John Batty, 1972, cassette tape; courtesy of Thomas Rockwell.

  
4
. Land deed, March 24, 1954, Stockbridge Town Hall.

  
5
. MR, letter to Nancy Barstow, May 3, 1954; courtesy of Thomas Rockwell.

  
6
. William Gibson, interview with the author, March 18, 2005.

  
7
. MR, letter to Nancy Barstow, May 3, 1945; courtesy of Thomas Rockwell.

  
8
. Erik Erikson, “Autobiographic Notes on the Identity Crisis,”
Daedalus
, Fall 1970, p. 743.

  
9
. Erikson, certificate of naturalization; see
www.ancestry.com
.

10
. Lawrence Friedman,
Identity’s Architect
:
A Biography of Erik H. Erikson
(New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1999), p. 477.