Skip to main content

Happy Birthday

...to Norman Rockwell. While some might consider his Boy Scout and Saturday Evening Post covers corny, he was capable of pulling out a single moment in everyday life and freezing it beautifully. He and his two wives suffered from severe depression, but he was determined to show the better side of life.

Interesting fact: (from Wikipedia)

During the First World War, he tried to enlist into the U.S. Navy but was refused entry because, at 6 feet (1.83 m) tall and 140 pounds (64 kg), he was eight pounds underweight. To compensate, he spent one night gorging himself on bananas, liquids and donuts, and weighed enough to enlist the next day. However, he was given the role of a military artist and did not see any action during his tour of duty.


Comments

dive said…
Happy Birthday, Norm!

I'm a great fan of Rockwell's work. I've got a fabulous book of his stuff (one of those annoyingly large art gallery books that don't fit on regular shelves).
Sure, he's downhome and corny, but his paintings were the stuff of my childhood, so I love 'em.

Nice reminder, Robyn.
10:12 AM
Neponset River Bridge Dig said…
Nice tribute Robyn, to an era gone by. An American Icon for sure
10:41 AM
Ame said…
Love Rockwell...he's an institution! STAY WARM ROBYN!

Post pix when ya can!
;)
1:23 PM
Ms Mac said…
Yeah, I'm capable of putting on 8lbs overnight without even trying. Beat that Norm!

Oh and Happy Birthday too.
2:05 PM
Old Knudsen said…
I like his stuff, I wonder why you have to be fit and healthy and the right weight to go off and die fer yer cuntry.
3:35 PM
Sassy Sundry said…
I'm not a big fan of Norman Rockwell, but I do like a few of his paintings.
8:01 AM
Sassy Sundry said…
Oh, and I could have given him weight-gaining advice.
8:01 AM
Cheltenhamdailyphoto said…
Hmm no good ever comes from eating doughnuts.
12:49 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cindy Loo Who In October

What is it with people and Cindy Loo Who? Of my last one hundred blog hits, forty have been direct visits from regular readers, and fifteen have been as a result of people searching for "Cindy Loo Who," the little pixie from Seuss's How The Grinch Stole Christmas . A couple of years ago, I posted an image of the original Seuss illustration as compared to the TV cartoon image, and for some reason, that post is bringing in the crowds, relatively. Maybe it's the weather. It isn't even November yet, and already we've had frost and have had to dust off our winter coats. When it gets cold like this, I start to think about Christmasy things like listening to Nat King Cole and decorating the tree. It's ironic because I am offended when retailers start pushing holiday stuff early, but I don't mind my own private celebrations. When my sister and I were much younger and still living with our parents, we would pick a day in July, close the curtains to darken the ...
8 comments
Read more

The Ultimate Storyteller—in Life AND in Death

I wrote about The Autobiography of Mark Twain in yesterday's edition of Small Town Newspaper. You can read it here , if you want. This is the photograph I had in mind while I read Clemens' dictations. He really was a masterful storyteller, even when rambling on about the poorly designed door knobs in Florence or in describing the Countess Massiglia, who he described as a "pestiferous character." About her, he said, “She is excitable, malicious, malignant, vengeful, unforgiving, selfish, stingy, avaricious, coarse, vulgar, profane, obscene, a furious blusterer on the outside and at heart a coward.” And I laughed out loud.
2 comments
Read more