Early twentieth century Americana was the epitome of traditional holiday imagery: warm settings with friendly families together at a table set with a feast, carolers huddled together in the snow bundled up and cheerfully singing old songs, or Kris Kringle sneaking from the fire place with his bag as an astonished youth peaks around the corner.
Images like these were brought to homes on the covers of magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post by illustrators such as the J. C. Leyendecker, beginning around the turn of the century (his first Post commission was 1899). This was the Golden Age of Illustration, the time of Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, and the like, and The Saturday Evening Post was the most popular magazine in America.
Leyendecker was commissioned by the U. S. military for recruitment posters, along with numerous consumer products such as the Arrow Collar Man, and enjoyed a forty four year relationship with the Post. He helped shaped parts of American culture, such as beginning the tradition of giving flowers for Mother’s Day with his cover of a 1914 edition after President Wilson declared it an official holiday, helping to popularize the image of the red-clad jolly fat Santa along with the Sundblom Coca Cola ads, and creating the famous New Year Baby. Every holiday had a special cover- Thanksgiving, Easter, you name it. He eventually retired, handing the covers of the Post to his friend Norman Rockwell, who was very much influenced by his predecessor.
Life was one big party during the decadent roaring twenties but the thirties, with the Great Depression, marked a slow down of comissions, increased reclusiveness and later the eventual end of his career. His partner of 48 years, Charles Beach, whom he had modelled the Arrow Collar Man, was with him when he died in 1951.
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