Family & Social Life

Original artwork, of pages 28 and 29, for the book Johnny's Machines, written by Helen Palmer with illustrations by Cornelius De Witt, and published by Simon & Schuster in New York, New York, in 1949.

Cornelius De Witt (1905-1956) was born in Germany but spent most of his life in and around New York. De Witt worked successfully in several mediums including printmaking, painting and illustration. De Witt‘s realistic style of drawing created distinctly visual images and in turn children found the books easy to read and comprehend. He was best known for his Golden book on the human body.

Children's Cowboy Songs song book and coloring book published by Edward Schuberth and Company in New York, New York, in 1946. The cover, by artist Albert Barbelle, features a multi-color ink image depicting a boy and a girl riding horses.

The cover art for this song book was made by American artist and designer Albert Wilfred Barbelle (1887-1957). With a prolific career spanning over forty years, Barbelle created cover art for sheet music and albums.

Teddy Wilson. side 1: Long Ago and Far Away; side 2: All of Me (Musicraft 372), from the album, Teddy Wilson Plays (Musicraft N7).
78 rpm.

The cover art for this album was made by Art Seiden (1923-2004) an American artist and illustrator best known for his illustrations for children’s books. Seiden illustrated over 300 books and was author and artist for more than 20 children’s books.

side 1: Celeste Holm with Oklahoma Orchestra. I Can't Say No; side 2: Alfred Drake and Howard da Silva with Oklahoma Orchestra. Pore Jud Is Daid (Decca 23286), from the album, Oklahoma! (Decca A-359). 78 rpm.

This album is from the 1943 Broadway musical Oklahoma!, with book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and music by Richard Rogers. Oklahoma! opened on March 31, 1943 at the St. James Theatre and ran for 2,212 performances.

Various artists. side 1: Tea For Two [part 3]; side 2: Tea For Two [part 4] (Clef 105), from the album, Norman Granz' Jazz At the Philharmonic, Vol. 7 (Clef 101).
78 rpm.

The cover art for this album was by Merle Shore, American artist, illustrator, and graphic designer. Shore served as Art Director for Verve, Capitol, and Reprise record companies.

Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra featuring Billie Holiday. side 1: Easy Living; side 2: When You're Smiling (Columbia 36208), from the album, Hot Jazz Classics - Teddy WIlson-Billie Holiday (Columbia C-61).
78 rpm. Side 1 was originally recorded in 1937 and released on Brunswick 7911. Side 2 was originally recorded in 1938 (second master). This album was released in 1947.

The cover art for this album was made by Alex Steinweiss. Alexander “Alex” Steinweiss (1917-2011) was an American artist and graphic designer. He was the first art director of Columbia Records, expanding the use of album covers and cover art. Steinweiss created album cover art from 1938 to 1973.

Original artwork, of page 20, for the book The Taxi that Hurried, written by Lucy Sprague Mitchell, Irma Simonton Black and Jessie Stanton with illustrations by Tibor Gergely, and published by Golden Press in New York, New York, in 1946.

Born in Budapest, Hungary into a middle-class Jewish family, Tibor Gergely (1900-1978) was captivated by art and culture at a young age. Known as a graphic illustrator and a caricature artist, Gergely’s early works documented Jewish life before the rise of Hitler. By 1939 the political situation in Europe was dire, and Gergely and his wife immigrated to America. They settled in New York and his love affair with the city never waned. He was enchanted with his new life in a postwar New York that included skyscrapers, rushing traffic and the excitement of life in the big city.

A member of the American Artists and Writers Guild, Gergely became a prominent illustrator for Little Golden Books, providing drawings for more than seventy books, including Tootle, Five Little Firemen, and Scuffy the Tugboat. His illustrations for The Taxi that Hurried and Make Way for the Thruway portray the celebrated automobile and the expanding highway system, both destined to bring dramatic social and cultural changes to American life.