"Christmas Seals" (circa 1939) Poster by Rockwell Kent

Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings!

Since I will be away for part of December, I thought this would be a good opportunity to post some Christmas/Holiday related art.

Let's start with a fantastic 26-inch high Christmas Seals poster by Rockwell Kent (an amazing artist). The "deco" feel makes the piece very dynamic and no matter where in the room this piece is hanging, your eye immediately goes to it.

26-Inch High Rockwell Kent Poster

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"Buy Christmas Seals" (circa 1939) poster by Rockwell Kent. Sothebys Description: A circa 1939 off-set printed poster by Rockwell Kent asking for support for the National Tuberculosis Association. The poster reads: "Buy Christmas Seals / Protect Your Home From Tuberculosis." It depicts and angel sprinkling yellow flowers while rising before a vibrant blue background and a red cross. The printer is unknown. Vp4 Condition: A. This linen backed poster is in fine to very fine condition. It is exceptionally clean and bright with little or no visible wear or touch-up. [Item: 19"W x 26"H] SeqID-0725

Notes: The idea of a Christmas seal was conceived by a Danish postal clerk and the first Christmas seal was issued by Denmark in 1904 to raise money for tuberculosis. The first U.S. Christmas seal was issued in 1907. Emily Bissell, a Red Cross worker, deigned a simple red and white seal to raise money to save a local TB sanitarium. She had heard about the success of Christmas seal sales for TB in Denmark and thought the idea was worth trying. She was so successful the first year that in 1908 the American Red Cross ran the campaign on a national basis. The Red Cross issued seals every year until 1919 when the National Tuberculosis Association took over. With the decline of TB, the name was changed in 1968 to the National Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association. In 1973, the name was changed again to its current name of the American Lung Association. (http://hometown.aol.com/betsychuck/xmas.htm) Circa 1939. 26x19in.

"Mandrake The Magician" [2 of 2] - 1998c NCS 29-Inch Poster Signed by Falk and Fredericks

As long as I'm talking about "Mandrake the Magician," I'll post one of the posters in a limited edition series (run of 100) published by the National Cartoonists Society circa 1998. All of them are 21"W x 29"H and signed. They are all fantastic items. Unfortunately, I've never had the real estate to frame and hang all of them!

"Mandrake" 29-Inch National Cartoonists Society Signed Poster Signed by Falk & Fredericks

Historical Notes

After posting the above, I did a search on "Mandrake the Magician" and found some interesting hits. Here are two of them...

From "Ask Yahoo" 5/3/2007:

Dear Yahoo!:
Who was the first superhero?
Kevin
Indianapolis, Indiana

Dear Kevin:
Definitions of superheroes vary widely. One person's hero is another person's Hercules. For the sake of simplicity, we're going to define a superhero as someone who fights crime in disguise and is blessed with superior strength, powers, or (in the case of Batman) gadgets.

This excellent blog entry from kottke.org offers up plenty of theories about who the first superhero was. The author concludes that "Mandrake the Magician" may have been the first true superhero. Toonpedia agrees, calling Mandrake "the first super-powered, costumed crime fighter in comics." [Bob: Bolding is mine] Created by Lee Falk, Mandrake made his debut in 1934, approximately four years before Superman landed on Earth.

So what sort of powers did Mandrake have? King Features Syndicate explains he was a master of hypnotism and illusion. Like all the great superheroes who followed him, Mandrake used his powers to combat evil. But unlike other superheroes, Mandrake appears to have been based on a real person, a stage magician named Leon Mandrake.

Eat your heart out, Superman (and David Copperfield).

From Wikipedia:

Mandrake the Magician is a U.S. comic strip created in 1934 by Lee Falk (also creator of The Phantom) and mainly appearing in syndication in newspapers. Falk soon gave the job of drawing the comic strip to artist Phil Davis, while continuing to write the storylines. Davis worked on the strip until his death in 1964 [Bob: see next posting for Falk & Davis]; Falk then recruited current artist Fred Fredericks. On Falk's death in 1999, Fredericks took over writing the strip as well. Mandrake is widely believed to have been the first bona fide superhero.

Mandrake was an illusionist whose work was based on an impossibly fast hypnotic technique. As the narrator informed us: "Mandrake gestured hypnotically" and the subject or subjects of this hypnosis would suddenly see the illusions he wanted. Mandrake fought criminals and other villains in his spare time. This would include common gangsters, mad scientists, and aliens from outer space or other dimensions.

After the series existing in cartoons, radio plays, and serials, a movie based on Mandrake with magician Criss Angel is set to start filming in 2008.

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From “Mandrake The Magician,” a National Cartoonists Society poster by Lee Falk & Fred Fredericks (circa 1998). A National Cartoonists Society L/E signed Lithographs -- 93/100 (Circa 1998). Signed by Lee Falk & Fred Fredericks [Unframed Item: 21-1/8"W x 29-1/8"H] Acquired 1998. SeqID-0303 8/4/2005

"The Secret of NIMH" (1982) - Tim Hildebrandt Art

I was looking through the database and came across these two items. Frankly, I had forgotten all about them. I don't know when we first saw this movie, but I was struck by some of its story and visual elements. When this item was offered, I picked it up because it reminded me of the film -- which didn't seem to get too much traction at the time. Frankly, I didn't have a clue as to who Tim Hildebrandt was...

It wasn't until much later that I started to dig into who this "Tim Hildebrandt" was... There is quite a bit of information out there, but here's some descriptive material from the web site of Greg and Tim Hildebrandt:

Welcome to Greg and Tim Hildebrandt's website.
Greg and Tim Hildebrandt better known to the illustration world as "The Brothers Hildebrandt" began their careers 1959. The Brothers have worked on documentary films and thousands of illustrations for, text books, children's books, calendars, book covers, posters, comic books, advertisements, movie posters, production design for films, collectables and trading card games.

They became internationally known for the original Star Wars movie poster and the 1976, 1977, and 1978 JRR Tolkien Lord of the Rings calendars. Over the last forty-two years Greg Hildebrandt and Tim Hildebrandt have received recognition from their fans in the genres of fantasy, science fiction, comic art, pinup art, western art, religious art, comic strip art, and sequential art. They are deeply grateful for all of their fans.

They have worked for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, almost every book publishing company, Franklin Mint, Batfilms and Lucas Films. They are currently working on the Collectable Card Games (CCG) for Magic the Gathering and Harry Potter published by Wizards of the Coast, as well as several personal projects including a series of 40's - 50's Pinups and a series of tribute paintings that will benefit the families of the fallen firefighters and EMS workers in New York. Many Hildebrandt products have been designated to raise money for the firefighters' 911 disaster relief fund. These can be seen at spiderwebart.com.

My first reaction was "Wow!" I didn't know I had some neat original Hildebrandt artwork!

Tim Hildebrandt Original Poster Artwork

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From “The Secret of NIMH” (1982). Two items: (1) Original concept by Tim Hildebrandt for the poster and (2) the final poster for the Secret of NIMH -- a Don Bluth film. Concept is signed "Tim Hildebrandt 1982" 2) Final poster -- 2 copies [Unframed Final poster: 27"W x 41"H. Concept in pencil: 13"W x 17-3/4"H] Acquired 1998. SeqID-0344 Updated: 8/15/2005