1948-1949 Saturday Evening Post Advertising Posters (26) Including Iconic Norman Rockwell Baseball Cover Tough Call

Sold For:

$1,080

Year:

1948

Auction:

2016 Fall

Lot #:

2157

Category:

Historical/Political/Pop Culture/Americana

Please Note: In addition to Tough Call, this collection also includes three other Norman Rockwell cover posters, all of which are duly noted in our inventory listing.

 Rare collection of twenty-six original Saturday Evening Post point-of-sale advertising posters, spanning the years 1948 to 1949, including one issued in promotion of the April 23, 1949, issue featuring Norman Rockwell's classic baseball artwork titled Tough Call. These posters (22 x 28 inches), which are simply larger prints of the respective magazine covers, were issued to newsstand dealers for promotional display during the week of publication. This was a common practice, and many different posters were issued by the Saturday Evening Post over the years. All of these posters are exceedingly rare because they were printed on thin paper stock and were only used for a one-week period. This collection, easily the largest offering of original Saturday Evening Post advertising posters to appear at auction (more Saturday Evening Post posters are included here than we have ever seen, in total, over the past twenty years), is made all the more desirable for its inclusion of the famous Rockwell cover poster. As a point of reference, the only other known example of Rockwell's Tough Call Saturday Evening Post advertising poster appeared as Lot 1845 in our Spring 2014 auction, where it realized $415. The collection is comprised of the following issue covers:

March 6, 1948 (Rockwell cover); December 4, 1948; December 11, 1948; December 18, 1948; December 25, 1948 (Rockwell cover); January 1, 1949; January 8, 1949; January 22, 1949; January 29, 1949; February 5, 1949; February 12, 1949; February 19, 1949; February 26, 1949; March 5, 1949; March 12, 1949; March 19, 1949 (Rockwell cover); March 26, 1949; April 2, 1949; April 9, 1949; April 16, 1949; April 23, 1949 (Baseball); April 30, 1949; May 7, 1949; May 14, 1949; and May 28, 1949.

Most of the posters display a number of small edge tears and/or minor border creases, but the central image areas are generally clean and bright (the vast majority of the flaws would not be seen if each poster were matted and framed). In Excellent condition overall, with just a few lesser due to larger tears (most notably the January 1, 1949 poster). Please note that all of these posters have all been stored rolled for the past many decades and will be shipped in a tube. Total: 26 posters. Reserve $300. Estimate (open).