2019: Roberto Flores

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

For us it will be a quiet one, as we have relatives scattered all over. But, we are thankful that everyone’s made it through this month, lol!

If you’d like a nice story to read this Thanksgiving, you can try an article about Durwood J. Smith. The story contains both a jeep and a Thanksgiving memory on the Western Front (see Durwood’s pic below) … do you know how hard that combo is to find?? If not for Roberto Flores, we wouldn’t even have art depicting jeeps and turkeys together!!

So, I was very happy to stumble on this nice story called:

Thanksgiving on the Western Front

PHOTO CREDIT: Charleen Smith-Riedel and Smithsonia Magazine

Robin recently purchased this Walter M. Baumhofer illustration at an auction. It’s titled “Self Appreciation”. According to intelligentcollector.com, Walter was one of the most prolific Adventure Pulp artists out there. Among other prolific pulp adventure artists mention in the article is Emmett Watson.

Funny how both Emmett’s illustration Jeepers and Walter’s image has two men, a jeep, a tent, a red blanket, and three bears. I find that a big coincidence.

Mario Maipid posted this illustration to one of Facebook’s groups. It was used as part of a patent or trademark filing in the State of Wisconsin.

This curious set of drawings is about the size of a standard piece of paper. It depicts Ford GP (upper left), an MB/GPW (lower left), a Ford GP “Super 6” (middle right), and a Bantam BRC 60 (lower right). It’s kind of pricey (imho), given at least three of the four are redrawn photos.

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UPDATE: I scanned the this image “JEEPERS” by Emmett Watson and cleaned up the lines and scratches as best I could. The final size is 18″x24″, which should make it easy to put in a frame. It was part of a calendar, but I can find no information or the images from the calendar. 

Some folks have asked for prints of this illustration, as it is difficult to find. I do not yet have a price on that, but I don’t plan on printing many (15-30 depending on requests), so I suspect the price will be around $25/each to cover my costs and shipping, but I haven’t finalized that.

You can’t see it, but the piece has “TDM CO, U.S.A.” printed in the lower right corner. I believe that refers to the Thomas D. Murphy company, launched by Thomas D. Murphy in the late 1800s. Here’s a bit of history on him:

In 1889, Thomas D. Murphy of Red Oak, Iowa, publisher of the local newspaper, had an idea. Adapt his printing plant and expertise and create calendars with exquisite reproductions of paintings by American masters. Murphy invented the advertising art calendar and one of the first painters Murphy contacted was Thomas Moran. The idea was so successful that Murphy calendars would be purchased and given away by banks, insurance agencies, livery stables, auto dealers, shops, businesses and manufacturers for a century.

After searching, I cannot find anyone who owns the copyright to this image (TDM appears dead). So, I feel comfortable getting some of these printed.

In 2014, a lithograph of JEEPERS, possibly an image from another calendar, sold with a frame at auction for $75.00.

Here’s another illustration that might have been a companion piece, given there are bears, a camp site, and two men, one with a red shirt and one with a blue shirt, and the same red blanket. It’s titled Smokey the Bear and it went up for auction last year.

Roberto shared his latest doodle, inspired by photos in a Four Wheeler Article from 2008.

http://www.fourwheeler.com/project-vehicles/129-0812-1951-willys-jeep-cj3a-brake-conversion/

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.

This is a great illustration. Turns out, he became an accomplished artist.

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“1944 Press Photo A drawing depicts a soldier relaxes in a jeep at a battle zone. This is an original press photo. A Jeep At Ease Coast Guard Combat Artist Ken Riley catches a jeep in a rare pose–at ease–in this drawing from the South Pacific battle zones. Reliable companion of the fighting men, these tough little fellows roll off Coast Guard-manned landing craft with the first waves of invaders. Artist Riley, who lives in Parsons, Kansas enlisted in the Coast Guard and carried his sketchbook into the Pacific war theatre. Photo measures 10 x 8.25 inches. Photo is dated 05-04-1944.

Roberto shared this CJ-3A illustration inspired by a Four Wheeler Magazine photo:

This 4″ Walt Disney gem hunter’s decal is on eBay (I offered $20, seller countered with $25). Apparently, this may have been tangentially connected to the Mineral King project. Unbeknownst to me, in late 1965 Disney was awarded the right to develop the Mineral King area of Sequoia National Park. Originally, this area was at the edge of the park, but now the NP encompasses that valley and more. It’s a pretty interesting story. Fun fact: The Country Bear Jamboree was originally designed for Mineral King. The Audio-Animatronic bears were planned as entertainers for one of the restaurants.

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This is an interesting belt buckle.

“Beautiful vintage condition RARE vintage Jeep. Great vintage belt buckle.
Buckle is in good condition with some scratches and signs of use and wear. It could use a good polishing but I’ll leave that up to the buyer.”

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Here’s an interesting, early illustration by Rockwell Kent. It’s on a fine art website, which in part explains the price. If the link below does not work, go here https://www.1stdibs.com and enter “jeep” into the search field.

“This original drawing was created for an advertisement by General Electric for its portable power generators, here shown powering a saw wielded by two lumberjacks. Attributed to Rockwell Kent, who did many illustrations for GE and other companies to support his family and travels, it captures the kind of isolated, tree-covered scene that Kent so cherished. Beautifully rendered, it is an excellent example of the kind of graphic work recently celebrated in an exhibit at the New York State Museum in Albany. Note, too, the Jeep, which had been introduced during World War II and had come to represent tough, dependable transportation.”

https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/wall-decorations/drawings/original-drawing-general-electric-jeep-possibly-r-kent/id-f_470780/

This club badge would have been mounted on a jeep. I tried to learn more about this club, but had no luck finding any info.

“Perris valley jeep club badge. In great condition. 8″ metal sign with painted graphics and great detail. Great for a jeep enthusiast, or in your man cave. Please see pictures for condition. If you have any questions, please message me.”

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