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.
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