A Boy Scout in a dark tan uniform with a matching wide brimmed hat bandages the foot of a spaniel puppy while being watched by its mother
The first Boy Scout calendar painting, A Good Scout, 1918 by Norman Rockwell

Between 1925 and 1990, Brown & Bigelow released for sale a yearly calendar for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) featuring a painting by illustrators Norman Rockwell (from 1925 to 1976) and Joseph Csatari (from 1977 to 1990). Rockwell missed only two years: 1928 and 1930; Csatari completed a painting for every year. The paintings were used to show scouts of different kinds – Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA (Boy Scouts at the time), Venturing (Explorers at the time), Sea Scouts, and Air Scouts – engaging in mostly outdoor activities. Today a majority of the paintings, including Forward America and Beyond the Easel, are held in the collection of the National Scouting Museum.[1] In 2020 as a part of the BSA's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, the organization listed the paintings as assets.[2] The rest reside in private collections or the collections of museums such as The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.[3][4]

The idea for the calendar series for the Boys Scouts of America was thought up by an unknown staff member at Brown & Bigelow in 1923.[5] After seeing the positive effect on BSA recruitment by their use of Rockwell's paintings, the staff member wondered if Brown & Bigelow could help by publishing a calendar featuring one of his paintings. The BSA had used paintings donated to them by the American Red Cross, which had originally commissioned Rockwell paintings for The Red Cross Magazine. Later in 1923, James E. West, the Chief Scout Executive, agreed to Brown & Bigelow's proposal for a 1925 calendar with art first used for the Red Cross Magazine.[6] They named the chosen painting, A Good Scout (it was originally titled A Red Cross Man in the Making). It shows a scout bandaging a foot of a spaniel puppy under the eye of its mother.[6] Assuming the calendar would sell well, the BSA, Brown & Bigelow, and Rockwell worked out a deal for future calendars. Rockwell would paint his works years in advance so that the chosen work could also be used as the cover of Boys Life early in the year to advertise that year's BSA calendar.[7] The calendars were large – 22 by 44.5 inches (56 by 113 centimeters) – and featured a single image for the year; users changed the months by tearing off a paper portion at the bottom.[8]

Rockwell missed painting works for two early years of the calendar series – 1928 and 1930 – because he had too many other commissions.[9] To prevent this from happening again and to control the content of the paintings, James E. West devised a yearly workflow.[10] Early in the year, the BSA and Rockwell would both pitch ideas for a painting for a calendar two years in advance, and decide on the theme. While Rockwell was working in his studio, a member of the BSA's staff would visit to check the details of the painting.[10] Every person depicted had to be the idealized version of a scout or scout leader, and every uniform had to be depicted correctly. The tents and other outdoors gear used by scouts in the paintings had to be the right type and could not look like army surplus.[11] After the initial draft of the painting was finished, West and other BSA staff members sometimes found details to be corrected.[12]

Between 1925 and 1976, Rockwell created 49 paintings for the BSA's Brown & Bigelow calendar. Every work, except for A Good Scout in 1925 (which had already been published in a magazine), was painted specifically for the calendar. Several of the paintings were used by the BSA for a secondary purpose – to serve as the covers of its various handbooks. For example, three paintings – Spirit of America, The Scouting Trail, and Come and Get It – were reused as the cover illustration of the Boy Scout Handbook.[13][14] The Adventure Trail was used as the cover art for the 1954 edition of the Den Chief's Handbook, and The Scoutmaster served as the cover of the 1960 edition of the Scoutmaster's Handbook.[15]

After Rockwell retired in 1976, the BSA asked artist Joseph Csatari to take over the calendar series.[16] From 1969 to 1972, Csatari was the art director in the advertising division of the BSA; he became the art director of Boys Life in 1973.[17] Between 1977 and 1990, Csatari created 14 paintings for the BSA's Brown & Bigelow calendar. Like Rockwell, he created all of the illustrations specifically for the calendar. None of Csatari's paintings were reused for handbook covers. Due to declining sales, Brown & Bigelow cancelled the calendars in 1990; The Scoutmaster was the final painting created for the series.[18]

Rockwell's illustrations

Illustrations created by Norman Rockwell for the Boy Scouts of America calendar between 1925 and 1976
Year Name Notes Ref.
1925 A Good Scout Originally printed in 1918 for The Red Cross Magazine under the name A Red Cross Man in the Making [7]
1926 A Good Turn [7]
1927 Good Friend [19]
1928 No painting was created for the 1928 calendar [9]
1929 Spirit of America Used as the cover art for the 3rd edition of the Boy Scout Handbook; in the private collection of Steven Spielberg [13][3][20]
1930 No painting was created for the 1930 calendar [9]
1931 Scout Memories In the collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis [4][21]
1932 A Scout is Loyal [10]
1933 An Army of Friendship [10]
1934 Carry On [10]
1935 A Good Scout [10]
1936 The Campfire Story [22]
1937 Scouts of Many Trails In the collection of the National Scouting Museum [23][1]
1938 America Builds for Tomorrow [24]
1939 The Scouting Trail Used as the cover art for the 4th edition of the Boy Scout Handbook [13][25]
1940 A Scout is Reverent [26]
1941 A Scout is Helpful [27]
1942 A Scout is Loyal [28]
1943 A Scout is Friendly [29]
1944 We, Too, Have a Job to Do [30]
1945 I Will Do My Best [31]
1946 A Guiding Hand [32]
1947 All Together [33]
1948 Men of Tomorrow [34]
1949 Friend in Need [35]
1950 Our Heritage [36]
1951 Forward America In the collection of the National Scouting Museum [1][37]
1952 The Adventure Trail Used as the cover art for the 1954 edition of the Den Chief's Handbook [15][38]
1953 On My Honor [39]
1954 A Scout is Reverent [40]
1955 The Right Way [41]
1956 The Scoutmaster Used as the cover art for the 1960 edition of the Scoutmaster's Handbook [15][42]
1957 High Adventure [43]
1958 Mighty Proud In the collection of the National Scouting Museum [1][44]
1959 Tomorrow's Leaders [45]
1960 Ever Onward [46]
1961 Homecoming In the collection of the National Scouting Museum [1][47]
1962 Pointing the Way [48]
1963 A Good Sign All Over the World [49]
1964 To Keep Myself Physically Strong [33]
1965 A Great Moment [50]
1966 Growth of a Leader [51]
1967 Breakthrough for Freedom [52]
1968 Scouting is Outing [53]
1969 Beyond the Easel In the collection of the National Scouting Museum [1][54]
1970 Come and Get It Used as the cover art for the 9th edition of the Boy Scout Handbook [14][51]
1971 America's Manpower Begins with Boypower [55]
1972 Can't Wait [56]
1973 From Concord to Tranquility [57]
1974 We Thank Thee, O' Lord [58]
1975 So Much Concern Stolen from the Elayne Gallery in 1978 and recovered in 2001 [59][60]
1976 The Spirit of 1976 Stolen from the Elayne Gallery in 1978 and recovered in 2001 [60][61]

Csatari's illustrations

Illustrations created by Joseph Csatari for the Boy Scouts of America calendar between 1977 and 1990
Year Name Notes Ref.
1977 The New Spirit [62]
1978 Scouting Through the Years [63]
1979 Eagle Service Project [64]
1980 The Reunion [65]
1981 After Hours [66]
1982 The Patrol Leader [67]
1983 Family Camping [68]
1984 The Strength of Scouting Though Volunteers [69]
1985 The Spirit Lives On [70]
1986 It's a Boy's Life [71]
1987 Values that Last a lifetime [72]
1988 Winter Camping Scene [73]
1989 You Can Do It [74]
1990 The Scoutmaster Final calendar illustration [18]

References

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Roman, Michael (2009). "Review: Norman Rockwell at the National Scouting Museum". Dallas Art News. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  2. ↑ Bomey, Nathan (February 27, 2020). "Bankrupt Boy Scouts may need to sell Norman Rockwell art to pay sexual abuse victims". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 27, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Steven Spielberg, George Lucas share their Norman Rockwell collections for exhibit at Smithsonian". The Dallas Daily News. October 24, 2010. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Norman Rockwell's Scout Memories". The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  5. ↑ Hillcourt 1977, p. 91
  6. 1 2 Hillcourt 1977, p. 92
  7. 1 2 3 Hillcourt 1977, p. 95
  8. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 12
  9. 1 2 3 Hillcourt 1977, pp. 95–99
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hillcourt 1977, pp. 99
  11. ↑ Hillcourt 1977, p. 116
  12. ↑ Hillcourt 1977, pp. 102
  13. 1 2 3 Moline 1979, p. 134
  14. 1 2 Atherton 1987, p. 290
  15. 1 2 3 Moline 1979, p. 136
  16. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 14
  17. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, pp. 16–17
  18. 1 2 Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 129
  19. ↑ Hillcourt 1977, p. 150
  20. ↑ Hillcourt 1977, p. 97
  21. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 25
  22. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 33
  23. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 35
  24. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 36
  25. ↑ Hillcourt 1977, p. 12
  26. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 40
  27. ↑ Hillcourt 1977, p. 195
  28. ↑ Hillcourt 1977, p. 149
  29. ↑ Hillcourt 1977, p. 137
  30. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 45
  31. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 47
  32. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 49
  33. 1 2 Hillcourt 1977, p. 147
  34. ↑ Hillcourt 1977, p. 131
  35. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 55
  36. ↑ Hillcourt 1977, pp. 144–145
  37. ↑ Hillcourt 1977, p. 114
  38. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 61
  39. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 63
  40. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 64
  41. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 67
  42. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 69
  43. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 70
  44. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 73
  45. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 75
  46. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 77
  47. ↑ Hillcourt 1977, p. 140
  48. ↑ Hillcourt 1977, p. 132
  49. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 82
  50. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 87
  51. 1 2 Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 88
  52. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 91
  53. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 92
  54. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 95
  55. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 98
  56. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 101
  57. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 102
  58. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 105
  59. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 106
  60. 1 2 "Stolen Rockwell paintings recovered". The Washington Times. December 13, 2001. Archived from the original on November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  61. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 108
  62. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 113
  63. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 114
  64. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 115
  65. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 117
  66. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 118
  67. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 119
  68. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 120
  69. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 121
  70. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 123
  71. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 124
  72. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 125
  73. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 126
  74. ↑ Csatari & Csatari 2009, p. 128

Bibliography

  • Atherton, John (April 1987). "On The Official Boy Scout Handbook". Revue Française d'Études Américaines. 32 (32): 281–295. doi:10.3406/rfea.1987.1279.
  • Csatari, Joseph; Csatari, Jeff (2009). Norman Rockwell's Boy Scouts of America. London: DK. ISBN 978-0-7566-3520-6.
  • Hillcourt, William (1977). Norman Rockwell's World of Scouting. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-8109-1582-4.
  • Moline, Mary (1979). Norman Rockwell Encyclopedia. Indianapolis: Curtis Publishing Company. ISBN 0-89387-032-3 – via the Internet Archive (registration required).

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