Norman Rockwell - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Norman Rockwell

While visiting my 91 year old mother-in-law over Mother’s Day weekend, we noticed she was working on a jig saw puzzle borrowed from the Russia Gathering Place where she goes every Thursday along with many other senior ladies around town. The puzzle depicted a Norman Rockwell painting that appeared as the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on April 23, 1949. As kid I can recall my parents receiving the weekly Saturday Evening Post and enjoying the magazine. No doubt some of the articles were of interest to me but it was the photos that jog my memory the most, especially the sports-related covers by artist Rockwell. Even though I was only 14 months old at the time this cover was published, I do recall seeing it before, perhaps at a used bookstore or on eBay.

Throughout the weekend, my wife and son would help my mother-in-law fit the pieces in place, with all three concurrently doing so at one point. Meanwhile, I delved into the puzzle box cover for details and found that the puzzle depicted a major league baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and home team Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field early in the 1949 season. The game was under rain delay in the bottom of the 6th inning with Pittsburgh leading 1-0.

In the foreground were the three umpires (they only had three back then until 1952 when four were implemented) assessing the rainfall and whether to call the game or not, in which case Pittsburgh would win. Behind the umpires, you could see the two managers “discussing” the matter, with the Pirates manager Billy Meyer praying for more rain and the Dodgers manager Burt Shooten pointing to a clearing sky confident the game would go on. In the background, you can see several players as well as the scoreboard and various billboards around the stadium.

The scoreboard shows the number of Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson #42 and left fielder #35, Johnny Hopp. The scoreboard also shows #20 is at bat; however, the Dodgers did not have anybody with that number in 1949, perhaps explained because Rockwell was known for hiding an error somewhere on each of his Saturday Evening Post cover photos just to bring added intrigue to the magazine. Plus the Dodgers and Pirates did not meet in the 1949 season until May, so maybe the game being depicted occurred in the prior season. For the record there were no rain-outs between the two teams in 1948. That being said, there was a #20 playing for Brooklyn in 1948 by the name of Phil Haugstad. But then there’s another inconsistency in that Leo Deroscher was manager of the Dodgers in 1948, while the painting includes Shooten and Meyer based on old photos of them. Likely it was Norman Rockwell doing what he does best, showing people in interesting and entertaining situations that were very real but somewhat surreal at the same time.

Norman Rockwell was a national treasure - admired by everyone. In 1916, the 22-year-old Rockwell painted his first cover for The Saturday Evening Post, the magazine considered by Rockwell to be the “greatest show window in America.” Over the next 47 years, another 321 Rockwell covers would appear on the cover of the Post. Here's a selection of some of my favorite sports-themed covers. During WWII, inspired by a Franklin Roosevelt speech, he painted his most famous covers depicting the four freedoms referenced by the President; freedom of speech, worship, from want and from fear. Each is shown below.

My wife talked to her mother a few days ago and the Norman Rockwell puzzle has been completed! She’s already solving the next one from the Gathering Place.

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