Paul Smith, Rand Mcnally advertising, 1957

One of my bizarre obsessions is riverboats. I don’t particularly want to take a ride on a new casino riverboat in St. Louis, but I’d be fine taking a riverboat cruise in 1850 up the Mississippi. I’ve found a repeating motif of riverboats in illustrations between 1950 and 1960. They were used on ads for pharmaceutical products, handkerchiefs, posters, and wallpaper. If the riverboat craze happened in 1940 it would make sense. Gone With the Wind was released in 1939, and all things antebellum south were the cat’s pajamas. Perhaps the 1950s trend with riverboats had something to do with the nostalgia for a simpler time when atomic warfare was a constant worry.

Maybe that’s my issue too. Noreen keeps telling me, “Sean, it’s not 1955. The Soviet Union is not planning a strike. You can stop digging that bomb shelter.” Or, maybe I just like the way these riverboats look. Like Mark Twain said, “Riverboats look like floating wedding cakes.” In the past few months I’ve been able to use riverboats on two projects. I made one for my lecture poster for AIGA Orange County, and I used a wonderful painting of another riverboat in the latest Mohawk Via promotion (to be released soon).

Verband Schweizerische Konsumvereine, Basel, 1957

Maria Bieri, 1954

Robert Schneeberg, CBS, 1955

Muller-Blase, 1954

C. Piatti, 1955

Travel Monthly, 1954

Sean Adams, Mohawk Via promotion spread, 2010

Sean Adams, AIGA OC, 2010

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Rodgers and Hammerstein Carousel, 1955

19 The Sermon

20 You’ll Never Walk Alone

Some weeks are just plain hard. I know I’ve had a difficult week, when I find myself listening to Rodgers and Hammerstein albums. Oh, and drinking heavily, too. Many of you already know that when we were at the ranch growing up, the only records we had to play were Rodgers and Hammerstein records in my grandmother’s den. The lyrics had an evil way of knitting themselves into my head. So now, when I feel really crappy, one of those lyrics pops into my head: When you walk through a storm, keep your chin up high, climb every mountain, don’t worry about others not liking you, just try liking them, and you’ll never walk alone are the bits of advice I tell myself. But don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. There’s nothing wrong with a little pep talk. And when you’re feeling a little beat, play some Rodgers and Hammerstein. And when you’re really, really beat, listen to The Sermon from Carousel (above).

me at the ranch, 1978

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Fess Parker, 1924-2010

Today, Fess Parker passed away. He’s better known to everyone as Davy Crockett. Everyone on the planet knows the song (or you’re from Venus) Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. I had a coonskin cap, my brother had one, my 10 year old nephew, Chance, has one. Even though I’ve never seen an episode of the television show, I have an idea that Davy Crockett was brave and noble, and a good role model. Fess Parker made him real, and not a cartoon. I’d suggest that everyone find their coonskin cap and wear it tomorrow in honor of Parker, but I doubt clients would understand. Many thanks Fess Parker.

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