Calvert Reserve - Country for old men.

Here's an almost un-satirizable ad for Calvert Reserve, featuring a beautiful painting by a mystery artist. More on him/her later. Gosh, what a nice painting.

After WWII, the suburbs exploded in population all over America, due to veterans coming home and starting families someplace quiet. Any city in North America is quieter than a battlefield. And, ten miles outside a city is quieter still. So, suburbia ahoy.

Calvert wanted to be the official drink of the relaxed, fun-loving suburbs, so they commissioned this illustration of idealized suburban Americana as their image of recommended sophistication. Who'd they commission? I can't tell. Somebody whose initials seem to be "CB". The Research and Googling team came up empty-browsered after a rigorous three-page search for the identity of this artist. Reader assistance is appreciated.

Even though the figures in the illustration are really small, there's a lot of personality and expressiveness to be found. You just have to skillfully arrange the character's silhouette. The first thing I notice is the sense of urgency in all the little people who need to get to the party. How did the artist do that? Well, when people are hurrying comically, they bend at the waist in a kind of rushed hunch. It makes it obvious that they really need to get where they're going. This Calvert-fueled party is THE place to be!

The other thing I now notice is a little disappointing. All the people at the party are men. WTF? I mean, I like that, in The Fifties, people wore suits to parties, but I don't like the implied sexism of an all-man shindig. Besides, who likes a party without women? Maybe Calvert's customer base was predominantly male? That doesn't make sense. Women appear in loads of ads targeted to men. Either the understood message is one of chauvinism (which could be the case, because this is 1957 after all) or one of surprising liberalism for the time. Maybe these are men who prefer the company of men? Given the overwhelming conformity of mainstream American culture in The Fifties, and the fact that this ad ran in LIFE magazine (which was the epitome of "mainstream"), I'm going to go with oblivious chauvinism as the likely inspiration for the "no girls" policy of the painting.

Anyway, I like these panoramic pictures that have no specific focal point. They make good wallpapers on computers and phones. I'll post a special version of this ad cropped to the painting and sweetened up a little bit for chroma and contrast for use as a wallpaper. Graphic Gift coming to a hard drive near you, thanks to your rude finger in three, two, one....

Click for big.

Click for big.