Capture the essence of a Rockwellian Christmas with a minature small-town America. display.
Norman Rockwell's close connection to the Christmas season began before his 16th birthday when he received his first commission as an artist to design four Christmas cards. Throughout his 47 years designing cover illustrations for "The Saturday Evening Post," Rockwell painted close to 100 images depicting the holidays and winter activities. Capture the essence of a Rockwell Christmas by pulling decoration ideas from his illustrations and his era, as well as Rockwell's personal history, career and passions.
Norman Rockwell -- Illustrating America
As a man who became synonymous with small-town America, it may surprise some to learn that Norman Rockwell was born in 1894 in the major metropolis of New York City. On the path to becoming a great artist by the time he was 14, Rockwell achieved success early when he was appointed as the art director of the official Boy Scouts of America publication, "Boys' Life," while still a teenager. At age 22, Rockwell embarked on his almost 50-year stint creating covers for "The Saturday Evening Post" that depicted intimate, everyday moments of small-town America that were often humorous, sometimes serious and always poignant.
Rockwell's Christmas Covers
To Norman Rockwell, telling a story was his primary goal when composing an illustration, and his Christmas covers were no exception. Giving a nod to sentimentality of the season, Rockwell's December covers sought to capture the humanity of the people in he portrayed, such as Santa checking his expenses in the December 4, 1920 issue and the exhausted toyshop sales girl in the December 27, 1947 issue.
Children learning the truth behind the Santa Claus myth worked its way into several Rockwell covers, including "Department Store Santa" on the December 28, 1940 cover and the December 29, 1956 cover which depicted a small boy discovering a Santa suit stuffed in the bottom drawer of his parents' bureau.
Rockwell Decorations in Miniature
Creating a light-up village of snow-covered ceramic shops and houses, modeled after buildings circa 1940s and 50s, captures the Rockwell spirit of small-town Americana in miniature. Several manufacturers of Christmas village miniatures have created figurines inspired by several famous "Saturday Evening Post" Christmas covers, such as "Mailboxes in the Snow," from 1941 and the "The Gift" from 1932 to incorporate into larger village sets inspired by the decades during which Rockwell drew his most famous Christmas covers. Set up the Rockwell figurines next to a single illuminated building or construct an entire holiday town by displaying multiple buildings on a blanket of faux snow.
A Life-sized Rockwell Christmas
Hanging several of Rockwell's Christmas covers on the walls each holiday brings the artist's famed style into the decor instantly, but life-sized Rockwellian decorations do not have to remain two-dimensional. Achieve the classic look depicted in many of Rockwell's Christmas covers by collecting vintage decorations from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Hang authentic glass ornaments and beaded garlands from the eras on the Christmas tree. Display sets of the ceramic candle holders and cherubic figurines that were popular Christmas decorations during the 1950s. Recreate elements of classic Christmas covers by letting pieces of a Santa suit stick out of a bottom dresser drawer, a la the 1956 "Discovering Santa" cover, or build a 3D replica of the December 27, 1941 cover, "Mailboxes in the Snow."
