In the 1920s, Rockwell worked as a commercial illustrator

Rockwell's first full-time magazine job was for Boys' Life

After graduating from the Art Students League of New York, Rockwell found work illustrating for Boys’ Life, the magazine of the Boy Scouts of America. He went on to create images for over 50 magazine covers and to design the organization’s annual calendars.

Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post created an idealized American life

The Saturday Evening Post’s circulation exploded in the early 20th century, due in no small part to Rockwell’s iconic cover illustrations, which often portrayed idyllic portraits of American life from the not-so-distant past. This documentary explores how Rockwell’s covers played on national nostalgia, creating a vision of the country that grew to be associated with the American Dream.

Rockwell left high school to become an artist

He began taking art classes at 14, while still in high school, but by 1910, he left traditional schooling to focus on his training at the National Academy of Design. He transferred to the Art Students League soon after to study under Thomas Fogarty, who taught him the particulars of commercial illustration, and George Bridgman, who was known for anatomically precise portraits.

Norman Rockwell had a 21st-century resurgence

For decades, he was written off by the art world as a simplistic commercial artist, but critics began to reconsider Rockwell's work many years after his death. Arguably, the height of that resurgence came in 2011, when President Barack Obama hung "The Problem We All Live With" (on loan from the Norman Rockwell Museum) in the White House to mark the 50th anniversary of Ruby Bridges' desegregation walk.

Rockwell's 'Four Freedoms' raised millions for the US war effort

Rockwell initially pitched the "Four Freedoms" project to the US Ordnance Department, but was rejected. Rockwell's editor at the Saturday Evening Post, however, loved the idea and published the images across four consecutive issues. After they became a sensation, the Saturday Evening Post partnered with the US Department of the Treasury to send the paintings on a 16-date national tour, which raised $133M in war bonds and stamps. Meanwhile, the Office of War Information printed four million sets of the posters with "Buy War Bonds" emblazoned on them.

Rockwell based many of his paintings on staged photographs

Rockwell’s work was often noted for its realism. His paintings' near-photographic precision was no accident. Early in his career, he painted from live models. Later, he’d conceived a scene, staged it, photographed it, and then used the photos as the foundation for his paintings.

Norman Rockwell considered himself an 'illustrator' rather than a 'painter'

In this 1962 interview with folk singer Tom Glazer, Rockwell points to Pieter Bruegel's Peasant Dance hung on the wall in his office. "He was a great painter, one of the fine arts painters," he said. "See I'm not a fine arts painter, I'm an illustrator. I illustrate stories, do magazine covers. This is quite different from a painter."

Charles Dickens' novels inspired a young Norman Rockwell

Rockwell is considered a narrative painter who tells stories through his portraits of everyday Americans. The interest in using images to tell stories began at a young age, when his father read Dickens aloud to him while the young Norman illustrated the books’ scenes.

Rockwell worked with psychoanalyst Erik Erikson

In 1953, the painter and his family moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, to be closer to the Austen Riggs Center, where his wife was undergoing treatment for alcoholism and depression. Rockwell began treatment, too, working with Erikson—famous for coining the term “identity crisis”—on his anxieties about his art.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

Mid-century modern graphic designers like Milton Glaser and Eric Carle found success with children's books

Glaser was famous for creating the "I Heart NY" logo, the DC Comics logo, and an iconic Bob Dylan poster for CBS Records, but he naturally transitioned to illustrating children's books like "The Smallest Elephant in the World" and "If Apples had Teeth." Carle, author of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?," began his career in advertising. Scholars say mid-century modern's preference for clean lines and bold colors was a natural fit for kids' books.

Take a look at an early rock 'n' roll artifact

This 1956 jukebox musical, "Rock, Rock, Rock!," is an early example of the burgeoning rock 'n' roll culture—with performances from Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, D.J. Alan Freed, and several others. It was also a catalyst, sending the new youth culture into theaters around the country.

A history of the radio jingle

As the radio became a fixture in American households, advertisers recognized the airwaves' commercial potential. Inspired by 19th-century commercially minded poems, the radio jingle was born in 1926 with the ditty "Have You Tried Wheaties?" This guide from the University of Maryland walks you through the evolution of the form, with recordings of its earliest earworms.

'Rocky Road' was designed to help people cope with the stock market crash

In 1929, ice cream maker William Dreyer marketed Rocky Road as a sweet treat intended to distract consumers from the poor state of the economy. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Andy Warhol, explained

Andy Warhol wasn't just an artist—he was a cultural force. From his early days working as a New York illustrator to managing The Velvet Underground and creating experimental films, Warhol blurred the line between art and commerce, leaving a legacy that changed pop culture forever.

David Ogilvy’s brother helped get him into the advertising business

Ogilvy sent a copy of his stove sales manual, "The Theory and Practice of Selling the AGA Cooker" (which Fortune magazine later called "probably the best sales manual ever written”) to his brother, who was working at London ad agency Mather & Crowther at the time.

The most iconic vintage ads

Looking at vintage ads can provide a deep dive into the history of how businesses communicate with their customers. This archive of some of the most iconic print and out-of-home ads of all time breaks down why each ad resonated at the time (think brutally honest copywriting, and long copy that is a pleasure to read). See ads from Porsche, Listerine, and more.

A timeline of the Rockefeller family

The Rockefeller family timeline (as it relates to the business world, at least) starts in 1839 with John D. Rockefeller’s birth. In the nearly 200 years since, his offspring have gotten involved in everything from the Watergate scandal to the McCormick & Company spice business.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Before launching his cereal company, John Harvey Kellogg promoted natural food at a sanitarium

Kellogg was the director of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, a health resort in Michigan, where he served patients vegetarian dishes, including early experiments with meat substitutes. Kellogg espoused a philosophy of "Biologic Living," which suggested consuming natural food would lead to "racial hygiene" for white Americans, a tenet of the eugenics movement.

German printer Richard Sellmer revived Advent calendars after World War II

Advent calendar production resumed in 1946, when German printer Richard Sellmer began issuing nostalgic winter-town designs that became classics, later exporting them to the United States. His company still operates today, producing more than 140 varieties.

Photography helped eradicate US child labor

For employers in the early 20th century, child laborers had one major perk: They weren't unionizing. They were cheaper than their adult counterparts. But with the help of a photographer named Lewis Hine, who took photos of children at work, child labor in the US was eventually restricted by law.

Uncrustables' reinvention of the PB&J

In the 1990s, David Geske and Len Kretchman came up with the ingenious idea to package and mass-produce a crustless version of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This makeover to an American childhood staple resulted in a $1B business. Read this article in Mental Floss to learn more about the origins of the brand Uncrustables and its extraordinary success.

Sears and Roebuck once sold DIY house kits

Between 1908 and 1940, "kit homes" that buyers could build themselves were advertised in Sears’ famous catalog—and many of them are still standing today.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

How Chef Boyardee fed America

Chef Boyardee wasn’t just a grocery store staple—it was once a key supplier for US troops in WWII. Founded by Italian immigrant Hector Boiardi, the company produced thousands of canned pasta rations daily.

Walt Disney’s Laugh-O-Gram Studio featured his earliest innovations in animation

Before he founded his iconic film company, Walt Disney was a young animator in Kansas City, Missouri. After scoring a contract to create animated newsreels for local movie theaters, Disney formed Laugh-O-Gram Studio, where he created innovative animated shorts that set the path for his later work.

The ‘three-martini lunch’ was popularized on Madison Avenue

Advertising executives working on Madison Avenue in the 1960s and ’70s popularized the so-called “three-martini lunch” between businesspeople during the work week. Admen of the time supposedly believed alcohol brought more creativity to the second half of their workday. This article explains why three-martini lunches are no longer commonplace.

In its famous catalog, Sears sold $600 DIY house kits from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in an estimated 100,000 'Sears and Roebuck homes.'

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

Walt Disney's early film 'Alice's Wonderland' was a groundbreaking innovation in the silent film era

The first robot in literature may have been a 'mechanical man' in 1907's 'Ozma of Oz,' a book in L Frank Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' series.

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Brian Wilson wrote the Beach Boys' 'Don't Worry Baby' for the Ronettes, but the legendary girl group rejected it.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.