I saw this in the book Parker '51' (even though it's an ad for the '61') and decided I had to have it. A little research and digging through eBay and now I have a copy of the Saturday Evening Post with this ad. I scanned and cleaned it up a little bit (to remove the center staples, text showing through from the other side of the page, etc) and now you get to see it, too.

That's cute!

Thanks for sharing that with us. I had no clue Rockwell was contracted by Parker for ad work, interesting. I'm womdering if this was the only one or did he do a series of them.

Fun ad, I like it!

Note clear depiction of left ring-fingers to indicate proper social status ... ... so many little clues.

What year is that ad from, Splicer? 1960 - or earlier?

I've seen a lot of 61 ads but never that one...I imagine college girls were better letter writers than boys!

Rockwell did a LOT of ad illustrations, particularly for SEPost type of advertisers. I can't think who some of the other companies were, but I think commercial art was a pretty lucrative sideline for him. That was back when magazine 4 color art was really top shelf...

I believe there were three, and I've heard that the originals were on display at Janesville. Another (sorry, no ad copy) is here:



I've seen the third in eBay auctions but don't have an example at the tip of my fingers. It has a pair of newlyweds who have each given the other a Parker 61 as a Christmas gift. They're hugging and each is looking at the 61 in their hands.



Oh yeah, I've been getting lost in the hidden details. It's not just her social status, but the status of her friends and her status relative to her friends. But it's not even about trying to get us to identify with her, it's about how proud we feel about a daughter we don't even have and trying to get us to live up to our (white, male, american) expectations of being the ideal parent. Isn't it a marvelous period piece? I wrote more about it (including the engagement ring on her finger and the lack of any on her friends' hands) on splicer.com



It was from the October 4th 1958 issue of the Saturday Evening Post.

Nice! Oh for the days when advertisements showed youngsters thrilling over a pen, not a high tech gadget or a virtual reality mix and match clothing doll...

Back in December, Len Provisor posted on Pentrace a series of photos showing the creation of this famous ad by Norman Rockwell. Len has kindly given me permission to post those pictures here. Besides increasing my appreciation for this ad, I love the way these photos give insight into this great artist's process. Thanks again, Len, for making these photos available to us.

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Thank you so much, JeffB (and Len, of course)! I remembered Len's post on PT and was checking my computer last night to see if I had saved the images but I hadn't (a Google search proved fruitless)....
Great stuff!

Wasn't a hooded, tubular nib, capillary-fill Parker 61 a high tech gadget in 1958?

JeffB, THANK YOU for those fantastic pictures. What a treasure!

*Ding, ding, ding!* Fair play to you, you've got a good point. I guess I like the fact that it's a more functional, mechanically based high tech gadget which happens to be pleasurable to use, then a battery powered toy...

I like that fact too. I was just pointing out the irony. It doesn't at all contradict what you wrote.

Linking up to the related Parker/Rockwell plates thread.

I'm not sure it even matters because either would depict status, but isn't it a class ring on her finger? I always loved the traditional squared class rings with the shield set in the center on the stone and from the looks of the pictures, that's what she's wearing. Or, here's where I'm clueless, was that a style for engagement rings in the late 50s?

My dad tells me he thinks it's an onyx ring of a style that was popular in the 50s, without any attached significance. And no, I agree that it doesn't particularly look like an engagement ring. I guess I've just been a single guy long enough to notice rings on the left hand ring finger.

Friend: "when you see a woman where do your eyes go first?"
Me: "ring finger, left hand."

I stand corrected about my assumption that it's an engagement ring.

Looks a lot like my mom's class ring to me. Circa early 60s...I should "borrow" it from her!