When I first uploaded 100 Years of Illustration seven years ago I described its contents as examples of outstanding talent which may or may not have been overlooked or forgotten. This has never been so true as it is now. It's my privilege to introduce the work of George S. Eisenberg while serving in combat in the U.S. Navy during his three-and-one-half years of duty in World War II.
I wouldn't dare try to paraphrase what George has written so I suggest you let him tell his own story, with the help of his daughter Julie Eisenberg Janson, by clicking on the links below.
George photographed with one of his officers, a Lt. Allen, on board the destroyer USS La Vallette.
George served throughout the war on LaVallette.
A hale and hearty 90-year-old George Eisenberg with a Japanese flag taken from Manila in 1945. You can read about his exploits on his website, A Sailor's Diary.
George S. Eisenberg: Captain Taylor, 1943
George S. Eisenberg: Fred Leslie, 1943
George S. Eisenberg: Spud Locker, 1943
George S. Eisenberg: Washing Dress Blues, 1944
George S. Eisenberg: Drake, 1944
George S. Eisenberg: Pop, 1945
George S. Eisenberg: Red, 1945
George S. Eisenberg: Bernard Waller, 1945
On a personal level I'm sorry to say that George and I have never met even though we freelanced for decades in Boston. He attended and graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art in 1942, whereas I only attended the same school after World War II. We both worked for the old Boston Post newspaper, but he as an illustrator for its magazine section while I worked as a grunt in its art department.
However, I spent most of my time as a copy boy at the Post until V-J day in August of 1945. My claim to fame was being the kid who lettered the news on the chalkboard that hung outside the Post building, thereby scooping the Boston Globe, just across Washington Street. My reward was a job in the art department at the time George Eisenberg and his shipmates were sailing for home.
If you wanted the latest news in those halcyon days before television and computers, it could be gotten first on the chalkboards hung outside newspaper buildings, hours before a special edition could be printed and distributed to vendors.
Thank you to Julie Eisenberg Janson for introducing me to the exceptional work of her courageous and talented father.
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