Roy McKie, Simon and Schuster, The Dog, 1954. A gift to Ruth and me, with best wishes.
Roy McKie, Bon voyage drawing "for "Ruth and Giam" 1955
My young wife Ruth and I visited Roy and his first wife Lois at their home in New Hope, Pennsylvania, just before we went off on a seven-month trip of discovery to Europe west of the Iron Curtain.
Roy and I were both fortunate to have as a mentor in our younger days of the tremendously talented Bruce C. Anderson who founded Bruce Anderson Associates, a major force in advertising art and design from the early 1940s through the 1960s in Boston. Roy had been discovered by Charles Coiner, art director of N.W. Ayer Advertising in Philadelphia and immediately hired. I was taken on as a cartoonist to fill Roy's shoes, which I must confess I failed to do, though my cartoon work under Andy's direction was the best I ever accomplished.
This appeared in This Week Magazine, with the largest circulation of any publication in the USA, a Sunday supplement carried by 37 newspapers. Circa 1954.
Roy McKie, This Week Magazine, More for your money, 8 September 1957
Roy McKie, This Week Magazine, Your Money, 10 November 1957
Roy McKie, This Week Magazine, Your Money, 10 November 1957
Roy McKie, This Week Magazine, 17 November 1957
Appearing in This Week was a great gig, not only for the pay, for it was a top market for cartoonists, but it was a unique accomplishment to appear in the same publication with Roy, two guys from Medford, Massachusetts, a city hardly anyone had ever heard of until another and much younger local boy, Mike Bloomberg, earned a zillion dollars and became mayor of New York City.
Oh, yes, what did I do? A weekly pantomime cartoon about a grounded invisible angel called Angelino that ran until I asked to copyright the character and that marked the end of my tenure there.
Roy McKie, full page ad for Travlers Insurance Co., 1958
These drawings reflect a more controlled pen style, as opposed to energetic brush strokes, above. At the same time, Roy was drawing a series of ads for the Lady's Home Journal magazine entitled "Never Underestimate the Power of a Woman."
Roy McKie, from Capricorn, circa 1972
Roy McKie, from Libra, circa 1972
Next: Books by Roy McKie.
These drawings are courtesy of Gatochy, a remarkable collector from Lisbon, Portugal, from whom I hope to upload more wonderful examples from her extensive collection of art and photography through the centuries.
You can find more about Roy McKie's published childrens books by Googling his name. Among the links is blog which includes a good interview along with more examples of his published books.
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