1945: Arlington VERMONT MAPLE SUGAR syrup scene by Mead Schaeffer; Edgerton For Sale
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1945: Arlington VERMONT MAPLE SUGAR syrup scene by Mead Schaeffer; Edgerton:
$12.95
1945 covermaple sugar harvest
in VermontThis is the front cover only, from The Saturday Evening Post issue of Feb. 17, 1945, which was published over 75 years ago. It measures 10.5 x 13.5 inches in size. It is in very good condition, with some light cover over wear; a short (3/4ths of an inch), scarcely noticeable tear on the upper edge, plus an original subscriber\'s label in the upper right corner (see photo), which are often found on vintage Post covers. The scene was painted by Mead Schaeffer (1898-1980), whose studio was in Arlington, Vermont, and who was a frequent cover artist for the Post. This was one of 46 magazine covers he did for the magazine. Mead Schaeffer was a good friend of Norman Rockwell, and sometimes even served as a model for Rockwell, as did his some of his neighbors. Schaeffer had been a war correspondent during much of World War II and was most noted for a series of superb Post covers depicting American G.I.s and military personnel during the war. This cover was painted in the last year of the War, and presents a more peaceful and bucolic scene on the homefront, as a family group gathers sap from a maple grove, onto a horse-drawn sledge as several dogs rush around excitedly, and the cookhouse is in the background. Accompanying this cover print will be a photocopy of a description from the first inside page of the Post issue, which commented on Schaeffer\'s painting. It says:THIS WEEK\'S COVER
Knowing nothing on earth about maple sirup except that we wish we had a few gallons of it, we tapped Mead Schaeffer, this week\'s cover artist, hung a bucket on him and told him to give. Well, he said, it takes forty to forty-five buckets of sap to make one bucket of the sirup which is obtained by boiling and skimming the sap which flows from the trees. The sap itself tastes like water, and Vermonters often use it instead of water to make coffee. The models are Arlington, Vermont, neighbors of Mr. Schaeffer\'s, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Edgerton and their children. The Edgertons own one of the best sugar bushes—a bush is a grove of sugar trees—in that section. The shed in the background is the boiling-off house. Vermont farmers can, and do, argue for hours and days over what is the best time to tap. The season starts as early as February and may end as late as April.[gsp6298]_gsrx_vers_1651 (GS 9.7.3 (1651))