Dean Cornwell (1892-1960)
Property from the Charles E. Sigety Collection
Dean Cornwell (1892-1960)

The Wonders of Ivory (Swapping Yarns)

Details
Dean Cornwell (1892-1960)
The Wonders of Ivory (Swapping Yarns)
signed with initials and dated 'DC/25' (lower right)
oil on canvas laid down on masonite
32 x 41 ¾ in. (81.3 x 106 cm.)
Provenance
Acquired by the late owner circa 1985.
Literature
"Third Installment of the Life and Letters of Ivory Soap," The Literary Digest, October 10, 1925, p. 44, illustrated.
"Third Installment of the Life and Letters of Ivory Soap," The Saturday Evening Post, October 17, 1925, illustrated.

Brought to you by

Elizabeth Beaman
Elizabeth Beaman

Lot Essay

The present work was published as an advertisement for Procter & Gamble's Ivory Soap in 1925. Blending with the other serialized and illustrated stories published in the magazines of the time, in this advertisement, the soap is anthropomorphized into a character who has adventures in the U.S. Army and Navy inspired by real life events written in by readers.

Swapping Yarns illustrates a story reported by Byron T. Mills of San Francisco, who was in the Navy during World War I: "On a certain dog-watch one night far out at sea we were gathered around the good old java swapping yarns. There were the bosun, and the bosun's mate, and a seaman bold, and me. The seaman bold, unfolding to stretch his legs, delivered himself of the following chant: 'A boy stood on the burning deck, The flames about did roar; He took a cake of Ivory Soap And washed himself--ashore.'"

More from American Art

View All
View All