Santa Claus Is Up a Ladder!

contributed by the webmaster

This relief Christmas stein was inspired by the December 1930 cover of The Saturday Evening Post. As indicated in the basemarks, the stein was produced for Curtis Publishing in 1993 by the firm of S.P. Gerz. Joseph Christian Leyendecker provided the original illustration. "Leyendecker (March 23, 1874 – July 25, 1951) was one of the most prominent and financially successful freelance commercial artists in the U.S. He was active between 1895 and 1951 producing drawings and paintings for hundreds of posters, books, advertisements, and magazine covers and stories. He is best known for his 80 covers for Collier's Weekly, 322 covers for The Saturday Evening Post, and advertising illustrations for B. Kuppenheimer men's clothing and Arrow brand shirts and detachable collars. He was one of the few known reportedly gay artists working in the early-twentieth century U.S." [Wikipedia]

"The Saturday Evening Post was first published in 1821 in the same printing shop at 53 Market Street in Philadelphia, where the Benjamin Franklin-founded Pennsylvania Gazette was published in the 18th century. Cyrus H. K. Curtis, publisher of the Ladies' Home Journal, bought the Post for $1,000 in 1897. Under the ownership of the Curtis Publishing Company, the Post grew to become the most widely circulated weekly magazine in the United States." [Wikipedia]