The New Haven RR Image Page -- John Held Jr. and the New Haven RR

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John Held, Jr. and the New Haven R.R.

August 1st, 2001

John Held, Jr. (1889-1958) was one of America's most famous illustrators. His stylized cartoon figures, particularly his scrawny "flapper" women, are considered by many people to exemplify the spirit of the so-called "Roaring 20s". Although Held is best known for the covers he did for the New Yorker magazine during the 1920s and 1930s, he also did a lot of advertising work for the New Haven Railroad during the same period. All items from the collection of Marc Frattasio.

John Held Jr.'s famous cartoon characters dress up this Summer Resorts guide that was distributed by the New Haven Railroad during 1930. Held's artwork wraps around the front and back covers of this booklet. The cover artwork suggests a view of the Grand Central Terminal concourse from one of the famous station's balconies.

Although he is best known for his highly stylized cartoon characters, John Held Jr. also used a colonial wood block drawing style on occasion. The cover of this Cape Cod resort guide, which was published by the New Haven Railroad in 1931, features this lesser known style of John Held artwork.

This Summer Resorts guide was distributed by the New Haven Railroad during 1932. It's cover design features many small inset cartoons drawn by John Held Jr. These same cartoon scenes were reused in several other advertising pieces that produced by the New Haven Railroad during 1932.

A family of John Held's famous cartoon figures grace the cover of this New Haven Railroad excursion train folder from the summer of 1932. The New Haven operated several special excursion trains to Provincetown MA and Fabyan NH (via the Boston & Maine) on August 31st 1932 to view the total eclipse of the sun that took place on that day.

John Held Jr. produced the artwork that was used on the covers of a large series of travel brochures published by the New Haven during the 1920s and 1930s. Each brochure had a corresponding 27" x 42" poster which had the exact same artwork. Brochures and posters produced before 1930 featured the words "The New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company" at the bottom instead of "The New Haven Railroad" as seen on this example dating from 1932.

John Held Jr. provided all the illustrations for "Speaking of Food", a colorful large format folder that was distributed during 1932 to promote the New Haven's dining car service.