Extraordinary Stories From An Ordinary Guy: The "Bald Brothers" Story

Sunday, October 13, 2013

The "Bald Brothers" Story

It was an ordinary day. Talking with Bill about the Baseball Yearbooks that cover the rear wall of his classroom. Pretty neat to think that I had a hand in making all of those yearbooks starting in 1988. Most of them I designed, composed, printed, took photos for, and assembled while the last few I did most of the composition and photography with the book being printed by a professional shop.

Bill was telling me about an article he had seen in the newspaper that morning showing the artwork of Lon Keller who was born in nearby Lititz, PA in 1907. Told me I even looked something like him. Now, he had my attention, and I knew I would be checking out the paper and pulling him up on my computer when I had the chance. After seeing his work and reading that he was considered one of the greatest sports illustrators of his generation, I knew the only thing I had in common with him was the fact that we were both bald.

Lon Keller with one of his 24x36 inch pieces.

My cover designs were primarily clip art that no longer carried a copyright or trademark that I worked around my copy while Lon's cover designs were actually artwork for which he held a copyright. Henry Alonzo (Lon) Keller developed his artistic skills during the 1920s while studying fine art at Syracuse University. Shorty after, while working at a college store, he drew his first commercial works for Sun Oil Company and Keystone Automobile Club. It was in 1932 that he began his drawings for football programs when he drew the Cornell-Penn Thanksgiving Day game cover. At the time a California printing company, LS&Z, handled most of the national sports programs due to the cost of four-color printing.

1932 Penn vs. Cornell Cover

One of their salesmen, Don Spencer, happened to be visiting the University of Pennsylvania in 1933, saw Lon's covers and put him to work. Eventually Don began his own business and Lon continued with him, moving to New York in 1937. Lon worked mostly in oils and always on a 24x36 inch canvas. He worked during the Golden Age of Illustration which also produced N.C. Wyeth and Norman Rockwell. Three years later Spencer's company contracted with Coca-Cola to do both college and high school program covers. It was back in the '70s that I used to make a stop at the local Coke distributor and pick up football covers and center spread sheets for the football programs I printed for Manheim Township High School where I taught graphic arts.

Coke design on the program insert sheet

Lon Keller was responsible for approximately 250 college programs and over 200 of the high school covers. Some of the sports artwork, that is now highly collectible, that most people would recognize would be the 1947 New York Yankees top-hat logo and the 1962 NY Mets skyline logo. His art is on the cover of 10 World Series programs including the 1951 program between the Yankees and NY Giants. That one he had to draw twice after the Giants staged an unbelievable late-season comeback to win the National League pennant when the Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers with Bobby Thomson's "Shot heard 'round the world."

1941 Brown vs. Columbia game cover

Lon also did many cover illustrations for the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, the Harlem Globetrotters, the U.S. Military and U.S. Naval Academies, the Air Force Academy, professional ice hockey and horse racing, as well as the cover illustration for one of boxing's biggest venues in the Joe Louis vs. Billy Conn fight in 1946. Quite a few of the World War I propaganda posters carried Lon Keller illustrations. In 1991 Keller was inducted into the New York Sports Museum & Hall of Fame for his fantastic artwork. In 1984 Lon retired to DeLand, FL and continued with his painting. He died June 28, 1995 and was buried in his home state of Pennsylvania. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - below are a few more samples of Lon Keller's work.