J. C. Leyendecker's cover art for the first issue of The Saturday Evening Post to appear in the year 1920 shows a winged baby concealing a bottle of alcohol as he welcomes in the New Year. This particular year saw the onset of Prohibition, the defiance of which was in many ways to define American social life for a decade. The title Baby New Year and Prohibition Camel comes from the Post's website. It had been the cartoonist Thomas Nast who chose the camel, which drinks only water, to represent the Prohibition Party. Leyendecker put it to good use as we prepared for a bit of a dry spell.
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| J. C. Leyendecker Original art The Saturday Evening Post, January 3, 1920 |
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| J. C. Leyendecker Framed original art The Saturday Evening Post, January 3, 1920 |
Here's an illustration mystery for the ages: How on earth could this artwork, which is very specific to the New Year celebration of 1920, bear a framing label dated 1917?
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The bidding was already strong some five days prior to the November 14 sale of Illustration Art at Heritage Auctions where this original art would be sold.
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| J. C. Leyendecker Heritage Auctions listing accessed November 9, 2025 |
Auction Action
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| J. C. Leyendecker Original art The Saturday Evening Post, January 3, 1920 |
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| J. C. Leyendecker The Saturday Evening Post, January 3, 1920 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SaturdayEveningPost3Jan1920.jpg |
January 7, 2026 Update: In the comments section, John Sunday observes that the framing of this piece dates from 2017, and not 1917. I'll leave my error in place as a reminder that I have got to think fourth-dimensionally.
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