Construction Crew by Norman Rockwell

August 21, 1954 Issue of The Saturday Evening Post

Construction Crew, a Norman Rockwell painting, appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post published August 21, 1954. This is another timeless favorite of Rockwell collectors, a classic for all the ages.

This painting was Rockwell's 283rd overall out of 322 total paintings that were published on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. Rockwell's career with the Post spanned 47 years, from his first cover illustration, Boy With Baby Carriage in 1916 to his last, Portrait of John F. Kennedy, in 1963.

This was also the fifth cover for The Post in 1954. In 1954, there were six Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post covers published.

The original oil on canvas painting, 32.5 x 28 inches or 81 x 71 cm, is part of the collection of Curtis Publishing Company.

This painting also appears in four Rockwell commentary books. It appears:

• as illustration 280 of Norman Rockwell's America by Christopher Finch,
• on page 116 of Norman Rockwell: A Sixty Year Retrospective by Thomas Buechner,
• as illustration 508 of Norman Rockwell: Artist and Illustrator by Thomas Buechner and
• on page 200 of Norman Rockwell, A Definitive Catalogue by Laurie Norton Moffatt.

Pristine original copies of this magazine cover sell for respectable sums on eBay, when it is offered. And to think it only cost fifteen cents originally! And it was mint condition then, too.

Construction Crew

Norman Rockwell shows us how progress can sometimes interfere with simple pleasure.

These kids are about to have their playground upgraded a new house. The plans show that the two men are supposed to start digging the cellar for someone's new home.

These poor fellows are going to have to break someone's heart.

Neighborhood kids, including one dog, are arriving on the scene to plead their case.

The property may be owned by someone else, but this is their playground.

The foreman, holding a hammer and blueprints, looks almost stunned. He did not know that there would be a hitch in fulfilling this job.

If he is local, this may have even been where he also played baseball during the summers.

It is unlikely that the children will win their case. They are not even pleading to the right person. The construction crew is just here to do a job, not to decide whether or not it should be done .

It is said that Rockwell recruited members of the local Little League for his children models.

Two of the models also appeared in later paintings. Kenneth Ingram, holding the bat, appeared in The Optician. Scott Ingram, the little boy sucking his fingers, appeared in The Discovery, and many other paintings.

Norman Rockwell's Construction Crew (1954)
(Image Only) Copyright © 1954 Saturday Evening Post & Curtis Publishing Company