Before The Shot by Norman Rockwell

March 15, 1958 Issue of The Saturday Evening Post

Before The Shot, a Norman Rockwell painting, appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post published March 15, 1958. This is yet another timeless favorite of Rockwell collectors, a classic for all the ages.

This painting was Rockwell's 299th overall out of 322 total paintings featured 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 is also the first cover for The Post in 1958. In 1958, there were five Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post covers published. This was also the 299th Rockwell painting to be published on the cover of The Post.

I have seen pristine original copies of this magazine cover sell for big bucks on eBay. And to think it only cost fifteen cents originally! And it was mint condition then, too.

The whereabouts of the original oil on canvas painting is unknown.

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

• on page 163 of The Norman Rockwell Album,
• on the cover of 50 Norman Rockwell Favorites,
• as illustration 520 of Norman Rockwell: Artist and Illustrator by Thomas Buechner
• and on page 216 of Norman Rockwell, A Definitive Catalogue by Laurie Norton Moffatt.

It is also reproduced in The Norman Rockwell Poster Book.

A study of this painting also appeared in Norman Rockwell: A Sixty Year Retrospective by Thomas Buechner on page 118.

This classic Norman Rockwell painting shows a boy examining the credentials of his doctor.

Before The Shot

We have all done it. We have all looked at our doctor's diplomas and licenses. At least, I know I have.

This little boy is just yielding to his natural curiousity. The fact that his rear end will be punctured with a hypodermic in just a few minutes does not diminish the nature of his inspection.

We do not know whether he has been reading the whole time he has been undressing or whether he suddenly realized that it might be a good idea to be an informed consumer. We can, however, see the degree of scrutiny he is giving the doctor's dipoloma.

No amount of information is going to make that needle feel any better, though!

This scene and the publishing date take place during the dead of winter. The little boy's discarded jacket, scarf, gloves and hat bear testimony to the coldness of the weather outside. Of course, he would prefer to be outside playing in the snow. But his mother brought him to the doctor's office to get a shot.

The doctor's waiting room is probably crammed full of sick patients. The doctor is probably hurrying somewhat in order to be able to see them all and get home while his supper is still hot. Let's hope, if only for the doctor's supper's sake, that the boy's scrutiny of the diploma answers more questions than it raises.

Maybe the doctor will just sneak up behind the boy and make the shot quick and painless. Well, maybe quick, anyway!

Of course, as with any Norman Rockwell painting, the setting is completely accurate. From the balance scales to the paraphenalia on the counter all the way down to the tile floor and two chairs in the examining room, every little detail of a doctor's office in the late 50's is perfectly captured.

This painting is also Rockwell's treatment of a common situation in the doctor's office.

Usually, in the doctor's office, it is the older patient carefully examining the credentials of the younger doctor. As stated above, this action is just human nature.

Rockwell has turned that common scene on its ear. His rendition showing a young patient examining the credentials of an older, obviously experienced, doctor is just the opposite of the most common way the situation plays out.

Norman Rockwell's Before The Shot (1958)
Copyright © 1958 Saturday Evening Post & Curtis Publishing Company