Orange Crush and Norman Rockwell

Twelve 1921 Advertisements

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The Orange Crush Company wanted twelve advertisements featuring Norman Rockwell paintings. Crush International, as it is known today, was just a soda pop company in 1921. Its original name was The Orange Crush Company in 1916 when the business started.

At the time of these advertisements, the company made three flavors of Crush, Orange, Lemon and Lime.

The advertisements were published in a wide variety of magazines. Collier's, The Literary Digest, The Youth's Companion and The Christian Herald are just a sample of the distribution.

Rockwell's Last and Only Contract

The Contract with Crush was the only contract Rockwell ever accepted for advertising work. The contract called for twelve paintings at a compensation of $300 per ad. That seemed and indeed was a lot of money at the time.

After the first couple of paintings, he had to really stretch for additional ideas. He even tried reciting one of Crush's slogans, "The Delectable Refreshment," over and over for inspiration. More ideas for new paintings were still difficult.

Rockwell also felt hamstrung by one restriction placed upon his paintings by the company. That restriction: the product had to appear in the painting and the label had to be legible and readable.

Rockwell gives his thoughts on the matter in his autobiography, My Adventures as an Illustrator:

"By the time I got to the eleventh and twelfth picture I was dreamimg about bottles of Orange Crush Soda Pop - long lines of them - quart size, regular size, marching down on me witl all the labels distinctively readable. A stampede of bottles. I'd wake up in the middle of the night screaming, ORANGE CRUSH, ORANGE CRUSH!"

He was apparently approaching the limits of his creativity by the completion of the twelfth painting. Norman Rockwell never again accepted a contract for multiple paintings. He felt another contract would again hamper his creativity.

A Question and a Challenge

I have only been able, so far, to find five of the twelve paintings. Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue by Laurie Norton Moffatt, from the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge Mass, only lists four. The Advertising World of Norman Rockwell by Donald and Marshall Stoltz, founders of the Norman Rockwell Museum of Philadelphia, shows only three.

Where are the others? Surely they were published.

Please help. I am certain that I am not alone in my desire to see the other seven paintings.

Towards the bottom of this page, you will notice a mechanism that allows you to contribute. If you have other Norman Rockwell Crush ads or just know (without a doubt) where and when others were published, please let me know. Don't forget to leave your valid email address on the confirmation page.

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Take a Tour of the
Five Rockwell Crush Advertisements I Have Found

	Lime Crush The Bribe		Orange and Lemon Crush One Touch of Nature
	Orange Crush An Orange Crush		Lemon Crush The Home Run
	Orange Crush Young Girl with Orange Crush