Children Dancing at a Party by Norman Rockwell

January 26, 1918 Issue of The Saturday Evening Post

For obvious reasons, this illustration has also been called Boy Stepping on Girl's Toe.

This painting was Rockwell's eleventh picture featured on the cover of The Post. The Post featured Rockwell on the cover four times in 1918.

When this was published, World War I was in full swing. Americans needed a distraction from the grim realities of war. Rockwell was just the one to provide that distraction.

Children Dancing at a Party

In this painting, Norman Rockwell returned to what he knew best. Children in humorous situations, such as presented here, had long been a staple of popular magazines.

The humorous situation in this painting is one to which most of us can relate. Even when the social situation called for pretending like nothing happened, most of us have been either the toe stepper or steppee. (Isn't it fun - making up words?)

Here we see two young couples at a party dancing. All the children are dressed in their nice clothes. All are wearing party hats, except one.

The girl whose toe has been stepped on has lost her hat on the floor. It must have toppled when she jumped and grabbed her foot. She seems to be asking her dance partner "Why did you do that?"

Her dance partner looks embarassed at all the commotion. He seems to be saying "It was just an accident," and his body language seems to confirm this.

The couple behind them are both grinning. Perhaps they are amused or perhaps they are relieved. Either way, it happened to someone else, instead of them...
(continued)

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