Merrie Christmas: Man with Christmas Goose by Norman Rockwell

December 17, 1938 Issue of The Saturday Evening Post

Merrie Christmas: Man with Christmas Goose, this Norman Rockwell painting, appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post published December 17, 1938.

Alternate titles for this painting are just Muggleton Stage Coach, Muggleston Coach and Mister Pickwick.

The original oil on canvas painting, 27 x 22 inches, is now held in a private collection.

This painting was Rockwell's one-hundred-eighty-third overall picture featured on the cover of The Post and the sixth Rockwell cover in 1938. The Post featured a Rockwell illustration on its cover six times in 1938.

Merrie Christmas: Man with Christmas Goose

Here is another famous Norman Rockwell Christmas illustration.

You might ask "What does this painting have to do with Christmas?" And that is a very reasonable question.

Of course, the caption assures us that this is a Christmas picture.

Besides the man's rosy cheeks and the warm looking clothes he is wearing, there are only a few other clues. It is obviously winter. The man is wearing mittens, a top hat, heavy wool coat and a thick scarf. But winter doesn't necessarily mean Christmas.

Look carefully on his lapel. There is a sprig of holly, a leaf and three berries, pinned to his lapel. A clue!

The only other clue is the jolly look on the man's face. Rockwell captured the gleam in his eyes and the joyful smile on his face. His jolly mood was captured for all eternity by Rockwell's brush and canvas.

Now that says Christmas...
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12 x 14 Giclee Print 17 x 20 Giclee Print 22 x 26 Giclee Print