ADDRESS: 120 East Sale Street, Tuscola, Illinois, 61953
ARTIST: Edwin Boyd Johnson
TITLE: The Old Days
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas (mural)
STATUS: The Tuscola post offices is still an active, operating facility, and the mural can be viewed by interested members of the pubic. It resides in the lobby on the wall above the postmaster’s door.
YEAR: 1941
Here is one secret I’d like to share. You can tell when I like a mural by the number of photos I take and how much time I spend during my visit. Although I was in a hurry when I arrived in Tuscola, I still managed to shoot 45 photos. The best ones are shown below. This visit was combined with a book signing event back in October of 2014. This was an all day driving to southern Illinois, get my books signed and then drive home type of day.
But enough about me, how about that mural? I love the colors, and subject. I also like that the artists included the town name on the train station building. Kudos as well that the mail car was also part of the subject (appears to be a lot of mail in the sack). What sticks out for me is the clean perfect lines. Let’s look at the wagon wheels first. They are drawn and painted with such clear lines that they appear perfectly symmetrical. They are bright red and appear to have no mud or other blemishes. It’s hard to believe the roads were so clean and that wagon wheels produced during this era were in such perfect order. I’m kidding of course but you get the idea. The appearance of the mural subject is clean and tidy.
What do you think? What hits you in the face and makes you want to comment and share below?
Thanks,
David W. Gates Jr.
Sources
- Personal visit on 10/18/2014 by David W. Gates Jr.
- Illinois Post Office Mural Guidebook
- United States Postal Service
- Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal
: [Hardcover] Marlene Park, Gerald E. Markowitz
- Parma Conservation
