{"product_id":"bfd00c-vintage-times-herald-art-department-origina","title":"Vintage Times-Herald Art Department Original Christmas Cartoon Illustration on Bainbridge Kromo-Lite Board","description":"\u003cp\u003eVintage hand-rendered Christmas cartoon illustration created for the \u003cstrong\u003eTimes-Herald Art Department\u003c\/strong\u003e, featuring a humorous newspaper-office holiday scene with staff members, caricatures, signs, and seasonal details.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe artwork reads:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“Wishing you a very Merry Christmas”\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“Compliments of TIMES-HERALD Art Dept.”\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe illustration appears to be executed directly on professional \u003cstrong\u003eBainbridge Kromo-Lite illustration board\u003c\/strong\u003e, using ink with hand-applied watercolor or gouache color. The reverse retains the original \u003cstrong\u003eBainbridge Kromo-Lite Licensed Board\u003c\/strong\u003e stamp from Charles T. Bainbridge’s Sons, 20 Cumberland Street, Brooklyn, New York.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKromo-Lite board was professional commercial-art material used by photographers, illustrators and advertising artists during the mid-20th century; documented examples were already in professional use by the 1940s. \u003ca target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.themorgan.org\/photographs\/269623?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eThe Morgan Library \u0026amp; Museum\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe artwork is especially interesting because it appears to have been produced as an \u003cstrong\u003eoriginal internal newspaper Christmas greeting\u003c\/strong\u003e, rather than as a commercially printed decorative piece. Numerous handwritten jokes and names appear throughout the composition, giving it strong newspaper, journalism and commercial-art interest.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Vintage condition with toning, corner\/edge wear and minor surface marks consistent with age. No major damage visible in the photographs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eApproximate Date\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBased on the illustration style, board, lettering and overall presentation, I would initially place it around the \u003cstrong\u003e1940s–1950s\u003c\/strong\u003e, although identifying which \u003cem\u003eTimes-Herald\u003c\/em\u003e newspaper produced it could narrow that considerably.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Legacy Antiques \u0026 Consignment","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53970016665893,"sku":"5091190256256","price":179.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0878\/8190\/8517\/files\/2026-10-06-FwWVnYDy-IMG_0857.jpg?v=1791304662","url":"https:\/\/inletlegacy.com\/products\/bfd00c-vintage-times-herald-art-department-origina","provider":"Legacy Antiques \u0026 Consignment","version":"1.0","type":"link"}