This website is the product of one of my COVID projects out in California.  Harry Timmins is my biologic great grandfather (I was adopted out at birth), and I ‘took advantage of lockdown,’ so to speak, to take a deep dive into Harry’s career.  While the project remains a work in progress, I have enough material to make this website worth doing.  I hope that you enjoy the material as much as I do.

This project has been a fascinating journey.  In the span of a year, I went from knowing virtually nothing about Harry and his work and milieu, to what you see on this website (and more).  Among other things, I came to better realize how different life was in the US during the 1920’s through 1940’s compared with today.  Mass communications systems were four: newspapers, magazines, books, and radio.  Although photography existed throughout the period, it was the illustrator who largely brought stories, products and services to life.  America was predominantly white.  Based on the magazines, one would think America was almost exclusively Caucasian.  Minorities, when mentioned at all, were often not treated favorably as a general statement.  Racist language and imagery was not hidden and was often overt, particularly when viewed with contemporary eyes.  Society was male dominated.  The ads created during the period reflect the times.  Cars and household appliances and furnishings that we take for granted today represented aspirational purchases.  A large share of these products were produced in the Midwest.  Collectively, the region was an economic juggernaut.  Chicago was its hub.  Whereas, New York was the center of the American publishing universe.

No comprehensive list exists of every Timmins story illustration – the same is true for all illustrators.  One must search for them, using online listings and search engines to the extent that they can help, and brute force method (i.e. turning pages) in most cases.  Over the past year I’ve spent plenty of quality time with old magazines at the UC Berkeley and UC Davis libraries, the San Francisco Public Library, and the Los Angeles Public Library.  I wish to thank them for preserving these seldom-touched publications from the past.  Digitization of these materials is good, but is no substitute for physical paper in the context of a project like this.  

Brute force method was the norm when finding the advertising illustrations.  Unlike story illustrations, ad illustrations often lack overt attribution.  Some are signed, most are not.  Ad illustrations may lack signature if multiple artists worked on parts of the illustration, if the signature is cropped out or covered by an overlay, or if the buyer had a ‘no signature’ policy.  When a no signature policy was in effect, sometimes artists (Harry included) utilized a hidden signature.  Hidden signatures are tricky to find in print magazines…  On this website, I am only posting ad illustrations where I am certain that Harry Timmins did them, either through signature or other sources.  I have many folders of ‘possibles’ – which shall remain private.

This website by no means contains the totality of Timmins’ illustration work.  I have no idea what percentage of Timmins’ advertising illustration work I found in my search – but I would guess that the number is fairly low.  I am confident that I found the great majority of Timmins’ story illustration work.  From the pool of available illustrations, I have posted what I consider to be his best works on this website, and a good assortment of other representative works.   

Harry was but one of a large number of outstanding illustrators during the period.  I have a personal connection to Harry, hence my interest in him.  If by chance you are interested in doing a deep dive into a different illustrator – say a grandparent, or a great grandparent – feel free to reach out, I may be able to share some tips and tricks to save you time and improve your ‘images per time invested’ quotient.

— Scott