Harry Laverne Timmins was born November 20, 1887 in Wilsonville, Nebraska.  His father, T. William Timmins, was a farmer and businessman, and opened the first hardware and harness store in Kansas City, Kansas.  Harry’s mother was Ella Moore Timmins.  Harry was the oldest of four Timmins children – he had two younger brothers (Homer and Vaughn) and a younger sister (Beaulah) .  At the age of 13, Harry knew he wanted to be an artist, and worked toward that end through his school years.  Upon graduating high school, Harry was employed as an artist in Kansas City, Mo.  Subsequently Harry moved to Chicago and studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).  

Harry married Pauline (Polly) Sunbeam Beckford in 1912 in Chicago.  They had 3 children: Verna (1913), William (1915), and Harry Jr. (1917).  William followed in his father’s footsteps and became an illustrator and fine artist himself.  William is remembered mostly for his pulp work.

By 1919, Harry was working in the Charles Everett Johnson advertising art services firm in Chicago.  In late 1922, Timmins teamed up with layout and lettering man Frank Young to form Young & Timmins, which became a highly successful commercial art services studio.  In 1923, the two co-founded The American Academy of Art (AAA) in Chicago.  Timmins served as the first AAA president, and taught for half a decade.

In 1929, with the onset of the Great Depression and the associated reduction in advertising budgets, Timmins sought to break into magazine story illustration.  The family moved to New York – first to Forest Hills, then Pelham Manor.  Timmins was successful in this transition, almost immediately gaining assignments from Crowell-Collier (Collier’s, Woman’s Home Companion, The American).  Timmins also landed a number of assignments for Ladies’ Home Journal, and a few for Cosmopolitan.  In the mid 1930’s, Timmins also began illustrating for Maclean’s magazine in Canada, and This Week (the Sunday newspaper insert).  Timmins continued to do advertising work through and beyond the Great Depression, albeit with diminished output.  Based on my review, Lifebuoy soap ads (ubiquitous) and Detective O’Malley illustrations (Collier’s) got Harry through the Great Depression relatively unscathed.

In 1944, the increasing use of photographic illustration in magazines led Timmins to yet another career change.  He and Polly moved to Los Angeles, and Timmins began doing illustration work for the movie industry.  He continued this work through the 1950’s.  In 1948, the couple bought a home in Carmel.  Timmins commuted back and forth between Carmel and Los Angeles in connection with the movie illustration work. 

Timmins created fine art throughout his career, mostly as an aside.  With the death his wife Polly in 1959, Harry devoted more time to fine art.  He increasingly travelled and painted in Europe.  He showed at local galleries in Carmel and other cities in California.

Harry illustrated a number of books throughout his career, including many children’s books.

After a battle with cancer, Harry Timmins died in Los Angeles on February 22, 1963.