Morgan, New Jersey

Franklin Booth Illustrated “Victory Lamp” Lamp Shade from the Snead & Co. Sales Brochure. Image Courtesy of Mr. Robert “Nick” McWhorter of Springfield, KY.

Franklin Booth Illustrator of the “Victory Lamp” Lamp Shade. Snead & Co. Sales Brochure Image Courtesy of Mr. Robert “Nick” McWhorter of Springfield, KY.

The story goes that Franklin Booth (1874 – 1948) taught himself his characteristic art style by reproducing wood-engraved images from magazines while growing up on his family’s Carmel, Indiana farm located just north of Indianapolis.  Not realizing his error of mistaking wood carvings to be pen and ink drawings until later in life, he mastered the technique and made a career with it.  His style, composed of thousands of individually hand drawn lines for each illustration, has been described as “amazingly detailed photo-like pen and ink illustrations”, “lofty, soaring feel of immense vertical space” and “trees, clouds and landscapes that lie somewhere between whimsy and dream.” 

Snead & Co. Iron Works (see posting from May 9, 2010), the company which produced and sold the World War I Victory Lamps (see posting from May 9, 2010), teamed up with Franklin Booth to create a unique lamp shade to complement their unique lamp which featured a 75mm artillery shell recovered from the remains of the disastrous explosions in Morgan, NJ. 

Booth was able to make a living as a commercial artist by illustrating for magazines, books, catalogs, telephone books and advertising.  During the Great War (World War I), he was very active in creating posters for the Red Cross and, sadly, death certificates for soldiers killed during the war.  With these credentials, it seems natural that he would team with Snead & Co. to create a commercial illustration with a “Great War” theme.  Hence the lamp shade.  

Like the lamp, the lamp shade was eventually patented.  Filed for on August 13, 1919, patent number 54,642 was issued on March 9, 1920.  The patent was applied for by both Angus S. MacDonald and Franklin Booth who were both listed as “Assignors to the Snead & Co Iron Works, of Jersey City, New Jersey.”  The essential portion of the patent reads “The design consists in applying ornamentation to one side of the shade depicting war scenes, and ornamentation on the inside of the shade in the nature of emblems or figures, representing peace. When the lamp is not lighted, the war scenes only are visible, but when the lamp is lighted, the representations of peace are projected through the shade giving the effect of peace beginning to shine on the scenes of battle.” 

The advertising brochure potential buyers received by mail gave additional insight into Booth’s selection of the images contained on the lamp shade, ‘Booth went for his inspiration to the famous prose-poem of the late Senator Ingalls: “Grass is the forgiveness of nature-her constant benediction. Fields trampled with battle, saturated with blood, torn with the ruts of cannon, grow green again with grass, and carnage is forgotten ….” In this shade as Booth has created it you see that beautiful sentiment made REAL. You see the grass and trees, as only Franklin Booth can draw them, covering and healing the marks of war, while in the clouds when the lamp is lighted, the superb figures of Victory and Peace stand forth triumphantly.’ 

Franklin Booth was a great artist who inspired many who followed.  Here are some sources for more information about Franklin Booth and his extraordinary art work: 

Books: 

Franklin Booth: Painter with a Pen by John Fleskes and Roy G. Krenkel.
Franklin Booth American Illustrator by Manual Auad 

FaceBook Page: 

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=29847564686 

Web Sites: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Booth
http://www.fuelyourillustration.com/5-great-draftsmen-franklin-booth/
http://withaviewto.blogspot.com/2009/02/fantastic-color-works-by-franklin-booth.html
http://goldenagecomicbookstories.blogspot.com/search/label/Franklin%20Booth
http://www.esteyorgan.com/franklinbooth.htm
http://www.fleskpublications.com/galleries/booth/
http://www.comicartfans.com/SearchResult.asp 

Franklin Booth’s “Victory Lamp” Lamp Shade Art Work from Patent Number 54,642. On Left: “Peace” Scene Illustration on the Inside. On Right: “War” Scene Illustration on the Outside.