My great uncle Don was a commercial artist during the golden years of advertising. He worked for a studio in downtown St. Louis that did wonderful campaigns for Anheuser-Busch, Ralston Purina and other companies in the Midwest.
In the 1940's, Don came back from the European theater where he flew bombers. You can see in his syndicated comic strip "Thirty Paige" the detail and discipline of his skill.
What I loved most about going to visit his home studio were the stories he told of his work. One job led him to the pressbox of the old Sportsman's stadium, where he took photos and sketches of the three legendary Cardinal announcers Harry Caray, Joe Garagiola and Jack Buck.
Eventually this piece was used as a cutout on a Busch beer billboard featuring the stadium as a backdrop. Harry leans over with a net to scoop a foul ball. Uncle Don said the three were perfect gentleman, and a lot of fun to spend the afternoon with.
Back in 2006, it got me thinking of how it all would look, if the three could see the new Busch stadium on opening day of what would turn out to be the Championship season. Regrets Uncle Don!
