Dr. Seuss Ca 1936 Hand-Painted Portrait Commodore Ted Kezer Essomarine Esso Navy

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Dr. Seuss Ca 1936 Hand-Painted Portrait Commodore Ted Kezer Essomarine Esso Navy:
$19000.00

Essomarine Hand Painted Portrait Commodore of the Seuss Navy

Circa 1936, New York

Sketch in charcoal

Pasted on backing board and housed in frame

Some words from Judith Morgan who authored “Dr. Seuss and Mr. Giesel: A Biography”

“while doing research in the special collections library at UCLA (in 1992, before all Seuss materials were consolidated at the Univ. of Calif. San Diego), I recall seeing those fill-in-the-Commodore profile drawings with their Seuss-art borders. It was launched as a splashy publicity move by Essomarine in the 1930s, when the company spent a bundle for an exclusive Essomarine boat-show banquet in New York and initiated celebrities and other New York characters as honorary Commodores of the Seuss Navy. Ted loved it, the Standard Oil guys loved it and the press gave it lavish coverage. Cheaper than advertising, Ted crowed. It was compared to the growing ranks of honorary Kentucky colonels. He loved costumes – especially hats, of course – and the plumed commodore was a favorite.

I saw many photos of Ted on “shipboard” at banquets and always smiling. Standard Oil and the Flit ads saved the financial day for the Geisels during the Depression. The World’s Fair drawings would have been an adjunct link to this, but I don’t remember hearing Ted speak of that. When the subject of the World’s Fair came up , he always veered into a lament about the failed, though patented, Infantograph. “

Some information for the Mystic Museum CT

A Nautical Novelty: Dr. Seuss’ Navy

Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to all as Dr. Seuss, the beloved children’s book author and illustrator, began his career as cartoonist for Vanity Fair, Life and other publications before moving into advertising; most notably for Standard Oil, the parent company of Esso Marine Oil and Lubricants.

As ad man for Esso, Seuss created a menagerie of sea-dwelling creatures and a host of mariner characters that appear in numerous advertisements in boating publications such as Yachting and Motor Boating. Captain Taylor, a mariner who often dispensed tongue-in-cheek boating advice, and perhaps the most well-known of the characters, is seen here adorning a roving advertisement for Burr’s Yacht Station (New London, CT) during the Harvard-Yale Rowing Race in June of 1935. MSM Rosenfeld Collection. Acc. # 1984.187.71507F

When asked to create a campaign for Esso Marine Lube for the 1936 New York International [Motor] Boat Show, Seuss and his colleagues created 15 certificates stating that the selectee had been named an Admiral in Seuss’ Navy. The inductees, especially in the beginning, were celebrity boaters like Vincent Astor. The aim, much like today’s advertising campaigns, was to attach the Esso Marine brand to the celebrity, “If it’s good enough for [celebrity], it’s got to be good.” The campaign was supposed to be somewhat in jest, but the selectees hung their certificates up in their yachts and soon everyone wanted to be part of Seuss’ Navy, where every man was an Admiral. Certificate: MSM Acc. # 1988.107.35

With growing interest in becoming a member of Seuss’ Navy, the simple ad campaign became a full-fledged feature at the shows. Seuss’ Navy was deemed the “Fun-Makers” and sponsored boat races, games, contests, and hosted an annual “Seuss Navy Luncheon and Frolic” MSM Rosenfeld Collection. Acc. # 1984.187.85312F.

Esso marketers and salesmen even put on short plays created by Seuss. In one of Seuss’ “Little Dramas of the Deep,” “The demon sludge fish is the villain… an enlightening story for those embryo mariners who would gamble on lubricants…”- a big hit.

Seuss went on to create three 30-page Seuss Navy story booklets – with rhyming text. Seuss later said his experience working at Standard Oil taught him “conciseness and how to marry pictures with words.” Seuss published his first children’s book in 1937.

The Navy sank by 1949 as a result of what Seuss claims was a “casualty of its own commercialism.”

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Emily Mayotte

Author Paul O'PeckoPosted on March 1, 2023Categories Log of Mystic Seaport