Covarrubias - 1953 Easter Island magazine cover - General Tiki

I ikitnrev Tiki Socialite D.C. / Virginia Joined: Jul 27, 2002 Posts: 1325	I ikitnrev Posted posted on Tue, Jan 16, 2007 5:45 PM I recently discovered a magaine cover of Easter Island that was painted by Miguel Covarrubias - the man who painted the inside cover map murals in the Book of Tiki. The magazine is the June 1953 (Vol 35, No. 2) of the Lamp, which was a promotional magazine put out by Standard Oil. This issue (puiblished 5 years before Heyerdahl's 'Aku Aku') featured articles on the need for oil imports, cowboys using helicopters at round-up time, oil tank trucks on the highway, and one titled 'Oil and Faraway Islands' which is about how the standard of living on remote islands is enhanced by the import of oil. I love the cover for this issue. It was slightly damaged, as some of the cover was stuck to the inside of the "protective" binder, but overall I still think it looks great. I will likely frame this, and place it next to my Covarrubias map hanging in my tiki room. The inside article featured 4 additional black and white drawings by Covarrubias - one of a giant Napolean figure standing on St. Helena, one of Robinson Crusoe on Mas-a-Tiera in the Juan Fernandez Islands, one of Tristan de Cunha, and this one, of Easter Island - obviously when sheep herding was still a major commodity of the island. The article lists the population of Easter Island as 740 Polynesians, 30 Chileans, and 40,000-50,000 Merino sheep. The following is one of the pro-oil paragraphs from the article ... "It takes a jeep, a truck and three motorboats to run this mid-ocean sheep ranch. A Diesel engine furnishes power for the Chilean Navy's radio station on the island, and some of the clapboard and sheet-iron houses in the settlement use kerosene oil. The volume of oil required to meet these needs is of no great importance except to the islanders; but to them, of course, it is indispensable." My purchase included 12 issues of the Lamp, and it is interesting to read this material from the era when oil was all good and plentiful ... it is almost a pro-petroleum slanted version of National Geographic, with some great drawings, photos and artwork. I have to share this cover photo, from the March 1952 issue. (the inside article is about teaching children how to use and obey traffic signals) Enjoy! Vern [ Edited by: ikitnrev 2007-01-16 18:04 ]

I recently discovered a magaine cover of Easter Island that was painted by Miguel Covarrubias - the man who painted the inside cover map murals in the Book of Tiki.

The magazine is the June 1953 (Vol 35, No. 2) of the Lamp, which was a promotional magazine put out by Standard Oil. This issue (puiblished 5 years before Heyerdahl's 'Aku Aku') featured articles on the need for oil imports, cowboys using helicopters at round-up time, oil tank trucks on the highway, and one titled 'Oil and Faraway Islands' which is about how the standard of living on remote islands is enhanced by the import of oil.

I love the cover for this issue. It was slightly damaged, as some of the cover was stuck to the inside of the "protective" binder, but overall I still think it looks great. I will likely frame this, and place it next to my Covarrubias map hanging in my tiki room.

The inside article featured 4 additional black and white drawings by Covarrubias - one of a giant Napolean figure standing on St. Helena, one of Robinson Crusoe on Mas-a-Tiera in the Juan Fernandez Islands, one of Tristan de Cunha, and this one, of Easter Island - obviously when sheep herding was still a major commodity of the island.

The article lists the population of Easter Island as 740 Polynesians, 30 Chileans, and 40,000-50,000 Merino sheep. The following is one of the pro-oil paragraphs from the article ...

"It takes a jeep, a truck and three motorboats to run this mid-ocean sheep ranch. A Diesel engine furnishes power for the Chilean Navy's radio station on the island, and some of the clapboard and sheet-iron houses in the settlement use kerosene oil. The volume of oil required to meet these needs is of no great importance except to the islanders; but to them, of course, it is indispensable."

My purchase included 12 issues of the Lamp, and it is interesting to read this material from the era when oil was all good and plentiful ... it is almost a pro-petroleum slanted version of National Geographic, with some great drawings, photos and artwork. I have to share this cover photo, from the March 1952 issue. (the inside article is about teaching children how to use and obey traffic signals)

Enjoy!

Vern

[ Edited by: ikitnrev 2007-01-16 18:04 ]

Post #279247 by ikitnrev on Tue, Jan 16, 2007 5:45 PM