Tuesday, June 12, 2007

The Flora Files

Artifact from the archives: 1954 RCA Victor requisition order for the {ahem!} legendary Mambo For Cats album cover illustration. The work was commissioned by label art director—and longtime Flora buddy—Robert M. Jones, who signed the PO (fee unspecified). The finished sleeve encased a 12" slab of vinyl, we seem to recall.

This iconic Flora design was featured in The Mischievous Art of Jim Flora, and has recently been marketed as a t-shirt, a fridge magnet, and a fine art silk-screen print. It was also featured full-page in Eric Kohler's 1999 book In The Groove: Vintage Record Graphics 1940-1960 (Chronicle), although the colormatching is inexact. Copies of the original LP fetch beaucoup bucks on eBay. Oh, and it was an alt-universe postage stamp, too.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I've just stumbled across this blog while poking around looking for a few of Jim Flora's works. Robert Jones was my grandfather. This is a fantastic little memory to stumble across, and I just want to say thanks.