Regular readers of this column know I’m a sucker for corny clip art, especially if it began life as a metal printer’s cut. I could fill every week’s effort with such art, but like a cappella music, corny clip art is best enjoyed in small doses.
But it’s been a while, so I pulled out several issues of “Nationwide Cut News” a catalog/newspaper published by the East Texas Engraving Company in Tyler, Texas. The issues represented here were published in 1946 and 1947 (except the automobile images, which are from the 1950s). Each issue contained thousands of cuts, filling 32 tabloid-size pages. Click on any image for a larger size.
The quality of these images is poor because they were printed on newsprint at small sizes more than 50 years ago, and as you might imagine, the paper has yellowed and degraded.
The East Texas Engraving Company advertised itself as the “biggest mail-order engravers in America,” and I don’t doubt it. Not only did the company offer stock cuts, but it also made cuts from customer-supplied artwork. In those days, of course, all art and photos had to be made into cuts before it could be printed on letterpress equipment.
I’ve written about the process of making metal cuts before (see the “Related Articles” sidebar on this page for links to three of those past columns), so I won’t go into detail again other than to remind everyone that these were metal plates (usually zinc or copper) adhered to wood blocks made to a standard height for letterpress printing.
These cuts could be used over and over again, so printers often had drawers full of different images and used them the same way we use clip art today.
There is a difference between good corny clip art and bad corny clip art. It’s hard to explain, but I know it when I see it. Bad corny clip art has no redeeming value and was usually drawn poorly to start with. Good corny clip art survives over time and while it may look dated, it retains character and charm.
The East Texas Engraving Company’s corny clip art included good and bad examples, but in my opinion, it was mostly good corny clip art. My favorite part is the hand lettering that graces many of the cuts. In fact, just about all the lettering was done by hand, drawn as part of the original design.
To make a good metal cut you need clean line art to start with. For as little as $6 to $12, the artists at East Texas Engraving Company would make a line drawing from your photograph or written instructions.
Stock cuts sold for as low as $1 each, depending on the size. For an extra charge you could have your cut sent via airmail, which is what we had before FedEx.
According to a Web search, the East Texas Engraving Company is still in business in Tyler, doing prepress work and vehicle graphics. I only hope they managed to save their extensive artwork collection. It would be a shame to lose such a prime example of Americana.
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This article was last modified on May 17, 2023
This article was first published on May 21, 2010
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