Sam Clayberger 1926-2018

I'm sad to report that one of the very last of the original Jay Ward artists, Sam Clayberger, passed away May 4th after a short illness.  Sam's influence on the studio's product was huge, starting at the very beginning when he freelanced with fellow designer Roy Morita on the Rocky the Flying Squirrel pilot in 1958 and continuing his association with the studio until it closed its doors in 1984. 

Although ostensibly a color stylist and background painter, Jay relied on him for much of his in-house design work, everything from the certificates and membership cards for the Bullwinkle fan club to the art and standees inside the Dudley Do-right Emporium, from the lettering in the original Rocky and Bullwinkle titles to virtually all of the publicity art featuring the original series characters (see below).

I first interviewed Sam at the age of 83 and his recall was exceptional, easily answering questions on the studio's history and the artists that populated it.  We were in regular contact as I was researching and writing the book but at the 11th hour, as I was putting the finishing touches on the manuscript, I got a call from him asking if he could drop by my office.  When he walked in, he was carrying over 2 dozen original backgrounds dating from Dudley Do-right up through myriad Quaker Oats commercials.  While cleaning out his files, he had come across these long forgotten gems from the past and thought they might be of interest.  I immediately went back into the book and shoe horned in as much new art as I could and still managed to meet the press deadline.  A year after the book was published, he discovered a cache of color keys from his career including episodes of Fractured Fairy Tales, numerous Cap'n Crunch commercials and even keys from Hoppity Hooper.  You can see many of those keys in the archives here, here, here, here, here and here.

Although Sam had a huge impact on kids of the 1960s, probably more than he realized, his primary interest was his fine art.  Sam worked freelance while at Ward so he could pursue painting and continued to draw and paint long after his work for Jay came to an end, even renting his own art studio with weekly model sessions so that he could follow his passion.  He was most proud of his nudes while admitting that his landscapes were more likely to sell.  Some of Sam's paintings can be seen here and here.  A brief bio as well as many of his backgrounds can be seen in the now out-of-print, The Art of Jay Ward Productions.

Sam Clayberger was a warm and generous man and I will miss him. Au revoir, Sam

The Other Side of Sam Clayberger

Art Diamond and Sam Clayberger

One day while chatting with Jay Ward artist Sam Clayberger during the research and art scanning phase of the book, he  ruefully remarked to me that "it looked like I'm going to be remembered more for my animation art than my fine art."  That's a sentiment shared by most animation artists as they are known more for what they put on the screen than what they do on their own time.  Particularly if the art one produced was an integral part of many people's childhoods, as was the case for virtually all the shows and commercials produced by the Jay Ward studio.  Sam was a central part of the studio's output from the very beginning with his work on the Rocky the Flying Squirrel pilot to the last Quaker Oats commercial 25 years later and The Art of Jay Ward Productions features a large selection of Sam's contributions to the studio.  There are also a number of posts on this blog (here, here and here) featuring his work.

In an attempt to bring Sam's fine art paintings to a wider audience, I've posted images of some of his paintings below.  Should you be interested in seeing other examples or purchasing one, very reasonably priced, contact his daughter via his website here.  I also have a few books signed by Sam, available here, but order soon, they're going fast.

Jay Ward and the Art of Self-Promotion, Part 5

As detailed in Chapter 4 of The Art of Jay Ward Productions, Jay Ward had been burned by what he felt was a lack of promotional effort by ABC on his first series, Rocky and His Friends, so when NBC picked up The Bullwinkle Show for an evening time slot, Ward and his staff went into overdrive to create a blizzard of promotional materials to get maximum attention for the series with a campaign dubbed "Operation Loudmouth."  George Atkins handled the writing and Allan Burns handled the artwork with publicist Howard Brandy providing on the ground tactical support.  The studio generated a lot of ephemera for this campaign and over the next several weeks, I'll be showcasing many rare items, most of which haven't been seen in over half a century.   

This week, apparently Jay Ward publicist Howard Brandy was so good at his job, he got an April Fools insert into TV Guide magazine as well as a full fledged article detailing some of the studio's shenanigans.  Following are scans of the issue, cover painting by Sam Clayberger, interior art by Allan Burns.  Bonus points if you can name Bullwinkle's friend in the image below.

Christmas with Jay Ward

Six months out from Christmas seems as good a time as any to talk about the holiday, maybe even better since it's easier to focus on Christmas without the Christmas rush.  As seen in many of my previous posts, Jay Ward had a keen sense of self-promotion and Christmas provided yet another opportunity for Jay Ward to showcase his sense of humor.  Each year a different artist was tapped to create the holiday greeting and each chose a different format.  Some of these images are featured in The Art of Jay Ward Productions but some of them didn't make the cut, mostly because of space issues.  First up, Sam Clayberger, who did three different versions for a Christmas card, Jay chose two of them to produce as 18 x 24" posters:

 

Jay Ward caricatured as the "Jay Bird"

Perhaps too dark to be made into a Christmas card...

Allan Burns took a shot at one:

Shirley Silvey also did a Christmas card (that was also a Christmas ornament) which promoted upcoming shows, including some that were never produced:

New shows included Watt's Gnu?, Simpson & Delany and Hoppity Hooper

The artist for this Christmas songbook is unknown but clearly the counterculture had taken over Hollywood:

Fractured Flickers

 As his production slate grew, Jay Ward redeployed Allan Burns and George Atkins from promoting The Bullwinkle Show to other productions, including the barely remembered show featuring overdubbed silent films, Fractured Flickers.

 Although both Burns and Atkins wrote for the series they also contributed to promoting it.  Chapter 9 in my book, The Art of Jay Ward Productions, features art that went into the making of the animated opening titles and end credits for this show. Today I feature some of the material generated to promote the series:

Decals and letterhead art by Sam Clayberger, other art by Allan Burns.

Jay Ward and the art of self-promotion, part 4

Jay Ward and his publicity machine--Howard Brandy, publicist; George Atkins, writer; Allan Burns and Sam Clayberger, artists--continued their assault on network apathy for The Bullwinkle Show with two other events, this time on the East Coast.  Roughly equivalent to the West Coast's Bullwinkle Block Party, Jay threw a Picnic at the Plaza at New York's famed Plaza Hotel. Here's some of the paraphernalia from the event:

Art by Allan Burns, lettering by Sam Clayberger

 For those having trouble reading the box lunch menu, here are the details:

Moose Burgers Flambe, Hot Moose Dogs, Bull Shrimp

Smoked Loin of Pork

Devilled Disjointed Chicken

Roast Duck

Assorted Meats:

Pate Maison

Bologna

Salami

Boiled egg

Whole tomatoes

Raw celery

Elbow macaroni salad

Gruyere chees

Red radishes

One seeded buttered roll

Salt and pepper

Assorted ugli fruit

Cole slaw, Dill pickles 

on tables

Bullwinkle's crown (vanilla)

Brandied strawberries jubilee flambe'

Cookies

Coffee

Jay also staged the Coney Island Film Festival at where else, that mecca for cinephiles, Coney Island.  Here's a piece of letterhead for the event:

You can read more about the Picnic at the Plaza in Keith Scott's essential history of the Jay Ward studio in The Moose That Roared and you can see more cool art from the studio in The Art of Jay Ward Productions.

Moosylvania and the campaign for the 52nd state

Rather than presenting a key to the state of Moosylvania, Jay Ward presents a lock.

As a key part of their campaign, Jay Ward and his publicist, Howard Brandy, concocted a tour of the US, driving cross country to gather signatures on their petition to grant statehood to Moosylvania with the intention of presenting the scroll of thousands of signatures to President Kennedy.  Unfortunately for the duo, they arrived at the White House during the Cuban Missile Crisis and were unceremoniously turned away, receiving little or no publicity whatsoever for their efforts.

To make the tour, Jay decided that they should have their own vehicle in which to call attention to their campaign.  He gave artist Sam Clayberger a blank check to go buy a Ford Econoline van.  Sam was then asked to design the exterior and later execute that design.  Here are four of his concepts:

As you can see from the photo below, Jay chose the gaudiest, most attention-getting design, the one on the lower right.

And here are some shots of Jay Ward and Howard Brandy from the tour:

Barely visible behind the van, (I know, who's looking at the van?) is a steam-powered calliope that was carried in the rear of the van and which was deployed to announce the arrival of the campaign.

Moosylvania, the 52nd state

In 1959, Alaska and Hawaii had been just been welcomed into the United States, a mere two years before the debut of The Bullwinkle Show, and the country seemed to be on a roll for admitting new states.  Continuing the effort to gain recognition for The Bullwinkle Show, George Atkins and Allan Burns came up with a campaign to keep the ball rolling and admit the fictional state of Moosylvania as the 52nd state.  (Bonus points if anyone can name the 51st state and triple bonus points if anyone can name all 57 states that the 44th President claimed were part of the Union.)  To give weight to the campaign, an island between Minnesota and Canada was leased as Moosylvania for several years; Moosylvania was also later incorporated into a story line on The Bullwinkle Show.  You can read more about the campaign and "state" in Keith Scott's seminal history of Jay Ward, The Moose That Roared.

Atkins and Burns came up with a promotional brochure to educate US leaders and the populace as to the benefits of admitting Moosylvania, including a map of the proposed state:

Once you were convinced of the merits of statehood, you could become a member of the Moosylvania Swamp Rat Patrol:

There's a good chance that your materials could have come in either one of these envelopes:

Once you were on board, you could march in support of statehood:

Wear a badge trumpeting your support of the new state:

 

 

 Put a decal on your car or dorm room window:

Sing songs from the Moosylvania songbook:

Or listen to the music from A Salute to Moosylvania:

For those so inclined, you can hear the album here.  The site suggests that Allan Burns wrote the liner notes but because George Atkins was the writer of record for all the other promotions, it's more likely that the notes were his work with art by Burns.

All art by Allan Burns except for the two envelopes, badge and decal which were done by Sam Clayberger.  It's clear that working on the campaign for Statehood for Moosylvania must have been good for one's health as both artists are still with us today.

Rocky and Bullwinkle shill for the US Treasury

The advertising agency behind General Mills' decision to sponsor the Rocky and Bullwinkle shows, Dancer-Fitzgerald-Samples, worked out a deal with the US Treasury to use the Jay Ward characters in a campaign to promote US Savings Bonds*.  Timed to coincide with the premiere of The Bullwinkle Show in September of 1961 was the Hollywood-produced short, Rocky and Bullwinkle Savings Stamp Club, promoting US Savings Stamps to school children, who would ultimately grow to become US Savings Bond purchasers.  Sam Clayberger color keyed and painted the backgrounds for this short (inexplicably giving Sherman blonde hair!) and a few of these keys can be seen in a previous post on this blog.  Art Diamond created this membership card for the club:

Allan Burns did these gag panels to promote buying US Savings Bonds:

which became the basis for this Sam Clayberger art for Boy's Life to encourage Boy Scouts to buy US Savings Bonds:

Allan Burns also created these promo comic strips aimed at getting adults to buy those same bonds:

*Jay Ward and Bill Scott had a tempestuous relationship with the agency, for more behind-the-scenes info read The Art of Jay Ward Productions and The Moose That Roared.