Wonderful original illustration on board. Toschik, who went on to become a renowned nature artist, depicts the Milwaukee Journal newsroom processing the local returns of the presidential election of 1948. On election night some 40 political writers from various national newspapers made the Journal's newsroom their headquarters. The illustration appeared as the cover of the Journal's "Roto" section on November 7, 1948, five days after the election, and also in the November 1948 issue of Torch, the magazine of the Milwaukee Advertising club.

The image of a crowded newsroom with the young man recording local precinct results, the older newsmen closely engaged in the outcome, and the cameraman in the back quietly ushering in the new era of television-the whole piece breathes  charm and nostalgia. From our vantage point it suggests, in the irresistible cliche, a simpler time. This is a unique piece that evokes American civic life in an edifying way.

All of the prominent figures in the painting depict real people:

The man with the hot dog - Bob Slater (the artist's boss)

The man with the hot coffee - William Weekes, chief of bureau for the Associated Press in Milwaukee

Grey-haired man looking over shoulder of colleague - Richard S. Davis, Milwaukee Journal reporter.

Man at typewriter with pipe - Ed Kernan of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Man with loosened collar - Clayton Knowles of the New York Times.

Bald man leaning forward in back - Jack Krueger, WTMJ news chief

TV cameraman - Roy Watson of WTMJ-TV, which was Milwaukee's first TV station and had begun broadcasting the previous year

The candidate "Wallace" is Henry A. Wallace, the former vice-president under Franklin Delano Roosevelt who ran in 1948 as the candidate of the Progressive Party.

Image 13" x 13 5/8". Frame 21” x 25”.

The verso bears the notation "Mil. Journal Nov 7/R".

The piece was recently cleaned. The photos posted here (except for the last) were taken with the glass removed. I would encourage the buyer to replace the glass with museum glass which provides UV protection and eliminates the glare.