Fantastic Department Store Cutaway, 1950s

Yet another mind-blowing cutaway from master illustrator Frank Soltesz. Few people realize that half of a department store is devoted to areas they never see.  Behind the familiar counter and displays are large areas used for stockrooms and other services that supply the selling floors out front.  there is a fur vault, complete bake shop,… Continue reading Fantastic Department Store Cutaway, 1950s

Frank Soltesz, King of Cutaway Drawings

Not just cutaway drawings, but king of practically all other areas of commercial illustration through the 1930s-1960s, it seems. Soltesz’ life is told in detail by his son, Ken Soltesz (Frank Soltesz:  Biography of a Commercial Illustrator).  If you can somehow define the “look” of commercial illustration during that great mid-century period in the United… Continue reading Frank Soltesz, King of Cutaway Drawings

Office Ventilation Cutaway, ca 1940s

One of the great things about the old Fortune magazine was how it often treated extremely mundane subjects with great wonder and awe.  Not only would they profile the high-level anticts of John D. Rockefeller, William Randolph Hearst, and Henry Ford, but they would take things down to the opposite end of the spectrum and… Continue reading Office Ventilation Cutaway, ca 1940s

Hotel Cutaway Drawing, 1947

This great cutaway originally comes from a July 5, 1947 Saturday Evening Post ad for Armstrong’s Industrial Insulation.  For an extra-sized view, click here and then click a second time on the magnifying glass. The ad says, in part: When you look behind the scenes, a modern hotel is an astounding place.  Few guests appreciate… Continue reading Hotel Cutaway Drawing, 1947