Monday, November 15, 2010

The Morton Salt Girl



Morton Salt Factory
Dayton, Ohio
 
I wish I knew who drew the Morton Salt girl. She is my favorite iconic figure. There is something so soothing and appealing about her. I love the rain and umbrella, her yellow dress, the dark blue packaging behind her, and her joyful step as she carries a carton of salt. But in my mind, I often replace that salt carton with a book.

When I see the picture of the Morton Salt girl, I am almost overwhelmed with the sensory image of being a young girl myself, curled up next to a window reading a book while it rains. I feel sure the Morton girl is headed home from the library with her favorite volume of the 1960's Best of Children's Books series. I feel certain that whoever drew her was, or would have been, a fantastic children's book illustrator.

I never could figure out what she had to do with salt, and I always feel like she should be wearing rubber galoshes. (Didn't she once?) I buy Morton's salt because of her picture anyway. I rarely salt my food; a container could easily last me a decade. But I like having the Morton Salt girl's picture tucked away in my cupboard. Every time I see it, I am transported again to being a girl reading a book while it rains. Such a simple pleasure in life.

5 comments:

  1. hi i was reading your post and i wanted t write to you. i am a nurse and i am currently taking care of a patient.... who is the artist that drew the morton's salt girl!!

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  2. Wow! Please tell him or her how much I love this picture. It always makes me happy. Thanks for commenting here!

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  3. Oh Wow,
    She was my illustration teacher at the Universtiy of Arizona when I was in art school. I cannot remember her name. Can you tell me who she is. I remember fondly as a great teacher.

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  4. It was a Michigan man that drew the last three girls and they picked one of the girls (Morton Salt) and it's still being used on the morton salt. And, the name of the artist is Harold J. Dowing from Michign.

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  5. The original artist, was from Cape Code and drawn in1914. Logo was then update following years by different people.

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