[ALS] James Montgomery Flagg to Writer and Editor Joe Chapple on Nostalgia and "The Night Before Christmas."

[New York], 1927. Very good, folded, minor tearing, light soiling, remnants on verso.. [1] pp. 8.5 x 11 inches. In this letter dated Nov 17 /27 Flagg confesses to his friend, Joe Chapple, his affinity for "The Night Before Christmas." Though declaring it doggeral, he continues:"The verse... that came to my mind as having had a real truth for me was - don't laugh too loud - 'A Night before Xmas!' We have come thru so many cynical years it gives me a chuckle to think what would happen to anyone in a N.Y. Night Club who got up & recited that - and yet they are clinging to those ... written lines real nostalgia of childhood - joy such as we will never know again."

James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960) was a cartoonist, illustrator, and portrait artist whose subjects included Mark Twain and Jack Dempsey. He is best known his political posters, in particular the iconic WWI recruiting image of Uncle Sam pointing & telling the viewer: "I Want YOU for U.S. Army," which had debuted on the cover of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper in 1916. Flagg also contributed illustrations to the Saturday Evening Post. Collier's, and was the highest paid illustrator of his era.

Joe Mitchell Chapple, (1867-1950) was an American publisher, author, and editor of The National Magazine,who wrote a series "Face to Face" including one on Flagg. Both were members of The Vigilantes, formed in 1917 "an organization through which those who desire may offer service to their country with that weapon which is said to be mightier than the sword." which also included Booth Tarkington, Charles Dana Gibson, George Ade, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Hamlin Garland, Douglas Fairbanks, Tyrone Power, and others.