John Murray Norment (1911–1988) was an American illustrator, gag cartoonist, magazine editor, artist, and photographer. Born in

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metropoli ...

, Norment attended the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in 1933–34, and he exhibited in the Chicago No-Jury Society of Artists annual shows in 1934, 1936, 1937, 1939 and 1940. At the Iannelli Studio in 1935–36, he did textile designs for Montgomery Ward and posters for Carson Pirie. In 1935, he was employed as an assistant to the art director of ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', continuing with cartoons and ideas for ''Esquire'' from 1938 to 1942.John Norment
/ref> During World War II, Norment was a combat correspondent-photographer with the US Coast Guard in the North Atlantic, the Pacific and the China Sea. Returning to civilian life, he worked during the post-World War II years as a photographer for the Wittrup Studio in New York and Chicago's Sundblom Studio, where he photographed the

Haddon Sundblom Haddon Hubbard "Sunny" Sundblom (June 22, 1899 – March 10, 1976) was an American artist of Swedish and Finnish descent and best known for the images of Santa Claus he created for The Coca-Cola Company. Sundblom's friend Lou Prentice was the ...

Santa Claus paintings for Coca-Cola.

Gag cartoons

In 1948, he did freelance gag cartoons for ''

Look To look is to use sight to perceive an object. Look or The Look may refer to: Businesses and products * Look (modeling agency), an Israeli modeling agency * ''Look'' (American magazine), a defunct general-interest magazine * ''Look'' (UK ma ...

'', ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'', ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'', ''True'', ''Argosy'' and '' Ladies’ Home Journal''. Norment was an editor of humor magazines at Dell Publishing, including ''1000 Jokes'', from 1954 to 1965, and during that same period he edited ''Cartoonist'' for the

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

. In the mid-1960s, he edited ''A Million Laughs'' magazine for Laugh Publications. From 1966 to 1968, Norment worked with Norcross Greeting Cards and the Famous Artists School. In 1968, he began selling watercolors and serigraphs at local studios and galleries in Connecticut. ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' published covers by Norment on the March 6, 1978 issue and the January 28, 1980 issue. Norment sometimes performed as a vocalist with Connecticut's Peppermill Jazz Band. He was married to Betty Teare Norment, who died in 1978. The couple had no children. Norment died in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

in 1988.

Awards

In 1972, the

honored him with their Silver T-Square Award.

References

External links

Mandy Teare's Tearedrop: John Norment paintings
1988 deaths 1911 births American cartoonists {{US-cartoonist-stub