Gertrude Alice Kay (January 30, 1884 – December 17, 1939) was an American children's literature illustrator and author best known for her work in fairy tales and beginner novels. She was active during America's

Golden Age of Illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video ...

Biography

Gertrude Alice Kay was born on January 30, 1884, in Alliance, Ohio. She was the second of three daughters born to Charles Young Kay and Gertrude Cantine Kay, named after her mother. Her older sister Mary was born two years prior in 1882, but her younger sister Carolyn wouldn't be born until 1900. Her father was a hardware salesman who supported his daughter's creativity, encouraging her to secure an arts education. Gertrude moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

after graduating from Alliance High School in 1902. She attended the

Philadelphia School of Design for Women Philadelphia School of Design for Women (1848–1932) was an art school for women in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Housed in the former Edwin Forrest House at 1346 North Broad Street, under the directorship of Emily Sartain (1886–1920), ...

and Drexel University before officially graduating from the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

. While at Drexel University she studied under

Howard Pyle Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy. In 1894, he began ...

for several years, alongside many other prominent female illustrators including Jessie Wilcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen Green, and

Violet Oakley Violet Oakley (June 10, 1874 – February 25, 1961) was an American artist. She was the first American woman to receive a public mural commission. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, she was renowned as a pathbreaker in mural dec ...

. At different points throughout her life, she was a member of organizations such as The Plastic Club of

, the Association of Women Painters and Sculptors of New York, and the Authors' League of America. As an early member of The Plastic Club, Gertrude participated in an early women's only art space that called for "art for art's sake." After graduating from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Gertrude established an

art studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design, ...

in her hometown of Alliance, Ohio where she remained for the rest of her life. After an artistic career that spanned three decades, Gertrude Alice Kay died in a car accident in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, whi ...

on December 17, 1939. She was 55.

Career

Beginning in 1906, Gertrude regularly exhibited her work at the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

. She began her career illustrating children's books with ''Down Spider Web Lane, A Fairy Tale,'' written by Mary Dickerson Donahey in 1909. Kay illustrated two more books before publishing her first original children's book in 1916: another book for Donahey, ''Through the Little Green Door'', and ''The House in the Hedge'' by

Ralph Henry Barbour Ralph Henry Barbour (November 13, 1870 – February 19, 1944) was an American novelist, who primarily wrote popular works of sports fiction for boys. In collaboration with L. H. Bickford, he also wrote as Richard Stillman Powell, notably ''Phyll ...

. Books illustrated by Kay regularly appeared in catalogs and review publications. An article published in ''

The Literary Digest ''The Literary Digest'' was an influential American general interest weekly magazine published by Funk & Wagnalls. Founded by Isaac Kaufmann Funk in 1890, it eventually merged with two similar weekly magazines, ''Public Opinion'' and '' Current O ...

'' magazine on December 7, 1918, titled "The Year's Best Twenty-Five Holiday Books for Children" included a glowing

review A review is an evaluation of a publication, product, service, or company or a critical take on current affairs in literature, politics or culture. In addition to a critical evaluation, the review's author may assign the work a rating to indi ...

of Kay's original children's book ''The Fairy Who Believed in Human Beings''. In the early 1920s, Gertrude began traveling the world with her mother and sister, Mary. They spent a significant amount of time overseas, traveling through China, Japan,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and more. This period of time was significantly influential on Kay's art, which was later praised for its ability to accurately and sensitively portray a wide variety of cultures and

ethnicities An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

. In 1930 she collected her work from this time and published the children's book ''Adventures in Geography. Adventures in Geography'' is a 160-page book with nearly fifty full-color reproductions of Kay's gouache paintings that tell the story of a young boy and his uncle's travels around the world. Beginning in 1923, Gertrude created illustrated

paper doll Paper dolls are figures cut out of paper or thin card, with separate clothes, also made of paper, that are usually held onto the dolls by paper folding tabs. They may be a figure of a person, animal or inanimate object. Paper dolls have been ine ...

inserts for magazines like ''

Ladies Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In ...

'' and ''

Pictorial Review The ''Pictorial Review'' was an American women's magazine published from 1899 to 1939. Based in New York, the ''Pictorial Review'' was first published in September 1899. The magazine was originally designed to showcase dress patterns of German i ...

''. Her most popular characters were two children named Polly and Peter Perkins introduced in the early 1930s, who she regularly illustrated to be cut out and played with in a variety of scenarios. Popular pages of Kay's ''Adventures of Polly and Peter Perkins'' paper doll series included themes of wedding fashion, gardening,

the old woman who lived in a shoe "There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe" is a popular English language nursery rhyme, with a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19132. Debates over its meaning and origin have largely centered on attempts to match the old woman with historical ...

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...

, and

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

Works

During her time as an illustrator, Gertrude Kay published numerous

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

and contributed dozens of illustrations to publications like ''

'' and ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-f ...

''. In addition to her work in literature, Gertrude was also known for her illustrated

paper dolls ''Paper Dolls'' is an American primetime television soap opera that aired for 14 episodes on ABC from September 23 to December 25, 1984. Set in New York's fashion industry, the show centered on top modeling agency owner Racine (Morgan Fairchild) ...

and magazine covers. The majority of her work was completed with gouache paints, though she also worked with

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thicker ...

. Her illustrations were highly regarded for their accurate portrayals of children and childhood. A book review published in ''

The Saturday Review of Literature ''Saturday Review'', previously ''The Saturday Review of Literature'', was an American weekly magazine established in 1924. Norman Cousins was the editor from 1940 to 1971. Under Norman Cousins, it was described as "a compendium of reportage, es ...

'' on January 2, 1926, said the following about Gertrude's book ''Adventures in Our Street'':

Original books

Gertrude Kay authored and illustrated at least ten original

between 1916 and 1931. Her books averaged approximately seventy-five pages and typically featured five-to-seven full-page, full-color gouache painting reproductions in addition to numerous ink

line drawings Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

scattered throughout the pages. Moffat, Yard & Co. and P.F. Volland Company published the majority of her books, many of which featured themes of

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

. Her most popular titles were ''The Fairy Who Believed in Human Beings, Adventures in Our Street'', and ''Adventures in Geography''. As of 2022, many of Gertrude's publications have fallen out of print and entered the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

. A complete list of books known to be authored and illustrated by Gertrude Alice Kay: * ''When the Sandman Comes'', Stanton and ValVliet, 1916. * ''The Book of Seven Wishes'', Moffat, Yard & Co.,1917. * ''The Fairy Who Believed in Human Beings'', Moffat, Yard & Co., 1918. * ''The Jolly Old Shadow Man'', P.F. Volland Company, 1920. * ''Helping the Weatherman'', P.F. Volland Company, 1920. * ''Adventures in Our Street'',

David McKay Publications David McKay Publications (also known as David McKay Company) was an American book publisher which also published some of the first comic books, including the long-running titles '' Ace Comics'', '' King Comics'', and '' Magic Comics''; as well a ...

, 1925. * ''The Friends of Jimmy'', P.F. Volland Company, 1926. * ''Us Kids and the Circus'', P.F. Volland Company, 1927. * ''Adventures in Geography'', The Wise-Parslow Company, 1930. * ''Peter, Patter and Pixie'', Robert M. McBride, 1931. File:The Fairy Who Believed in Human Beings, Gertrude Alice Kay, gouache, 1918. 02.png, ''The Fairy Who Believed in Human Beings'', 1918. File:The Fairy Who Believed in Human Beings, Gertrude Alice Kay, gouache, 1918. 01.png, ''The Fairy Who Believed in Human Beings'', 1918. File:Gertrude Alice Kay, gouache, cover + frontispiece from Adventures in Our Street, 1925.jpg, ''Adventures in Our Street'' (cover), 1925. File:Gertrude Alice Kay, gouache, The Birthday Party on the Stairs from Adventures in Our Street, 1925.jpg, ''The Birthday Party on the Stairs, Adventures in Our Street'', 1925. File:Gertrude Alice Kay, gouache, The Parson's Horse from Adventures in Our Street, 1925.jpg, ''The Parson's Horse, Adventures in Our Street'', 1925. File:Gertrude Alice Kay, gouache, The Bonfire from Adventures in Our Street, 1925.jpg, ''The Bonfire, Adventures in Our Street'', 1925.

Books by other authors

In addition to creating ten

original Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion t ...

children's books, Gertrude Kay is credited as the illustrator of nearly two dozen books written by other individuals. She typically contributed two-to-seven full-color

gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouache ...

paintings to each novel, in addition to painting extravagant frontispieces. Prominent authors whose work was accompanied by Gertrude's illustrations include

George MacDonald George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational church, Congregational Minister (Christianity), minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature a ...

, Mary Dickerson Donahey, and Frances G. Wickes. Perhaps the most popular was Kay's iteration of ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...

'' by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...

, published in 1923. Though she worked with more than fifteen different authors between 1909 and 1931, Kay had a particularly close relationship with journalist/author Sara Addington - illustrating six of her ten children's books between 1922 and 1927. Addington's series depicting life on an imagined "Pudding Lane" was especially popular, known for Kay's illustrations of fairy tale characters growing up alongside a young Santa Claus. The following is a complete list of books known to have been written by other authors and illustrated by Gertrude Kay. * ''Down Spider Web Lane, A Fairy Tale'', Mary Dickerson Donahey, E. Stern & Co., Inc., 1909. * ''Through the Little Green Door'', Mary Dickerson Donahey, Barse & Hopkins, 1910. * ''The House in the Hedge'',

, Moffat, Yard & Co. 1911. * ''All Aboard for Wonderland'', Helen Ovington Kingsbury, Moffat, Yard & Co., 1917. * ''Happy Holidays'', Frances G. Wickes,

Rand McNally Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping, software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation and education markets. The company is headquartered in Chicago, with a distribution ...

, 1921. * ''The Boy Who Lived in Pudding Lane'', Sara Addington, 1922. * ''Through the Cloud Mountain'', Florence Scott Bernard, J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1922. * ''

'',

, 1923. * ''The Pied Piper of Pudding Lane'', Sara Addington,

Atlantic Monthly Press Grove Atlantic, Inc. is an American independent publisher, based in New York City. Formerly styled "Grove/Atlantic, Inc.", it was created in 1993 by the merger of Grove Press and Atlantic Monthly Press. As of 2018 Grove Atlantic calls itself "A ...

, 1923. * ''Round the Year in Pudding Lane'', Sara Addington,

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

, 1924. * ''The Field-Martin Primer'', Walter Taylor Field, Ginn and Company, 1925. * ''

At the Back of the North Wind ''At the Back of the North Wind'' is a children's book written by Scottish author George MacDonald. It was serialized in the children's magazine ''Good Words for the Young'' beginning in 1868 and was published in book form in 1871. It is a fant ...

'',

,1926. * ''The Comical Cruises of Captain Cooky,''

Royal Baking Powder Company The Royal Baking Powder Company was one of the largest producers of baking powder in the US. History It was started by brothers Joseph Christoffel Hoagland and Cornelius Nevius Hoagland in 1866, It later came under the ownership of William ...

, 1926. * ''My Own Fairy Book'',

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University o ...

, 1927. * ''Grammar Town'', Sara Addington,

, 1927. * ''Tommy Tingle Tangle'', Sara Addington, P.F. Volland Company, 1927. * ''The Little Lame Prince and Other Stories'',

Dinah Craik Dinah Maria Craik (; born Dinah Maria Mulock, often credited as Miss Mulock or Mrs. Craik; 20 April 1826 – 12 October 1887) was an English novelist and poet. She is best remembered for her novel ''John Halifax, Gentleman'', which presents the ...

, 1927. * ''Lulu's Library'', Louisa May Alcott,

, 1930. File:P034--House in the hedge--If you won't let Peter help, I'm going to.jpg, ''The House in the Hedge'' (p. 34), 1911. File:P172--House in the hedge--Presently we were all talking.jpg, ''The House in the Hedge'' (p. 172), 1911. File:P248--House in the hedge--I looked around, but it was all right.jpg, ''House in the Hedge'' (p. 248), 1911. File:Gertrude Alice Kay gouache illustration from Through the Cloud Mountain by Florence Scott Bernard, 1922.jpg, ''Through the Cloud Mountain'', 1922. File:Gertrude Alice Kay, Royal Baking Company, gouache, 1923.jpg,

, 1923. File:The pied piper in Pudding lane, being the truth about the pied piper, as Santa, oldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Claus, discovered it before ever he left Pudding lane (IA piedpiperinpuddi00addi).pdf, ''The Pied Piper in Pudding Lane'', 1923.

Publications

Through the end of her career, Gertrude Kay regularly contributed illustrations for covers and features in popular magazines such as '' Ladies' Home Journal, The American Girl, Woman's World'', and ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Hous ...

''. In the early 1910s, she was a regular illustration contributor to ''St. Nicholas'', a literary magazine specifically for younger readers. A "who's who in America" book published in 1923 included ''

Everybody's Magazine ''Everybody's Magazine'' was an American magazine published from 1899 to 1929. The magazine was headquartered in New York City. History and profile The magazine was founded by Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker in 1899, though he had little role ...

, Outlook,

'', and ''Designer'' among Kay's publication credits. A small selection of Gertrude Kay's illustrative contributions to periodical publications: * ''

The Youth's Companion ''The Youth's Companion'' (1827–1929), known in later years as simply ''The Companion—For All the Family'', was an American children's magazine that existed for over one hundred years until it finally merged with '' The American Boy'' in 1929 ...

'', feature, December 1920. * '' Ladies' Home Journal,'' cover, May 1924. * '' Ladies' Home Journal'', cover, March 1926. * ''Woman's World'', cover, April 1934. * ''Woman's World'', cover, August 1934. * '' The American Girl'', cover, May 1935. * ''The American Girl'', cover, August 1935. * ''The American Girl'', cover, November 1936. * ''

The Country Gentleman ''The Country Gentleman'' (1852–1955) was an American agricultural magazine founded in 1852 in Albany, New York, by Luther Tucker.Frank Luther Mott (1938A History of American Magazines 1850–1865"The Country Gentleman", page 432, Harvard Unive ...

'', cover, 1939. File:St. Nicholas-Vol 1.1-097.jpg, ''

St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...

,'' vol. 40 no. 1, 1912. File:St. Nicholas-Vol 1.1-754.jpg, ''

'' vol. 40 no. 6, 1913. File:St Nicholas-V40-P2-079.jpg,

, vol. 40 no. 7, 1913. File:St Nicholas-V40-P2-351.jpg, ''

'', vol. 40 no. 9, 1913. File:St Nicholas-V40-P2-575.jpg, ''St. Nicholas'', vol. 40 no. 11, 1913. File:St Nicholas-V41-P1-034.jpg, ''

'', vol. 41 no. 1, 1913.

Legacy

In 1967, one of Kay's alma maters, Alliance High School, added her name to the school's Hall of Fame. Notably, Gertrude Kay is credited with convincing prolific children's book illustrator and author Brinton Turkle (1915–2003) to pursue an education in

the arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

Collections

Few institutions currently count Gertrude Alice Kay's original illustrations amongst their collections. The

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

holds her 1930

painting ''Asian Mother and Two Children in Rickshaw,'' and the

Delaware Art Museum The Delaware Art Museum is an art museum located on the Kentmere Parkway in Wilmington, Delaware, which holds a collection of more than 12,000 objects. The museum was founded in 1912 as the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts in honor of the artis ...

holds her ink-on-board illustration ''Woman Reading on Sofa'' completed in 1914. The John D. Merriam Collection at the

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonwea ...

, dedicated to preserving original art from

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

, holds three of the original ink and

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

illustrations from her 1930 publication ''Lulu's Library''. Kay's original children's books and colorful illustrations can be found in the collections of numerous libraries and universities including

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, University of Victoria Libraries, and

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Gertrude Alice 1884 births 1939 deaths People from Alliance, Ohio Philadelphia School of Design for Women alumni Drexel University alumni American women illustrators Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni American children's book illustrators American women painters