At least one of these three posters is often credited to an artist named W. Haines Hall, but according to Travel by Train they were all a collaborative effort. “Their family resemblance stemmed from the fact that one man, German-born draftsman Morris Rehag, rendered their streamlined forms.” Fred Ludekens, of the advertising agency Lord & Thomas and Logan, along with Haines Hall and Paul Carey, both with Patterson & Hall, then added the colors.
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Of these artists, we know most about Haines Hall as he was a partner in Patterson & Hall, the company that later employed Bruce Bomberger, who did many of the ads for the California Zephyr. Born in Missouri in 1903, Hall moved to San Francisco in 1925 and went to art school, eventually becoming–along with Maurice Logan–one of the “Thirteen Watercolorists.”
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Hall also began working with the advertising firm of Patterson & Sullivan in 1925. When Sullivan left the firm in 1939, Hall was made a full partner.
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Hello, My name is Bruce Hettema with Patterson & Hall (now P&H Creative Group). I’ve been doing research on the agencies early work, and would love to get more info from you regarding these posters. Can you e-mail or call me? bruce@phcreative.com 707 992-0255 http://www.phcreative.com
Hello, I want to bring to your attention that the Southern Pacific’s New Daylight poster featured in your article is not the work of Haines Hall but actually the work of the artist Sam Hyde Harris. THe date of the poster is 1937. Harris who is known for his California en plain air fine art paintings was also a very successful but often times unacknowledged commercial artist. From the 1920s through the 1950s, Harris did a considerable amount of work for the major railroads; Southern Pacific, Santa Fe and Union Pacific.
Many of his railroad designs are featured in my book Sam Hyde Harris: 1889-1977 A Retrospective: A Pictorial Biography of His Life and Work, Schiffer Publishing, Ltd, 2007.
Thank you.
Maurine St. Gaudens
ma659@earthlink.net