And Thereby Hangs a Tail...

 Today I'm pleased to bring you three mermaid-themed images.

In the years I've been doing this blog I've featured many wonderful pieces of artwork but this first image is right up there among my favourites. It comes courtesy of Leif  Peng of the Today's Inspiration Facebook group and he has posted a number of other great covers from News and Views magazine. A motor industry magazine, it was published by GMAC (General Motors Acceptance Corporation, GM's finance division) and MIC (Motors Insurance Corporation). I hope you enjoy this beautiful cover as much as I do!

Sadly, the artist remains unknown at the moment.

I do wonder how exactly the diver's regulator is attached to that cylinder but it in no way detracts from my enjoyment of the piece!

The second piece is a 1960s aftershave ad. It's signed but I can't decipher the signature. Anyone got any ideas?

The final piece comes from 1959 and was drawn by Ogden Whitney.

The cover illustration is somewhat misleading (a similar scene does appear), and the story doesn't really feature much diving, but you can read it here if you wish. Superman fans might notice some similarities to the first appearance of Lori Lemaris which had been published six months earlier.

Ogden Whitney (1919-1975) began his comics career in 1939 at National Allied Publication, one of the companies that later became DC Comics. He then worked on Skyman and Rocky Ryan for Columbia Comics and was called up to the army in 1943. In 1946, Big Shot #67 heralded his return from the army but it appears he had been able to produce work while he was serving. Towards the end of the decade he drew crime stories for Magazine Enterprises.

From 1950 - 1965 he primarily worked for American Comics Group but also did work for Marvel predecessor Atlas Comics. AGC's Forbidden Worlds #73 saw the first appearance of the character with whom he is best associated, Herbie. Also known as The Fat Fury, Herbie later graduated to his own title and Whitney drew all 23 issues.

ACG ceased publishing in 1967 and he proceeded to work on T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents for Tower and The Two-Gun Kid and Millie the Model for Marvel.

Divers Down! Adventure Under Hawaiian Seas

 Divers Down! by Hal Gordon was published by Whitman as part of their juvenile fiction range in 1971.

The book contains the following notice:

This story takes place at Makapuu Oceanic Center, fifteen miles from Honolulu, Hawaii. It is a real place - the home of Sea Life Park, the Oceanic Institute, Makai Undersea Range, and the Oceanic Foundation, as described in the story. All place names are real, as are the Makapuu ships Westward and Holokai. Mr. Taylor A. Pryor, known as "Tap" Pryor, is a real person. The characters, while typical in many ways of the young people employed during summers at the Center, are entirely fictional, as are persons other than Tap Pryor. If any of the characters in the story resemble real persons, the resemblance is coincidental. The story, too, is fictional, even though the background is real.

Founded in 1960, Makapuu Oceanic Center became the Oceanic Institute in 1972 and still exists today. In 2003 it became an affiliate of Hawaii Pacific university with a formal merger occurring in 2013.

The illustrations are credited to James Temple which I assume includes the cover artwork.