timothy brian mckee

Born in Mansfield: Animals That Smile Part 2: H. R. McBride

Two boys, who grew up in Mansfield in different eras, developed a talent for drawing animals that make people smile; and they each took that art out into the world to touch the lives of millions of people.

I’d like to prove this now because I met a young man in Mansfield who told me that what he liked to do best is draw funny little animals; and it was a matter of some despair to him that there is no way to make a meaningful life out of that passion.

So, Shane, here is a moment of inspiration for you: so you can know that you are actually taking part in a fine old tradition of our town.

HR McBride (1892-1960)

One of those artists, whose whimsical paintings consistently made the cover of several best-selling national magazines, was a local boy who launched his career in New York, and then walked away from his publishing success to spend his life in Richland County.

His given name was Hubbell but he signed his work HR McBride, and went by his middle name Reed.

Reed McBride had a talent that could have kept him in New York and ranked him among the top illustrators of his time, but he chose instead to use his genius here to raise the quality of our environment, and put smiles into the lives of everyone who encountered his playful images.

A Kid Sketching Farm Animals

He was a boy at the turn of the century in 1900, and he grew up on a farm east of Mansfield on a country lane that is today called McBride Road.   He had 12 brothers and sisters, so the workload was spread out enough to give him free time to sit with a pencil and paper making sketches. 

Even from the very earliest works, his drawings captured expressive faces of the critters he knew with a characteristic humor and personality.  When he graduated from Mansfield High School in the Class of 1912, the Manhigan contained his first published illustrations… all of them cartoon farm animals.

He found a job in Cleveland making illustrations for a newspaper syndicate, but when they let him go after a year he had gained enough confidence to try the big market in New York.

Reed lucked out right away, befriending the founder of Editor and Publisher magazine who connected him all through the industry.  For the next 25 years he distinguished himself as cover artist for Liberty, and Collier’s Weekly Magazine; and story illustrator for several top Hearst publications like Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping, as well as the Saturday Evening Post.

His work is easily recognizable for its warm humor, and for animals with memorable personality.  McBride’s work sometimes appears in print signed with a simple HR.

McBride’s cover illustrations were seen most commonly on Liberty Magazine in the 1930s, but that was not the only periodical that commissioned his work. His animals, people, and children can be found as well on the covers of Collier’s Magazine in the 1920s, as well as those of Good Housekeeping.
Reed McBride broke into the magazine illustration business originally with drawings used in advertisements for whiskey, or any adult product that required the endorsement of ‘a discerning gentleman,’ found in Cosmopolitan Magazine and the Saturday Evening Post.

A Surprise Visit

In 1943, Reed’s health took a tumble and so he and his wife made a break from the city to spend some time with family. As soon as he got back to Richland County he knew he was home for good.  In an interview in 1945 he said, “When I was a kid I could hardly wait to get away from the farm and into the big cities.  Since I’ve returned to Mansfield I’ve found the happiness I was searching for during the years I spent in New York.”

With a wealth of experience in graphic arts, Reed was a gift to the community in the 1940s and ’50s, painting a wide canvas of all sorts from sacred scenes in the First Congregational Church in Lexington, to background drops for the Mansfield Players and Children’s Theater.

The Murals

In the 1940s, Reed McBride painted several murals in Richland County that became well-known landmarks in stores, churches and the Municipal Building.  This is the one he created for the Ven-Mar market on Marion Avenue.

Reed McBride was commissioned to do a children’s mural in a home on Park Avenue West in the 1940s, and fortunately he painted it on canvas that survived to this day: mounted on a wall in Colorado.
This is a canvas sketch for a mural he produced for Scattergood’s department store in Mansfield in tribute to their 100th anniversary on Main Street in 1953.
When the Scattergood’s mural was unveiled on the store’s wall, the pioneer leading the settlers into the Ohio wilderness was painted in the likeness of old Mr. Scattergood himself. Reed McBride is captured next to his work.

Then & Now: Mansfield Municipal Building mural 1948

The former Mansfield Municipal Building, located at the corner of Second & Walnut Streets, was about twenty years old when the upper floor was remodeled to accommodate larger courtrooms.  At that time the city commissioned Reed McBride to paint a mural over the bench in Judge Lutz’s courtroom.

Wisely, McBride painted his historic scene on canvas, rather than directly on the wall, in case the plastered surface should ever be remodeled again or damaged in some way.  His was concerned about possible water damage if the roof should leak, and he probably didn’t envision a time 27 years later when the building was replaced and torn down.

Fortunately for us, McBride’s foresight made it possible for his painting of 19th century court proceedings to be relocated into the present Municipal Building in 1975, where it presently ennobles the hallway outside 21st century courtrooms.

The courtroom drama depicted in McBride’s Municipal mural is seen to be taking place in the city’s first courtroom: the Mansfield Blockhouse. People in 1948 were amused to find the fictional scene made up of faces familiar around town at the time.

His Art

Too bad for us that so much of HR McBride’s work was of such a transitory nature…his magazines have faded and crumbled, the scenery he painted for Children’s Theater was gone as soon as the curtain came down.  And Reed passed away from the scene as well in 1960.

H. Reed McBride (1892-1960) was 25 when U.S. Armed Forces went to war in Europe and he was summoned for enlistment. His term of service lasted two years in New Jersey and New York, where he met his future wife.

Thank You

Some of the images in this article come from the Sherman Room of the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library, Charles Weaver and BSA Troop 118, and Helen Lindbeck.

Afterword:

After Reed McBride spent 25 years in New York painting animals for the covers of magazines, he came back to Mansfield and painted animals on walls around here.

But then in 1948 his wife died, and he couldn’t stay here any longer.

I never knew what happened to him until this afternoon when I discovered his animals painted 30′ x 40′ on the fronts of drive-in movie theaters in Texas. He started a business called Murals For America and spent the last dozen years of his life painting his animals as huge as his grand imagination.

These photos were taken in Austin area in the 1950s.

Post Script:

Searching and researching the works of Reed McBride yesterday I came across this portrait he painted that is up for auction, and was pleased to note that the auctioneer’s background notes concerning the artist were largely drawn from my own article online.

McBride did portraits of humans too. He used to give talks around town to local service organizations about life as an artist, and would pull someone out of the group to paint while he spoke. I’ve had my eye out for his portraits for a long time, but never thought the first one I found would be so perfectly suited to the animal theme of his best works.

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