COX, PALMER. (1840-1924). Canadian illustrator best known for his “Brownies” characters. CS. (“Palmer Cox”). 1p. 12mo (card). Brownieland, May 28, 1901.A charming pen and ink drawing of a Brownie pointing to Cox’s signature. IAm liking the hair thing in my illustration due Thursday. Am needing to tweak this a.m. as its due tomorrow. Hair was fun as its all drawn vectors and a few vector brushes to do the more curly, fun hair. Close. Close…closer.

Have a chicken illo due soon. I have Mother’s Day for Peace, the Triathlon, and two new illos for a new exhibit at The Corning Museum of Glass (a pattern /texture derived from a type of glass and a redraw of a brownie (old school). Interestingly, in trying to find you a little reference on the Brownies, it turns up that the illustrator, Palmer Cox (1840-1924) created these characters, Cox’s Brownies, were wildly popular, with product endorsement an merchandising. They were early leaders in product linkage to this little line of characters.

Wikipedia goes further:” Not unlike fairies and goblins, Brownies are imaginary little sprites, who are supposed to delight in harmless pranks and helpful deeds. Never allowing themselves to be seen by mortal eyes, they are male, drawn to represent many professions and nationalities, all mischievous members of the fairy world whose principal attribute is helping with chores while a family sleeps.”

Kodak named their Brownie camera after these little critters that my mother, grandmother and I grew up with. The brownie cake, “Baked Sunday Mornings” cite that:

“And did you know that Sears is credited with publishing the first known recipe in the 1897 Sears, Roebuck catalog. Most sources say that recipe was actually for molasses candy. The candy was called brownies. And that name “brownies” honored the elfin characters featured in popular books at the time by Palmer Cox. The Eastman Kodak Brownie camera was also named after the elves. Somewhere along the line the “brownie” name became associated with these tasty morsels of chocolate.”