H. Charles McBarron, Jr.

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Hugh Charles McBarron, Jr. (1902-1992) was born in Chicago in 1902 and was considered by many to be the dean of American military historians and military illustrators. A Chicago native, he attended classes at the Art Institute at age 7. He was a graduate of Waller High School and the Art Institute. While still in school, he began to research Army uniforms and weapons and concluded that many illustrations of military scenes were inaccurate. His commitment to accuracy is illustrated in Soldiers of the American Revolution – a sketchbook. He was known for his ability to understand clothing construction and when – at a luncheon - a fellow historian who was writing about a particular uniform, he quickly sketched out the pattern on a cocktail napkin. It was secreted into the writers pocket and produced in an authoritative work on military dress.

Among his more noted series of paintings on American Military subjects have been 50 Illustrations titled “The American Soldier 1775 to the Present”; 16 drawings of “The Army in Action”; 24 of historic naval uniforms for the Navy Department and 10 of “Soldiers of the American Revolution” for the Center for Military History. Copies of the paintings were available for many years through the U.S. Government Printing Office.

He was a founding member of the Company of Military Historians and did as many 300 illustrations for its “Military Uniforms in America” series.

While known for his military illustrations, he also worked as a fashion and catalog illustrator through most of career and was known for his ability to turn in his work on a timely basis. Familiar to many would be his depictions of Captain Midnight and Jolly Green Giant and Buster Brown logos. Like Alfred Hitchcock, he used himself as a model and is seen in virtually all of his military depictions. In a Time Magazine article, Where’s Waldo illustrator Martin Handford cited McBarron as an influence for this very point.

On permanent display are works at West Point Academy and Cantigny (http://www.bsu.edu/wipb/echoesofwar/images/collections/full9.jpg) , the estate of the late Chicago Tribune publisher, Robert R. McCormick.