Many of us who enjoy any part of the hobby that includes one of the many aspects of trains have artwork that compliments our collection, or layout. Consider the things that you see in photos in hobby magazines of things hanging on the walls of a train room or a layout room or any room of the house for that matter.
I have a number of prints and calendars hanging in the train room. I have always loved the calendar art that Griff Teller did for the Pennsylvania Railroad. When I was a child my Dad would bring home calendars from the Milwaukee Road or the Pennsylvania Railroad. He worked in the main Post Office in Chicago where they were passed out.
As an adult I decided that I would frame a calendar from The Pennsy and hang it in my workroom. I found quite a few of those calendars stashed in the attic of my parents’ home. I discovered that Frank Hare of the Iron Horse Hobby Shop (and Editor/Publisher of the “The Collector” - the publication of the American Flyer Collectors Club) had reproduced The Teller Pennsylvania Calendars. I was hooked. I’m not sure that I have all of them, but I know I have a lot of both original calendar prints and the reproductions.
As an adult I also contacted Mr. Teller to see if I could commision a painting. Financially it was the wrong time of my life to afford an original. Some 20 odd years ago I added owning a Grif Teller original painting to my collection as a goal on my bucket list.
In the last few weeks I discovered a Teller going to auction. It wasn’t one that had a train in it but it is a beautiful example of his work. I was the winner of the auction and it arrived yesterday.