Finding Gorey In Unlikely Places

Edward Gorey was an illustrator for hire whose work often turns up in unusual places. This is an ad promoting the use of insurance professionals from The American College of CLU & ChFC. The add appeared in Time Magazine in August 1987.

Often, Edward Gorey's illustrations for advertisements have little or no direct relationship to the product they promote, and require a leap of the imagination to make the connection. This disjointed ad has a layout that is visually confusing and leads one to surmise that the art director was simply a fan of Mr. Gorey's work and wanted to get him to do an illustration. The drawing itself, when freed from the constraints of encroaching type, appears to be a typical evening of two people playing cards with a cat resting at their feet. The enormous fan, along with the tag line, "Thomas trusted his mother ,but he always cut the cards" provides the humor to the scene.