AN OYSTER A DAY is all they ask

I can definitely say that I will never ever slurp an oyster out of a shell. In fact, I may be so bold as to say I will never eat an oyster no matter how it is prepared. I know I am not alone with this thought.

Then there's the Oyster Institute of North America. Or perhaps I should say there WAS the Oyster Institute of North America. I cannot find any information indicating this group still exists. I'm sure, somewhere in the halls of Congress there is a lobbyist knocking on doors carrying a bucket of slurpy oysters hoping to entice some representative into writing a bill that leans towards oysters and oyster farmers. And so it goes.

This vintage magazine ad for oysters is from the October, 1936, The American Magazine. Has anyone seen any oyster ads lately?

The illustrator was Don Hearld. I cannot find any biographical information about him, but then after one post in an old book I decided I didn't care to know anything about him. He was apparently the author of some humor books available here and here. His one main claim to fame seems to be this image of Santa.

If you're a researcher interested in the Oyster Institute and find yourself at the Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea you might want to check out the archives of Howard W. Beach who was the president of the Oyster Institute of North America, and the Oyster Growers and Dealers Association of North America. He apparently kept a series of scrapbook dating from 1905 to 1941.