January 2013 – Old Model Kits Blog

My sincere thanks to Art Cox. Without him this biography would not have been possible.

Box artwork is a major part of model kit collecting. In many cases, the illustration is more important than the contents! The most colorful and desirable kits are from 1953 to the early 1960s, which is considered the ‘Golden Age’ of model kit artwork. During this time, easy-to-assemble kits with dramatic box tops swept aside all pastimes and became the #1 hobby of teenage boys in America until the 1970s.

Jim and Aurora’s longest continuously used box art – the classic Fokker D-VII from 1956

Model kits were not always popular and colorful. From 1910 to the 1930s, boxes were usually very plain, stating the company name and perhaps a simply drawn scene in one color. By the 1930s, producers of wood and tissue flying kits were creating hobby empires, and packaging took on more color but still lacked flair.

Continue reading “A Biography of James (Jim) Pettit Cox – The Father of Modern Model Box Artwork”