Dorothy Shepard was a modernist designer noted for her work for Philip K. Wrigley establishing Catalina Island, California as a tourist destination and advertising Wrigley’s Chewing Gum.

Biography

Born Dorothy Van Gorder in 1906[1] to Jessie Van Gorder of Berkeley, California and Arthur Grant Van Gorder[2] (1867-1943) an Assistant in Physics at UC Berkeley,[3][4] whose 1897 University of California commencement address as a graduating student was entitled: "Higher Education an Essential Factor in Woman's Social Position".[3][5]

She showed an early aptitude for learning, art, dance, and theater. She graduated from high school as class valedictorian in less than 3 years. Then at California School of Arts and Crafts, she once again graduated in 3 years and was again class valedictorian. In 1927, just after her graduation, she was hired as an artist at Foster & Kleiser Advertising in San Francisco, where she met her husband Otis.[6][7][8]

Dorothy and her husband Otis were hired by Philip K. Wrigley to be the creative team for all of his corporate interests.[9] In 1936 Wrigley asked Dorothy to spearhead the development of newly acquired advertising space in Times Square in New York City. She designed a massive neon Wrigley display[10][11] – eight stories tall and one block long[12] – one of the largest neon installations ever built, even to this day.[9] The sign depicted a fish blowing bubbles as part of the advertisement for Wrigley chewing gum.[13] The next year, she won a National Advertising Council Award for the billboard.[6] She also won a prize for her advertisement for Pabst beer.[14]

In 1934, Shepard and her husband went to Catalina Island at the request of Philip K. Wrigley. Shepard and her husband Otis designed the street signage, interior designs, tile design, textiles, murals, the staff uniforms, leaflets, pamphlets, and advertisements found throughout the island.[6][1]

Personal life

In 1929, she married Otis 'Shep' Shepard (born in 1894[15]) a Kansas elementary-school dropout, who joined the Army during World War I, was shipped to France, worked as a battalion artist, saw combat on three battlefields and was shot in the knee.[15]

Dorothy divorced Otis in the 1940s.[16]

"the marriage fell apart in the early 1940s because of Shep's womanizing and alcoholism"[16]

They got together again in the early 1960s, remaining together until Otis’s death in 1969. Dorothy Shepard died in December 2000, in Belvedere, California.[16][7]

Further reading

  • Hathaway, Norman; Nadel, Dan (2014-11-04). Dorothy and Otis: Designing the American Dream. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-226243-1.

References

  1. ^ a b "Otis Shepard's Signature on Avalon". The Catalina Islander. December 19, 2008. pp. 1, 7. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  2. ^ "Arthur Grant Van Gorder". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2 April 2026.
  3. ^ a b "The Centennial of The University of California, 1868-1968" (PDF).
  4. ^ Husted's Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley directory (1895)
  5. ^ "READY FOR THEIR DEGREES Berkeley Students Will Come Up for Graduation This Afternoon". San Francisco Call. Vol. 81, no. 163. 12 May 1897. Retrieved 2 April 2026 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  6. ^ a b c "Dorothy and Otis Shepard - Art & Design in Chicago". WTTW. 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  7. ^ a b Hathaway, Norman; Nadel, Dan (4 November 2014). Dorothy and Otis: Designing the American Dream. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-226243-1.
  8. ^ Strauss, Steve (1984). Moving images : the transportation poster in America. New York, N.Y.: Fullcourt Press. pp. 71–85.
  9. ^ a b Marks, Ben. "Double the Fun: The Husband-Wife Team Who Made Everyone Want to Chew Gum". Collectors Weekly. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
  10. ^ Dunlap, David W. (2004-06-13). "Times Square at 100; The Crossroads of the Crossroads". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
  11. ^ Advertising Age The National Newspaper of Advertising 1936-03-23: Vol 7 Iss 12. Crain Communications. 1936-03-23.
  12. ^ Gudis, Catherine (2004). Buyways : billboards, automobiles, and the American landscape. New York: Routledge. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-415-93454-1.
  13. ^ Gray, Christopher (1997-03-30). "When a Big Waterfall Was a Sign of Times Square". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  14. ^ The Photo-Lithographer. Vol. 5. Dorlund Publ Co. 1937.
  15. ^ a b Northover, Jim (Winter 2014). "The first couple of American billboards". Eye Magazine. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
  16. ^ a b c Lasky, Julie (2014-12-05). "'Dorothy and Otis' and 'The Art of Things'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-18.