Grif Teller was an artist famous for his paintings for the Pennsylvania Railroad

Pennsylvania Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

.

Early life

Teller was born on December 9, 1899 in Newark, New Jersey

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

. Teller attended the Barringer High School

Barringer High School

Barringer High School, formerly Newark High School, is a four-year comprehensive public high school in Newark, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Newark Public Schools. Some consider it to be the third oldest public high school in the United States...

 until his junior year, when he transferred to the Fawcett School of Industrial Arts. With what started as a temporary job with the Osborne Company, an advertising and color calendar company, towards the end of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Teller was hired after showing the head of the "Designing Department" some his paintings.

Career

In 1927, Teller was given an assignment to paint the 1928 calendar scene for the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Pennsylvania returned to Teller the next year, and he eventually painted all of the calendar scene for their calendars up to 1942. Other artists were contracted to paint the artwork for the calendar during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, as the Pennsylvania was favoring more patriotic scenes. Teller painted for the Pennsylvania, again, starting with the 1947 calendar, after the war. The Osborne Company was sold to a competitator in 1953, eventually leading Teller to be laid off

Layoff

Layoff , also called redundancy in the UK, is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or a group of employees for business reasons, such as when certain positions are no longer necessary or when a business slow-down occurs...

. He continued to paint for the calendar as a freelancer

Freelancer

A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is somebody who is self-employed and is not committed to a particular employer long term. These workers are often represented by a company or an agency that resells their labor and that of others to its clients with or without project management and...

, until the Pennsylvania discontinued full-size wall calendars in 1959.

Teller's 1928 painting, When the Broadway

Broadway Limited

The Broadway Limited was the Pennsylvania Railroad's premier named passenger train, operating daily in each direction between New York City and Chicago, via North Philadelphia. It replaced its predecessors, the Pennsylvania Limited and the Pennsylvania Special...

 Meets the Dawn, was used as the background for the "Preserve Our Heritage" special-fund license plate introduced in 1998 by PennDOT

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Barry Schoch Presently, PennDOT supports over of state roads and highways, about 25,000...

 to help fund Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage...

programs, which receives $15 of the $35 fee for each of those license plates, which are still sold today.