Page 6 - The Peorian Vol 3 Issue 1 Winter

The Past
6 thePeorian.com
In the spring of 1925,
artist Richard Culter
walked into the New
York offices of Life Magazine
editor Robert Sherwood with
three drawings of scenes and
people of the 1890s. He wanted
to develop a series he called ‘The
Gay Nineties.”
The editor doubted that the
series would have wide appeal.
He admitted later he was dead
wrong.
The Gay Nineties series was
published weekly in Life from
1925 to 1928. The nation was
ready for the nostalgia and
comfort of the carefree generation
before World War I. Culter drew
the costumes and the culture with
an honest heart-felt humor.
Little did the world know he
was reaching into his memories
of a privileged childhood in
Peoria, Illinois.
Richard Culter was born in
Peoria on September 10, 1883.
His millionaire grandfather had
founded the Culter-Proctor Stove
Company in 1865 at Fayette and
Water streets along the Peoria
riverfront. The manufactory
employed more than 100 workers
who produced 10,000 cooking
and heating stoves a year.
Today the ornate stoves are very
popular collector’s items.
Richard Culter’s childhood
was spent in his grandfather’s
mansion at 109 High St. (now
423 High St.), where he could
observe the rich and powerful at
social events and at play. While
attending Franklin School, his
artist talent became obvious.
He would draw funny and
ludicrous faces of his friends. The
teachers thought he was tracing
them from somewhere until he
reproduced them freehand for
them over and over.
RICHARD CULTER
A Peorian who became Life Magazine’s most popular artist
& Invented the term “The Gay Nineties”
Dr. Peter J. Couri
This is the house on High Street in Peoria where Richard Culter lived while growing up.
His grandfather, with whom he lived, founded the Culter & Proctor Stove Co.