Dedicated readers of this blog will know that I have a soft spot for our school history holdings. Recently, while searching our yearbooks from Abraham Lincoln High School (located on the border of Coney Island and Gravesend), I came across several charming ex libris illustrations inside their front covers. One such image is this week's Photo of the Week, a stylized design of a steamship on rolling waves. I chose to focus on this illustration because it is signed with the artist's surname, Cassel. I flipped through the yearbook and sure enough, there was Daniel Cassel listed on page 34 - a member of both the Art Squad and the Landmark yearbook staff, and a resident of 3725 Lyme Avenue in Sea Gate.
Curious if Daniel had continued to use his artistic talent, I looked him up and found his obituary from The Stamford Advocate in 2015. According to this obituary, the answer was a resounding yes:
He continued his art studies at Parsons School of Design in New York, but as the U.S. neared entry in World War II in 1941, he volunteered to be drafted in place of his older brother, Ezra, who was needed at home after both of their parents had died. Dan served in the Army Quartermaster Corps, training in Texas before shipping out to the Pacific, where he participated in the battle of Okinawa.
Home after the war, he opened a commercial art studio with his friend and fellow Art Squad member William Backalenick. Located in midtown Manhattan, Comart Associates won recognition in New York advertising circles for its excellent design work, producing display and corporate-communications graphics for magazines such as Life, McCalls and others, and packaging for products ranging from Revlon cosmetics to the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls.
It was thrilling to see that the teen artist behind this eye-catching illustration went on to continue to use those talents, born and nurtured right here in Brooklyn.
Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal of Brooklyn Public Library. We welcome appointments to research our entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections. Our reference staff is available to help with your research! You can reach us at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org.
This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.
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