Dec. 24, 2024
The Columbia High School Kewpies need our help. Sports Illustrated is conducting a poll to recognize the best high school mascots by state. The poll will close at 11:59 ET Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. Hickman Kewpies: Here’s how this one-of-a-kind mascot came to be in 1914, according to kewpie.net: “Apparently, the school secretary owned a Kewpie doll, as they were popular figurines then, and she kept it on her desk. At one of the basketball games, she placed the Kewpie in the center of the court (I guess for good luck), and the entire game was played around it without its being broken. This was somewhat remarkable since the dolls were very fragile. Because it survived the game and brought a victory, it was thereafter considered the good luck mascot.” Vote Here: Top 10 high school mascots in Missouri: Vote for the best – Sports Illustrated
Nov. 11, 2024
OPT Documentaries | Rose O’Neill: An Artful Life | OPT From child prodigy to OPT Documentaries | Rose O’Neill: An Artful Life | OPT From child prodigy to Kewpie creator, Rose O’Neill’s art reflects a life of fame and complexityvideo.optv.org Kewpie creator, Rose O’Neill’s art reflects a life of fame and complexity video.optv.org
Nov. 9, 2024
The fall issue of the Kewpiesta Kourier (Volume LVI No. 3) is now available in the Member’s Section of the website. This issue features articles on Rubber Kewpie Dolls p. 3; Kewpies on a Stick – Australian Marcella Kewpies p. 4-5; and Kewpie Handkerchiefs p. 6-12. These individual articles also are available by subject in the Member’s Kewpieology section of the website.
Nov. 5, 2024
The Springfield News-Leader newspaper features a story on the Ozark Public Television documentary on Rose. The article indicates it will be available to stream on video.optv.org Nov. 12.
Nov. 5, 2024
A great 18-minute video has come to our attention: Why did Rose O’Neill love the Ozarks? by Carrie Higgs a Branson realtor posted on Living in Branson, MO and the Ozarks.
Nov. 5, 2024
The Wichita Postcard Club’s Card of the Week featured a Rose O’Neill Rock Island postcard video.
Nov. 3, 2024
Ozark Public Television’s newest history documentary “Rose O’Neill: An Artful Life” to premier Nov. 7. The locally produced program explores the life and work of renowned illustrator and Kewpie doll creator. Additional information is available online.
Oct. 19, 2024
The screening of Rose O’Neill an Artful Life produced by the PBS Ozarks Public Television will be Saturday, Nov. 2 at the historic Fox Theater in downtown Springfield. RSVP information and additional details are included in the attached.
Sept. 23, 2024
The IROCF scholarship application requirements have been updated. We encourage IROCF members to review the requirements and application then share both with schools and students in their area. The updated documents are available here.
Aug. 31, 2024
Kewpie®️ Blind Box is accepting preorders for its soon to be released mini-Kewpies in five different poses. The Kewpies are made of PVC and are approximately 1.5x1x3”. The concept of Blind Box is that a customer places an order for a box with an unknown Kewpie inside. Customers are not able to select specific poses. The price is $14 each. The estimated ship date is Sept. 15.
Aug. 9, 2024
The 1914 Catalogue of Art Needlework of Quality from Emma Louise Art Shop in Belmar, NJ, contains a five-page advertisement for Kewpie Royal Society pieces. Included are six of the Kewpie linen pillow tops. The catalogue is available through the Winterthur Library on archive.org.
July 14, 2024
The Summer 2024 Kewpiesta Kourier is now available in the Member’s Section of the website. The password has been updated so if you are a member and want the password prior to receiving your printed copy of the Kourier please email IROCFweb@gmail.com. This issue includes Kewpiesta Highlights p. 3-7; Rose O’Neill’s Vargas Style Pinup Girls p. 8-9, 11; Missouri and Iowa Celebrate 50 Years as Affiliates p. 10; 2024 Peal Hodges Award Recipient p. 10; Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery Exhibit Featuring Lillian Fisk Thompson’s Portrait of Rose O’Neill p. 10; Kewpie “Down Under” – Summer of the Seventeenth Doll 1955 Movie p. 12-13; Rose O’Neill the Playwright p. 13-14; Meet Sonny the Bellhop p. 15-16 [26-page Sonny/Klever Kards promotional advertisements])
July 10, 2024
The Norman Rockwell Museum has a great video on Rose O’Neill posted on its website: Rose O’Neill: Artist and Suffragette. If you missed it, here is the link to the 16-minute video.
July 10, 2024
Kewpie Corporation, the Rose O’Neill licensing group, has let us know it has a wide variety of new Kewpie items for sale. The online store may be viewed here Official Kewpie Character Store.
June 25, 2024 International Rose O’Neill Kewpie Day
Today is the international celebration of Rose O’Neill’s birthday. The celebration was adopted in April 2004 by the International Rose O’Neill Club Foundation and Rose O’Neill’s Family. The Japan Kewpie Club promotes the celebration asking members to “join the Kewpie event and teach your family and friends.” The club made a special seal, at left, for the day. It was declared that everyone was to sing a birthday song at 10:00 p.m. in Japan and simultaneously in Branson, Missouri, that would be 8:00 a.m.
June 6, 2024
An interesting article, Gales of Merriment: Palmer Cox’s Brownies and Rose O’Neill’s Kewpies, has come to our attention. Gallery & Studio – Making unknown known! posted the piece written by Mary Holahan of Delaware Art Museum. It is available online here.
May 29, 2024
May 29, 2024
A 28-minute, The Making of the Rose O’Neill Tribute Mural, video is available on YouTube showing the creation of the Rose O’Neill mural in downtown Branson. The 21 x 28-foot mural is located at the corner of Commercial and Pacific streets on the Branson Centennial Museum.
We are back on Facebook as the International Rose O’Neill Club Foundation. The road is a bit bumpy with the old page [International Rose O’Neill Club Foundation (Kewpies)] still lingering out there, but hopefully it will not take long for the new page to supersede it in the search engines. At right is the homepage you should be looking to see. We appreciate your becoming a follower and posting items as well as asking your Kewpie friends to do the same. Note: We have been trying for years to deactivate the old Facebook page to no avail as we have no access to the originator’s account information.
May 21, 2024
![The Rose of Washington Square: A Novel of Rose O'Neill, Creator of the Kewpie Doll by [Pat Wahler]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51azhUwPnQL.jpg)
Did you know Pat Whaler’s book, The Rose of Washington Square, is available as an audio book and on Kindle? It is available at audiobooks.com as well as other online sources.
May 6, 2024
2024 Kewpiesta photos now are available compliments of Dave Cane owner of Flash Photo through our Kewpiesta Photo Archive page. A very special Thank You for Dave’s continued support of IROCF.
May 2, 2024
Omaha History Club discovers Rose O’Neill.
May 1, 2024
The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s Brilliant Exiles: Modern Art and Modern Women exhibit is available online. The exhibit includes the 1915 oil on canvas portrait of Rose by Lillian Fisk Thompson (1884-1970) and a 1:18 minute audio about Rose. The gold leaf frame was made by Rafael Guastavinok, who designed Carnegie Hall. At right, David O’Neill in front of Rose’s portrait.
April 30, 2024
There will be a special presentation in recognition of retiring long-time Bonniebrook Historical Society President Susan Scott at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 27 at Bonniebrook 485 Rose O’Neill Road, Walnut Shade, MO. Everyone is invited to attend.
March 14, 2024
A new exhibit has opened at the History Museum on the Square in Springfield, MO. Rose O’Neill is included in the Springfield’s Leading Ladies: Creating Legacies exhibit open now through June 2, 2024. Kewpiesta attendees can enjoy a discounted admission April 24-28 during Kewpiesta with a Kewpiesta registration badge/pin. The museum is located at 154 Park Central Square.
March 13, 2024
An 11-minute video on Rose O’Neill by Pete Beard is available online at Bing Videos.
March 8, 2024
March 8, 2024
This fiction mystery novel recently came to our attention. The plot is described as, “A sleazy reporter has been found dead with doll restoration artist Gretchen Birch’s craft knife stuck in his back. And when someone begins sending her boxes of Kewpie dolls with threatening messages inside, she knows she must watch her step.” It is No. 2 in a series written by Deb Baker available online through various outlets. The 288-page book was released in September 2007.
March 7, 2024
The movie Julia & Julia has a photo of Julia as a child holding a Kewpie. It is the same Kewpie with the cloth body and composition head and hands as we heard about at the last Kewpiesta.
March 5, 2024
A new Flash Photo link with photos from Kewpiesta 2023 now is available.
March 2, 2024
Volume LVI No 1 – Winter 2024 now is posted in the Kewpieology Section of the website. It includes the following information: O’Neilliana Music – Continued 2.0, 2024 Kewpiesta information and registration form, Flexo Kewpies, and Colorado Rose.
March 2, 2024
2024 Kewpiesta Registration Packet , Kewpies on Holiday is available online.
Jan. 17, 2024
The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, will be mounting an exhibit “Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris,” April 26, 2024 – Feb. 23, 2025. The exhibit focuses on American portrait artists working in Paris. The Lillian Fisk Thompson portrait of Rose was chosen to be included in the exhibit and David O’Neill graciously loaned the original to the Smithsonian. A write-up of Rose will also be included in the exhibition catalogue with a picture of her monster drawing that still resides in The National Museum of Modern Art, Centre Pompidou, the successor to the Musee du Luxembourg that received the drawing from Rose after her Paris exhibition in 1921. Other tentative dates for the exhibit: Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY, March 29-June 4, 2025, Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA, July 19-Oct. 2025
Jan. 13, 2024
Help us build a complete archive of Kewpie Komic pages for members to reference on our website. Check out “Comic Pages” in the Kewpieology section, if you have a missing comic page, please photograph it, and email it to keyvranch@gmail.com.
Jan. 13, 2024
Rich or Poor, “We Can Love Each Other The Same”: Rose O’Neill’s Family in Wilkes-Barre by Dr. Diane Wenger, August 2023. Dr. Wenger is an emerita professor of history at Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA. During the Sordoni Art Gallery Rose O’Neill Exhibit she presented an outstanding history presentation of the O’Neill’s early days in Wilkes-Barre. She has made the presentation available for IROCF members. It now is posted in the Kewpieology section of the website. We want to extend our sincere gratitude to Ms. Weger for her work in compiling this information and allowing us to make it available online.
Jan. 1, 2024
Happy New Year to Kewpie Lovers throughout the world! All the best to one and all in 2024.
Don’t forget to help put Rose O’Neill in the Hall of Famous Missourians. An excellent, not to be missed website is available where you can make your vote count. The multi–page web presentation nomination is outstanding. For more information and a link to vote go to Rose O’Neill – Home (weebly.com).
Kewpie Dress No. 18 has found its way into a lucky collector’s wardrobe. The entire catalogue of known Kewpie dresses is able in the Kewpieology section of the website.