On this day, April 26, 1902, Vernon Simeon Plemion Grant was born in Coleridge, Nebraska. Grant studied art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Early in his career he landed the job of creating the gnome-like mascots for Kellogg’s Rice Krispies. He also created advertising illustrations for General Electric, Gillette, and Hershey’s and a variety of illustrations for many of the major magazines.

Vernon Grant