Frank Godwin - Southern Railway Company Specialty Illustration - Soldiers Returning Home

One of two pieces I recently picked up. Godwin most likely did this piece as part of a series of ads for the Southern Railway Company. Both of these are inscribed to Harry A DeButts who was born into a railway family working his way up the ranks (with a brief diversion during WW I in the US Marines as a Browning heavy machine-gunner) and eventually became the president of the Southern Railway Company. I don't know where Godwin and DeButts paths crossed, but Godwin's interest in railroads (he built a four foot steam engine locomotive at one point) could certainly have been the connection between the two men. Very large image, bigger than his Rusty Riley Sundays, on heavy board.