THE LAND OF MAKE BELIEVE

 For years growing up I had this poster on my bedroom wall.  Countless times I walked its long, winding, circular path to visit all the imaginary tales, and it was my world of escape when the real world was too hard.  Eventually my poster disappeared, and I had to face the world's problems without it.

In my later adulthood I happened upon the very same Land of Make Believe online, and found it can be purchased as a print!  As a matter of fact it is now easy to find and order from several companies.  So now I have right in front of me on the wall a 20x30-inch, framed print to escape into again and walk its path.

The Land of Make Believe was painted in the early 1930s by Jaro Hess (1889-1979), who was born in either Prague or in Austria (?), and immigrated to the United States in 1910, spending much of his career as a painter and landscape designer in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  

In The Land of Make Believe you can find all of these:

HERE THE NORTH WIND LIVES

BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE

HERE LIVES PETER PAN

RIP VAN WINKLE

DO NOT GO IN HERE

RED RIDING HOOD'S GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE

THE DILATORY SHIP THAT NEVER COMES IN

THE CASTLE OF THE GIANTS

THE CITY OF MANY TOWERS WHERE THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS LIVES

LITTLE BOY BLUE FAST ASLEEP

HERE LITTLE MISS MUFFETT WAS TERRIBLY FRIGHTENED

JACK SPRAT - HIS HOUSE

DAPPLE GRAY PONY - SHE RODE HIM THROUGH THE MIRE

THE WATER BABIES LIVE HERE

THIS IS THE COW THAT JUMPED OVER THE MOON

THE CITY OF BRASS

SIMPLE SIMON MET THE PIEMAN RIGHT HERE

HERE THE OLD FISHERMAN CAUGHT THE GOLDEN FISH

HIGH TOWER WHERE THE LITTLE LAME PRINCE WAS LOCKED

HERE IS A DESERT

JACK THE GIANT KILLER'S HOUSE

THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN

THE CROOKED MAN LIVES IN THIS CROOKED HOUSE

THIS HOUSE BELONGS TO GRANDFATHER KNOW-ALL

HERE OLD KING COLE LIVES AND THE FIDDLERS THREE OCCASIONALLY FIDDLE

ENCHANTED WOODS

HERE FAIRIES DANCE IN MOONLIGHT

CONTRARY MARY'S GARDEN

GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS

MARY AND HER LITTLE LAMB

FLYING CARPET

THE GLASS MOUNTAIN

BOTTOMLESS LAKE

HERE THE BLACKBIRD PICKED OFF THE MAID'S NOSE

PETER RABBIT LIVES IN THIS HOLE

JACK AND JILL WENT UP THIS HILL

HERE ARE THE BABES IN THE WOOD COVERED WITH LEAVES

BO-PEEP'S SHEEP

OLD MOTHER HUBBARD'S PLACE

THE BLACK HEN WHO LAID EGGS FOR GENTLEMEN

THE WONDERFUL MOO-MOO BIRD

THE EMERALD CITY OF OZ

DO NOT WALK TOO NEAR THE EDGE!

LONG, BROAD AND SWIFT GLANCE

LITTLE BO-PEEP IS LOOKING FOR HER SHEEP

THE WANDERER (THE WANDERING JEW)

TOM-TOM THE PIPER'S SON RAN THIS WAY

HERE THE MERMAIDS PLAY

EAST OF THE SUN - WEST OF THE MOON

THE OLD WITCH LIVES HERE

THE TALKING BIRD

HANSEL AND GRETEL FIND THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE

HUMPTY-DUMPTY HAD THAT GREAT FALL HERE

THE CASTLE WHERE THE SLEEPING BEAUTY SLEEPS

Jaro Hess

THE SHOE WHERE THE OLD WOMAN LIVES

CINDERELLA LIVES HERE

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT

THE PATH THAT LEADS TO NO PLACE EVENTUALLY

THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND

IN THIS PLACE THERE ARE PECULIAR FISHES

THE SQUALL FISH

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For the complete contents of the Butter Rum Cartoon, click HERE.