The story of Rose O’Neill reads like a fairy tale. Cecilia Rose O’Neill was born in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania in 1874. At the age of 14, Rose entered a contest sponsored by the Omaha World Herald for the best drawing by a Nebraska school child and ended up winning a five dollar gold piece. By the early 1890’s Rose began selling her drawings to publications, eventually going to New York where she sold many illustrations to such periodicals as Colliers, Truth, Life, and Harpers. In 1909 Rose created Kewpies®, which appeared in the Christmas issue of The Ladies Home Journal. They then appeared regularly in the Woman’s Home Companion and Good Housekeeping for the next 25 years resulting in a merchandising boom that lasted for decades and included everything from dolls to doorknockers. Nearly 100 years after their creation, Kewpies® are still produced and beloved by collectors worldwide.