When Taste celebrated its 10th anniversary on Oct. 3, 1979, the issue's cover was emblazoned with an outsized image of a three-layer birthday cake topped with 10 firecrackers. It was just one in a long line of distinctive poster covers (more than 500 at that point).
"Ten years ago, when Taste began, readers, advertisers and even editors at The Star were dismayed at having a full page devoted to a color poster cover," explained the story inside that 1979 issue.
"For the better part of the first year, Taste's telephones rang with complaints. Since then, the cover has become an integral part of the section and readers frequently ask about the artists who create the covers."
From 1970 to 1979, the majority of those posters were the work of Minnesota artist Jim Martin, and they were a newspaper industry trend-setter. "In October 1969, when The Star launched its weekly Taste section, the most visible innovation was our use of 'poster covers,' " explained a 1971 Taste story.
"Each cover was to serve two purposes: to tell you about the special contents of that particular issue, and to serve as an original work of art which could be used -- as posters are more and more used these days -- for home decoration."
The parting shot: "Martin's covers are appreciated by a wide audience, as borne out by a story told to him by a fellow artist delighted to know who created the posters," continued the 1979 story.
"The artist's grandmother was an austere sort who hung only religious art and calendars on her walls; she considered all other wall adornments mere vanities. After a long time between visits, the artist went to her grandmother's house and found the kitchen walls papered with Taste covers.
'Somehow she must have considered Taste covers above vain fripperies,' Martin said."
