Alec's Owls

I needed to go out into the wealthy Main Line suburbs today, so at Ceridwen's suggestion I stopped at Bryn Mawr College to see the sculpted owls by the British artist Alec Miller, whose grandson Andrew she knows (and I met once with pleasure). These are just a few of the owls that he created for the exterior of a dormitory called Rockefeller Hall in 1910. It's easy to understand why the Bryn Mawr community views these birds with affection, as there are a lot of them and no two are alike.

The owl at top center has folklore attached. It's said that if a couple should kiss underneath it (it's at the top of a domed passageway), a marriage is sure to be the result.

The rest of these brought to mind the endless poster series published by the American Library Association, each showing a well-known person with a favorite book, and the caption "READ." Starting clockwise from top right, tslogans for the owls could be:

DON'T LET ANYONE INTERRUPT YOUR READING
READ TOGETHER
READ FORBIDDEN BOOKS TOGETHER
TEACH YOUR KID TO READ
READ ALOUD TO THE FAMILY

It was a real delight to chase these down today. I saw them once in 1986 but I had long since forgot they existed.