Ardis Edgerton was the Rockwells’ tomboy neighbor, and she would regularly carouse with Rockwell’s sons Jarvis, Tom and Peter and help out his wife Mary around the house. So, she was usually around to pose for Rockwell when he needed an energetic redhead in a painting — such as in this Saturday Evening Post cover, showing a young man returning home to his family from World War II. Edgerton is the girl in the light blue shirtdress, leaning ecstatically on the railing.

Ardis Edgerton was the Rockwells’ tomboy neighbor, and she would regularly carouse with Rockwell’s sons Jarvis, Tom and Peter and help out his wife Mary around the house. So, she was usually around to pose for Rockwell when he needed an energetic redhead in a painting — such as in this Saturday Evening Post cover, showing a young man returning home to his family from World War II. Edgerton is the girl in the light blue shirtdress, leaning ecstatically on the railing.