There are a group of signed artists in the sheet music world that, although they had a signature, they are considered to be "Mystery Illustrators" since virtually nothing is known about them outside of their printed artwork. Hopefully this entry will help to demystify to some degree the identity of the person behind the creative covers of the 1900s to 1920s drawn by the artist who signed them simply "Etherington." As with many such figures, information is scant, but it still gives a little more background than has previously been known on this illustrator.

Charles Arthur Etherington was born in late 1880 in Hartford, Connecticut to machinist Charles Allison Etherington and his bride Carrie Cooper of Springfield, Massachusetts. He would soon be joined by one sibling, Howard W., in January of 1882. By that time, the elder Charles was listed in Hartford directories as an engraver at a printing company, and would soon be considered an artist.

It is not clear what happened to Carrie, but by 1890 she was no longer in the household due to death or divorce, and Charles was remarried to his second wife Abbie. Directories from 1889 to 1898 showed him working for the Calhoun Printing Company as an artist or engraver. Starting in 1897, the younger Charles was shown working as a clerk for the Pope Manufacturing Company company, primarily a bicycle builder at that time. The 1900 enumeration showed the senior Charles still listed as an artist, albeit independent now, and the younger one, most often listed as C. Arthur Etherington, as a bookkeeper.

At some point during the next few years C. Arthur went into the family business of art and engraving, possibly trained by his father among others. Around 1905 he migrated to New York City, and his talent soon got him work in advertising and the recently burgeoning field of sheet music covers. His first work was likely as an independent contractor, providing art for the music publishing houses of Gus Edwards and Harry Von Tilzer in 1906 and 1907. However, by 1908 his client base had expanded. By then he was working for the printing firm of Teller, Sons & Dorner. Etherington's work was well-regarded, and a 1908 ad in the Music Trade Review placed by music publisher Theo. Bendix touted him as part of a talented pool of composers, lyricists and artists. In addition to Edwards and Von Tilzer, he was also providing work for Joseph Morris, F.B. Haviland, Joseph W. Stern and Ted Snyder. A March 14, 1908, article in the Music Trade Review by fellow artist Gene Buck on the "Evolution of the Title Page" mentioned Charles in passing, putting him in good company:

Let it not be supposed that the artist alone is responsible for the vast improvement which is apparent in the production of the modern title page. I think that I am safe in saying that ten years ago Edgar Keller was just as talented an artist as he is to-day—not as finished perhaps—but the wonderful creative genius which he has displayed for years in designing the Witmark title pages must have been just as apparent a decade ago. Again, take [William and Frederick] Starmer, [Charles] Etherington and [John] Frew, who like myself are "free lances," designing for anybody who wishes to engage our services; their versatility has surely not come to light in a day. The question is naturally asked them, "to what source is due the marvelous artistic strides made in the modern title page?" and the answer lies in the fact that the credit is largely due to the improvement in mechanical production.

Given the often challenging nature of multi-color lithography, it was likely a double-edged sword that newer methods eschewing the old lithography stones both made the cover artists' work easier, while at the same time offering new opportunities for artists with less skill in these methods to enter the field. With perhaps 12 primary and another dozen or more secondary artists working in New York City music publishing by 1910, the roster was not exactly crowded, which helped Etherington and his handful of peers to stand out. He was certainly prolific, turning out forty or more covers a year from 1908 to 1911. And then, the flow stopped abruptly.

Charles had married Louise Filler in 1906 in Manhattan, her second marriage to his first. Eight years his senior, her reported age changed several times over the next two decades, including when she was wed to Charles. The 1910 census, taken in Manhattan, showed that she had lost all six of her children, likely in infancy or at birth. That same record showed Charles as a lithographer and artist. Yet within two years, his prolific flow of sheet music covers would all but stop. There is no clear reason for this, but perhaps he decided to focus on advertising art or book illustration, or even magazines. The 1915 New York census still showed him as working in art and lithography, and his 1918 draft record listed him in the same field, working for what looks like the Alphw Lithography Company on 9th Avenue. It also described the artist as being 6'2" with black hair. By 1920 the couple had temporarily relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, residing with Dr. Alfred Bailey and his wife, who may have been a relation of some sort. Again, Charles showed his occupation as commerical artist for the enumeration, but pinning down his extant work from this period was difficult.

The Etheringtons were back in New York fairly soon, found living in Nassau on Long Island in 1920s directories and the 1925 New York State census. However, at some point prior to 1930, they had relocated to Chicago, Illinois, found there at the start of the Great Depression. From this point on there is largely speculation as to where his life went. The Depression was hard on many artists, with only a few of the best surviving. It appears that during this time Louise dropped out of the picture, either due to death or divorce, and Charles moved to Lyndhurst, Ohio, to reside with his brother Howard, who was working as a trash collector. While he was not found in the 1940 census, he was noted in a couple of mentions in newspapers as working for the Works Progress Administration (WPA), one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's largest New Deal programs, as an art supervisor. Charles' 1942 draft record showed him as having a crippled right arm, the cause of which was not known, but which may have inhibited his direct work in art over the prior decade, thus his WPA role. After World War II, Abbie passed on, and Charles went to Lyndhurst, Ohio, to stay with his brother Howard for a time. He was found there for the 1950 enumeration as a lithographer and "makers [sic] of posters." Charles subsequently relocated to Miami, Florida, where he died in March of 1960 at age 79.

On his sheet music covers, Etherington showed versatility and consistency, but not all that much uniqueness in comparison to some of his peers. The work was solid, and encompassed several different styles during his six year run, using a palette of two to three colors for the most part. His human figures were well-rendered, particularly on sentimental pieces, but lacked whimsy in some cases. Overall, C.A. Etherington was a capable and prolific artist with solid skills, and should be regarded as one of the major contributors to the look of sheet music, part of the appeal that led to sales, during the middle of the ragtime era.