Warhol created this work for the November 1948 cover of Cano magazine, which was the student-led journal of Warhol's alma matter, Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie-Mellon). It is also possibly one of the first instances of Warhol's blotted-line technique, which he used on a Christmas card later that year. Most significant, however, is this work's status as one of the first illustrations Warhol did specifically for a magazine cover. Just a year later, in 1949, he would be hired by Glamour magazine as an illustrator and change his name from Andrew Warhola to Andy Warhol.