Jim Flora was the man behind the covers of Columbia Records' jazz 78 rpm records in the 1940s. As I wrote in his New York Times obituary, "Flora, a jazz fan who was working in advertising at the time, sent a proposal to Columbia, suggesting ways to improve the packaging of jazz recordings. He was hired almost immediately and began producing ideas for covers in the company's small art department, quickly working his way up to being an art director with responsibility for jazz imagery." Today his brute cartoon style is the inspiration for illustrators and painters alike. His work is kept alive in large part from the efforts of musicologist and pop cultist Irwin Chusid, who has opened an online store, Little Shop of Flora's, to sell books, calendars, and note cards featuring Flora's work. With the holidays and the economic downturn fast upon us, here are some lovely, low-priced gift ideas for Flora fans and wannabes, as well as some slightly higher priced prints (below).