In the 1950's and 1960's, friends, family members, and many residents of Huntington, New York, posed for photographs to be used for Mayan's illustrations. Among the Huntington residents who posed for Post covers and interior illustrations were Zed Lockhart because of his resemblance to Abraham Lincoln, the Rev. Albert E. Greanoff, rector of St. John's Episcopal Church of Huntington who appeared on a cover conducting a wedding ceremony, Wallace K. Roe, Davis H. Smith, John Begley, Benjamin Conklin, Franklin R. E. "Doggy" Ellis, Dr. Neil Falkenberg, Thomas Bonnitt, Thomas Adee, Jack Falion, and many others.
He also used himself:
Mayan posing for an illustration for The Shadow, 1940
for the cover of Combat, March, 1961, casein 23" x 18"
Adventure Feb 1950