Station WOW

Elvgren, (no date, early 40s?), ink blotter (Dow)

Gil Elvgren (1914-1980) was one of the best-loved pinup artists, not only by advertisers in the 1940s and 50s, and collectors today, but by his colleagues and students. By all accounts, Elvgren was a nice guy to be around. And he was a Chicagoan! For a little while, anyway. He was born and raised in Minnesota, but studied (and later taught) at the Chicago Academy of Art. When choosing between working out of the Chicago and New York offices of Brown & Bigelow, he chose Chicago because it had a more approachable, Midwestern feel. He lived in the city for a few years, and later moved to Winnetka to raise his family. After ten years there he moved to Florida to be near his other artist friends, but he will always be a Chicago son. I've heard that some of his art still hangs in the halls of the Academy of Art. I want to check that out someday.

I have the "Station WOW" image in several forms, but I posted this one because the used ink blotters remind me of the context in which pinup had its heyday--it was, at its core, advertising. Companies printed their names on blotters and calendars, adorned with gorgeous paintings of gorgeous women, and handed them out to customers as thank-you gifts, promotions, calling cards. Most of the artists we know and love were employed by Dow or Brown & Bigelow, specifically for the purpose of creating promotional images for corporate giveaways.

When you think about the societal circumstances in which it was okay to put scantily-dressed women on professional printed materials, it casts a bit of a shadow on the genre. But, as a citizen of a more modern time, I allow myself to appreciate not only the advances we've made since then, but the gorgeous artifacts this admittedly female-restrictive time in history has left us.

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Peter Driben's cover art

Peter Driben, Flirt Magazine cover, 1955

Peter Driben (????-1975) was probably the most prolific pinup artist of the 40s and 50s, his catalog of work exceeding even Vargas and Elvgren. Driben was born in Boston, and studied art at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1925. In 1941 he was contracted by close friend and publisher Robert Harrison to produce cover art for his new magazine Beauty Parade. He went on to paint covers for all of Harrison's magazines, including Titter, Flirt, Whisper, Wink and more, sometimes having as many as 6 covers published a month. You can recognize Driben's work easily because his cover girls are always very colorful and very leggy.

I wish I could scan and post the inside pages of this men's magazine for you; if you ever come across one, flip through it. I love that the spreads are all b&w cheesecake photos of women posed in the same impossible situations you see in the painted pin-ups (don't you just hate when your panties fall down around your ankles???). And, of course, you'll find Bettie Page in just about every men's mag from the 50s. Always a bonus.

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How do you like my band?

K.O. Munson, circa 1940-1948

Knute (K.O.) Munson (1900-1967)
The more you learn about pinup artists, the more you realize 1.) they were all inspired by other pin-up artists, 2.) they often studied under other pinup artists, 3.) most of them worked for Brown & Bigelow, and 4.) many, many of them spent at least part of their schooling years and career in Chicago. Munson was no different. After moving from Norway to Michigan, Munson studied in Chicago at the Academy of Fine Art and the American Academy of Art (school to Gil Elvgren, Joyce Ballantyne, and many other commercial artists). He spent many years working for Brown & Bigelow in Chicago, and in the early 50s set up a studio on the North Side of Chicago.

You can always recognize Munson's work by the sketches that surround the color painting. I'm a little partial to this image because I'm a die-hard band geek.

This one time, at band camp...

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Thank You for Being a Friend

This isn't technically a pinup illustration, so it'll be a bonus post for today.

To continue our theme of famous women posing before they were famous, I wanted to share this little gem from my collection. Do you know who it is?


Here's a hint: In a popular 1980s sitcom, her character was one of 9 siblings, several of whom (including her) were named after flowers.

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Three 'Possession Obsessed' Renters Compete for $20,000 From Apartments.com

I tracked down the press release about the contest:
Three 'Possession Obsessed' Renters Compete for $20,000 From Apartments.com

"The Princess of Pin-Ups"... yep, that's me ;)

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Harem Scarem

Earl Moran (1893-1984) was one of the most well-known and well-loved pinup artists of the 30s, 40s and 50s. In 1932 he signed an exclusive contract with Brown & Bigelow, and after moving from Chicago to Hollywood in the mid-40s he began painting film stars in addition to his calendar work. In 1946 a young, eager starlet named Norma Jean Dougherty approached Moran to pose for him, and between 1946 and 1950 she became one of his favorite models.

One of the joys I've found in collecting pinup is the hidden treasures that appear when you look into the background story of each image. Without intentionally seeking them out, I now have several mutos, blotters and calendars featuring a young Marilyn Monroe, collector's items for all time.

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I Got a Little Behind in My Rent

Zoe Mozert, circa 1945, mutoscope

Zoe Mozert (1907-1993) was one of the few women who was known for painting pinups in the 1940s, and she's probably the most well-known female pinup artist. As other female artists did, she often used herself as a model in her pinup paintings. I'm not sure if this one is a self-portrait, but it would explain the awkwardness of the pose. Still, one of my favorites.

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I'm a finalist! Vote early, vote often!

Last week I was chosen as one of three finalists in the Apartments.com Possession Obsession video contest, for my video about my extensive and alluring pin-up collection! Which means I have a chance of winning $20,000!!! So I really, really need your help.

Here's how you can help me win:

1. Go to the contest site and sign up to vote. It's quick, painless and they won't do anything untoward with your address, I promise. Then... VOTE! You can watch my video too, but that's not a requirement for voting. But really, you should, it's cute.



2. Every day from now through October 19th, go to my video page and VOTE VOTE VOTE! Yes, you can actually vote multiple times, limited to once a day.



3. Subscribe to the RSS feed for this site for a daily reminder to vote. As a special thanks, I'll post a different pinup from my collection every day, pinups that didn't appear in the video!



4. Forward this site's URL or my video page URL to your friends and ask them to vote for me. Everybody loves sexy babes, your friends will thank you. Ask them to forward it to their friends, and so on, and so on... let's get viral with it!



5. If you have a blog, I would be ever so grateful if you would write a post about my video. I'm counting on my internet-famous friends to help get me to first place. (Did I mention I could win $20,000????!!!!)



6. Dust off your party hat, because when I win the $20,000 grand prize, there will be merriment! And you're invited.

Thanks for your help! I couldn't spell pin-up without "U"!