Something for the Boys

Vargas, June 1943, Esquire calendar

I feel bad about the blurry picture yesterday (fixed with a better scan), so I'm putting up another pretty Varga Girl to brighten your Saturday and start your weekend off right.

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Pistol Packin' Mama (new improved scan)

Vargas, March 1944, Esquire

This Esquire gatefold image was a popular one among the pilots who painted pinups on the nose of their bombers in WWII. I love the cheesiness of the title/poem and props (sorry, the pic is too blurry to see the poem). As always, it's a great pinup too.

We're goin' into the last week of votin', pardners! It's been a long 4 weeks, one week to go!

I really need your votes this weekend--all of them--so if you're packin', vote 'em!

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Silk Stocking Stories

Driben, January 1938

Another Driben cover, for your pleasure.

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Victory for a Soldier

Vargas, June 1942, Esquire

Anna Mae Clift--Alberto Vargas' wife, favorite model, the love of his life and the embodiment of the American female beauty that enchanted him--was also the first Varga Girl, and the inspiration for many Varga girls that followed.

While Vargas would have been happy to paint Anna Mae for the rest of his life, in 1941 his publisher at Esquire insisted he use a new model, a petite 15-year-old redhead from Illinois named Jeanne Dean.



Jeanne Dean (1925-1993) became Vargas' primary model from 1941-1942. In 1943 she went to Hollywood to seek her fortune as an actress, but in 1946 returned to modeling for Vargas. It is her face, figure and fiery hair you see in all of the redheaded Esquire Varga Girl images, including my favorite one (in my video it's the one in the peach matted frame in my bedroom) "A Little Girl Grows Up".

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just a pawn

Withers, date unknown

Ted Withers (?-1964) spent 25 years in Hollywood before coming to work for Brown & Bigelow in 1950. I don't know a lot about him, other than his skills were greatly admired by his fellow B&B artists, including Gil Elvgren and Rolf Armstrong.

I posted this today because, people, it's time for strategy. At exactly midnight last night I watched as my opponent's votes went up by 30 in a span of 10 minutes (60 if you count the 30 that went in a few minutes before that). I know how that happened... do you?

If you want to help me win, keep checking my score and don't get too lax when I have a lead. All it takes is one industrious person to turn a 40-vote lead into a 20-vote deficit in a matter of minutes. I watched it happen last night.

Since I can't change the rules of the game, I'll have to protect my queen by getting a 100+ vote lead. I hope you can help me with that.

It's your move.

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not as nice as they used to be

Crandall, 1949, True Magazine

I don't know anything about Bradshaw Crandall except what his signature looks like (hey, that's something). The internets don't know much either. I'll post more here about him when I find out more.

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friend pimpage

In my video, along with all the vintage stuff on my walls and in my curio cabinet, you see a few things in my collection that are modern but retro--inspired by vintage pinup art. I wanted to let you know where you can get those things, in case you're jonesin' to be surrounded by gorgeous babes too (and really, who isn't?). Here goes:

• Pinup toilet seat from Bucktooth Mama


• Pinup pillowcases from Sin in Linen (they also have sheet sets)


• Pop Ink silhouette pinup plates from French Paper Co.


• Days of the week drinking glasses from Disgruntled Housewife


• Pretty lady print by Brandy Agerbeck at Loosetooth.com


• Pinup light switch plates from Instant Living


• Pinup 'Toons prints from Rion Vernon

This isn't totally related, except that my friend Liz is one of the two founders of the site:
a 200-word op-ed I wrote for A Brief Message about collecting and design

Enjoy!

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Come As You Are

Petty, 1941, Esquire

George Petty (1894-1975) was Alberto Vargas' predecessor at Esquire magazine. He's known primarily for the "Petty Girl", his leggy, airbrushed pinups that appeared in Esquire between 1933 and 1941, and later in 55-56.

Petty was born in Louisiana, studied briefly in Paris, but his roots, like other artists, are in Chicago. After his family moved to Chicago he worked for his father's photography studio, later assuming the family business when his father died, and opening his own illustration studio in Chicago in 1926.

The world was introduced to the Petty Girl in Esquire magazine in 1933. She was an instant hit. Petty's first model was his wife, then later his daughter, but he was known to use several models to compose a single painting.

Petty's pinups often had extra-long legs, shortened torsos and small heads, which Petty believed emphasized the best parts (ahem). Another of his signature techniques was to draw outlines only of shoes, telephone handsets, head wraps and other props, drawing the viewer's focus to the beauty of the woman in the painting.

By 1940 Petty became a celebrity and was in high demand. His relationship with Esquire became strained, and in 1941, after Esquire contracted Alberto Vargas to create pinups for the magazine, Petty left Esquire. He would later return to create two calendars in 1955-56.

Even after Petty left Esquire, the Petty Girl, alongside the Varga Girl, remained important to American culture and troop morale during WWII, often reproduced by pilots on their bombers--the Memphis Belle being the most famous use of a Petty Girl as nose art.

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