Classy, Sassy, Or Trashy? All About Automotive Pin Up Girls

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The guys would hang out and soon enough, the girls started coming around, too. A guy with a great hot rod simply wanted to go cruising around with a beautiful girl. Given that the automobile is a fairly recent invention, and considering the entire history of mankind, it is little wonder that automotive pin up girls only gained real prominence in the 1950s. One could argue that if cars had been around when Sandra Botticelli painted “The Birth Of Venus,” instead of a sea shell, Venus might have been born out of a Chevy.

He wants to be known as a photographer of all types of pin ups, not just a particular era, but pin ups as a whole. Another company Petty created advertisements for was Ridg Tool where he often utilized collage and composition unique to the artist (Fig. 9). The Petty Girl made her first appearance in 1933 as a full-page cartoon in Esquire Magazine’s first issue (Fig. 3). The Pin-Up featured a long-legged female that was generously proportioned and often with a phone in hand (Fig. 4). Stephen King’s Shawshank Redemption is a perfect example how pop culture changed pin ups over time. Hapless prisoner Andy Dufresne hid his escape tunnel with a popular Rita Hayworth poster.

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A beautiful woman with elongated limbs often dangling a telephone with a flirtatious smile, George Petty created a new fantasy for a new generation. From a print of the Montgomery County Courthouse in Red Oak, Iowa, calendar art was marching toward the inevitable – women on calendars. By the time a calendar featuring women selling products reached the market in 1903, the women’s suffrage movement was heating up and quickly changing cultural acceptance and views of women in society. From there, George Petty’s creations were featured everywhere – cigarette cases, playing cards, advertisements from Knitting to Airlines pin up casino.

• All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only.
• From a print of the Montgomery County Courthouse in Red Oak, Iowa, calendar art was marching toward the inevitable  – women on calendars.
• One could argue that if cars had been around when Sandra Botticelli painted “The Birth Of Venus,” instead of a sea shell, Venus might have been born out of a Chevy.
• He also created and designed swimsuits for Jantzen as well as their advertisements (Fig. 8) – clearly drawing inspiration from fellow illustrator Joseph Christian Leyendecker for the male figure.

However, in 1950 the publicity of the Petty Girl reached new heights with a feature film starring Joan Caulfield and Robert Cummings playing the role of George Petty (Fig. 10). The artist would return to create two calendars for Esquire in 1955 and 1956 as well as a Pin-Up for the 40th anniversary issue in 1975. Realizing that sex worked in war advertising, the automotive industry was quick to capitalize on the pin up theme. With the industrial revolution in full swing, the 1950s became the pinnacle for pin up art. All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only.

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Adam Marmolejo – and Rod Authority – wanted to send special thanks to Lucky Devil Pin Ups’ models Nikki Riot, Rachelle Razor, Kimber Fox, Jurae, Ruby Franco, Kitty Courtney, Vintage Doll, Dany Bullet, and Jovahna. If our readers end up being lucky devils, we may have full model features of these beautiful women in the future. Despite these claims, women jumped at the chance to ride these two-wheeled machines and enjoyed the independence offered of getting around without having men as escorts. [newline]Wardrobes began to change to meet the new form of transportation, and women began to appear on posters and advertisements for bicycles. Looking back, these advertisements are probably the first real indication that sex appeal sells vehicles.

• Again, banking on women to inspire patriotism and show men what they were fighting for back home, pin up girls and the posters of this era hit an all-time high — and remain popular today.
• The Penny-Farthing bicycles were unbalanced and had hard wheels made of wood or metal, which were unsafe and uncomfortable to ride.
• Pin up posters warning of these hazards were tacked up in all the popular men’s gathering spots.
• Next came the equally popular pin up of Marilyn Monroe, and the movie ended with Raquel Welch’s famous 1960s pin up.

Notable contemporary pin-up artists include Olivia De Berardinis, known for her pin-up art of Bettie Page and her pieces in Playboy. In Europe, prior to the First World War, the likes of “Miss Fernande” (who some identify as Fernande Barrey[6][7]), were arguably the world’s first pin-ups in the modern sense. Miss Fernande displayed ample cleavage and full frontal nudity, and her pictures were cherished by soldiers on both sides of the First World War conflict.

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Dorothy Dandridge and Eartha Kitt also added to the pin-up style of their time, using their looks, fame, and personal success. African-American pin-up finally gained a platform when the magazine Jet, which published material related to the African-American community, was created in 1951. Jet supported pin-up with their full-page feature called “Beauty of the Week”, where African-American women posed in swimsuits and the like. This was intended to showcase the beauty African-American women possessed in a world where their skin color was under constant scrutiny.

• Though Marilyn Monroe and Bettie Page are often cited as the classic pin-up, there were many Black women who were also considered to be impactful.
• The advent of the pneumatic wheel on the newer safety bikes (lower center of gravity with equal size wheels), made it a popular choice with women.
• With the industrial revolution in full swing, the 1950s became the pinnacle for pin up art.
• Jet supported pin-up with their full-page feature called “Beauty of the Week”, where African-American women posed in swimsuits and the like.

This style of pin up art continued through WWI and into the roaring twenties when artists started to show a bit more skin in their artwork, which fit with the changing times and the modern “flapper” girls. The Great Depression era put a stop to non-essential items consumers once had an income for, which in turn saw a demise of pin ups and calendars until the outbreak of WWII. Again, banking on women to inspire patriotism and show men what they were fighting for back home, pin up girls and the posters of this era hit an all-time high — and remain popular today. The real origin of pin up girls modeling next to wheels is unknown but there are a lot of advertisements from the late 1800s of women posing next to safety bicycles. These safety bicycles had both tires of the same size and replaced the Penny-Farthing bicycles, the older bicycles that had one large solid front tire and a smaller rear tire. The Penny-Farthing bicycles were unbalanced and had hard wheels made of wood or metal, which were unsafe and uncomfortable to ride.

A Brief History Of Pin-up Art: George Petty

Pin up art and the pin up girls have continued to evolve into the fantastic automotive artwork that we enjoy today. From the classic style to a sassy rockabilly look, all the way to a hardcore trashy aura. There are fans for each style type, with many of these models crossing the confines of style boundaries, collecting even more fans. The term pin-up refers to drawings and paintings, illustrations and photographs of semi-naked women.

• The Pin-Up featured a long-legged female that was generously proportioned and often with a phone in hand (Fig. 4).
• In Jim Linderman’s self-published book, Secret History of the Black Pin Up,[35] he describes the lives and experiences of African-American pin-up models.
• In the early 1930s, Petty also created Pin-Ups for Brown & Bigelow calendars (Fig. 1).
• These safety bicycles had both tires of the same size and replaced the Penny-Farthing bicycles, the older bicycles that had one large solid front tire and a smaller rear tire.
• Given that the automobile is a fairly recent invention, and considering the entire history of mankind, it is little wonder that automotive pin up girls only gained real prominence in the 1950s.

Next came the equally popular pin up of Marilyn Monroe, and the movie ended with Raquel Welch’s famous 1960s pin up. As a makeup style, the classic pin-up underwent a revival in modern fashion. The red lip and winged eyeliner made a re-emergence in 2010, with singer Katy Perry being the most accessible example of modern pin-up makeup. We’ll send you the most interesting Street Muscle articles, news, car features, and videos every week. These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘pinup.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Among the other well-known artists specializing in the field were Earle K. Bergey, Enoch Bolles, Gil Elvgren, George Petty, Rolf Armstrong, Zoë Mozert, Duane Bryers[13] and Art Frahm.

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This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Due to his great Pin-Up success, George Petty expanded his portfolio to include ads for Pepsi Cola and even a Time Magazine cover featuring Rita Hayworth. He also created and designed swimsuits for Jantzen as well as their advertisements (Fig. 8) – clearly drawing inspiration from fellow illustrator Joseph Christian Leyendecker for the male figure. He came up with the name Lucky Devil, just joking around that he was a Lucky Devil to be able to photograph beautiful women, but the name stuck and his brand evolved.

It was not until 1965 that Jennifer Jackson became the first African American to be published in Playboy as Playmate of the Month. 1990 marked the first year that Playboy’s Playmate of the Year was an African-American woman, Renee Tenison. Historically, Black women in pin-up are still not as common as their white counterparts. However, the recent revival of pin-up style has propelled many Black women today to dabble with and make works based on the classic pin-up look to create their own standards of beauty. In Jim Linderman’s self-published book, Secret History of the Black Pin Up,[35] he describes the lives and experiences of African-American pin-up models.

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The term pin-up was first attested to in English in 1941.[3] Images of pin-up girls were published in magazines and newspapers, as postcards and as lithographs, and calendars. “When the war was over and you had all these soldiers coming back, hot rods became their adrenaline outlet. They had these ’40s Fords and the guys would make them lean and make them fast,” offered Marmolejo. “That’s when you got the car culture blending with the military power culture.

• Adam Marmolejo – and Rod Authority – wanted to send special thanks to Lucky Devil Pin Ups’ models Nikki Riot, Rachelle Razor, Kimber Fox, Jurae, Ruby Franco, Kitty Courtney, Vintage Doll, Dany Bullet, and Jovahna.
• The term pin-up refers to drawings and paintings, illustrations and photographs of semi-naked women.
• “That’s when you got the car culture blending with the military power culture.
• Life Magazine recalled the Petty Girl as the female ideal for American men and Esquire capitalized on the Petty Girl publishing calendars and various ephemera (Fig. 5).

Life Magazine recalled the Petty Girl as the female ideal for American men and Esquire capitalized on the Petty Girl publishing calendars and various ephemera (Fig. 5). He apprenticed at his father’s photographer studio before studying at the Académie Julian in Paris. Once he returned to the US, Petty made ends meet as a photo retoucher – where he learned the art of the airbrush. In the late 1920s, the artist opened his own studio creating advertisements for Marshall Fields and Atlas Beer. In the early 1930s, Petty also created Pin-Ups for Brown & Bigelow calendars (Fig. 1).

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When Petty was replaced by Alberto Vargas in Esquire – the previous artist was able to keep the licensing and rights to the ‘Petty Girl’ name. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Petty cleverly kept the secondary licensing of all his images and demanded the return of the original artwork, receiving royalties on every use of his Petty Girl. It is telling that Esquire corrected this oversight in the contract with Vargas and his ‘Varga Girl.’ Nevertheless, Petty and Varga girls were seen in many a military barrack in World War II. The Memphis Bell, an American Flying Fortress that was one of the first to complete 25 combat missions, featured a Petty Girl on its nose as seen in the 1944 documentary film. In 1945, the artist accepted a contract with True Magazine where his Petty Girl was featured every month as a full-page or foldout (Fig. 6). The term begins at the turn of the century with the burlesque scene and the golden age of print media.

• A guy with a great hot rod simply wanted to go cruising around with a beautiful girl.
• It was not until 1965 that Jennifer Jackson became the first African American to be published in Playboy as Playmate of the Month.
• Notable contemporary pin-up artists include Olivia De Berardinis, known for her pin-up art of Bettie Page and her pieces in Playboy.

The advent of the pneumatic wheel on the newer safety bikes (lower center of gravity with equal size wheels), made it a popular choice with women. In those days, clergy and medical professionals were against women riding bicycles, claiming the bouncing damaged their fragile insides. These professionals also worried that the friction caused by the seat would result in their arousal. Pin up posters warning of these hazards were tacked up in all the popular men’s gathering spots. Life magazine’s “Gibson Girl” defined artistic pin ups by promoting a womanly perfection with an hour-glass shape, full lips, and billowy thick hair at the turn of the century. Though Marilyn Monroe and Bettie Page are often cited as the classic pin-up, there were many Black women who were also considered to be impactful.

Tips For Collecting George Petty Original Pin Up Art

No longer do women need to be established models or actresses to start working as a pin up. “I think what works for pin ups in today’s society is the different looks,” stated Marmolejo. The popularity of the Petty Girl changed not only Pin-Up art, but the concept of American Beauty.

• It is telling that Esquire corrected this oversight in the contract with Vargas and his ‘Varga Girl.’ Nevertheless, Petty and Varga girls were seen in many a military barrack in World War II.
• The real origin of pin up girls modeling next to wheels is unknown but there are a lot of advertisements from the late 1800s of women posing next to safety bicycles.
• In Europe, prior to the First World War, the likes of “Miss Fernande” (who some identify as Fernande Barrey[6][7]), were arguably the world’s first pin-ups in the modern sense.
• Another company Petty created advertisements for was Ridg Tool where he often utilized collage and composition unique to the artist (Fig. 9).