THE LIFE OF PINUP ARTIST GEORGE PETTY

From 1933 to 1956, the Petty Girl was seen on tens of millions of calendars, magazine centerfolds, advertisements, posters, and all sorts of specialty products. The "Petty Girl" even became a motion picture in 1950. George Petty was born in 1894 in Abbeville, Louisiana. After his family moved to Chicago, he worked in his father's photography studio. Upon graduation from high school, he traveled to Paris to study at the Academie Julian under Jean-Paul Laurens. Back home, he worked for a printing company and became head of the household upon his father's death. Petty married in 1918; his daughter, Marjorie, was born a year later, his son, George, in 1922. By the mid-1920's, Petty was working full-time as a freelance illustrator, painting front covers showing children at play for "The Household" magazine and providing pretty girl images to a calendar company. He opened his first studio in Chicago in 1926. The first model for the Petty Girl was the artist's wife, followed by his daughter when she became a teenager, and even his son, who was enlisted to pose for the "Petty Man" in the Jantzen ad campaign. Petty's creation made her debut in the autumn of 1933, in a full-page cartoon accompanied by a snappy caption in Esquire's inaugural issue. For the rest of the decade, she was featured in advertisements, Esquire's deluxe hardcover Petty Folio (1939), and Life magazine's article, "Petty Girl...Is Feminine Ideal Of American Men." (1939). By 1940, he had become a national celebrity. His relationship with Esquire had worn thin, however, and when they secured the services of Alberto Vargas a year later, he left the magazine. Although he no longer worked for Esquire, he had no shortage of work offers, and he even did a couple of calendars for Esquire in the 1950's and again in 1973 for their 40th anniversary. He remained an active arist (and appreciative judge at the Miss America Pageant for 10 years) until his death on July 21, 1975.

Back to main page: