George Petty was one of the top "cheesecake" illustrators of the 30s and 40s. He began his career with a series of cartoons featuring beautiful girls and their far from handsome beaus. His work coined the term "Petty Girls" to describe the carefully airbrushed girls with brilliant smiles and sexy poses. He left Esquire, to be replaced by Alberto Vargas who we will be featuring here soon, and became a freelance commercial artist. His girls soon ended up gracing magazine ads and calendars for such unlikely products as Tung-Sol Radio Tubes and the aptly named, Ridgid Tools.
Mike Fontanelli has generously allowed Animtion Resources to digitize his Rigid Tools collection. These calendar pages are among the most sought after pinup collectibles, selling for as much as $40 to $50 a sheet. Many thanks to Mike for sharing this with us.
Here’s an extra bonus! The 1947 True Magazine Petty Girl calendar…
Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources
This posting is part of the online Encyclopedia of Cartooning under the subject heading, Magazine Cartoons.
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