On first glance, the cards were innocuous. One showed a brunette in a bright yellow dress stepping out of a convertible with red-hot seats, her legs exposed. The other was a redhead in white shorts and a black fur jacket, her legs just as naked.
They didn’t exude sexuality – their bosoms were not bursting out of their tops. I barely noticed them as I quickly scanned the paper items in the $2 lot I had just snagged at the auction. I bought the tray because I didn’t get a chance to examine the items before the auction started, and I do like to check out ephemera.
“It says, ‘A Mutoscope Card,'” I said to my auction buddy Janet. Neither of us had heard of it. We both buy postcards, usually with images of places like Atlantic City or other locations or in her case, black memorabilia. Their back sides were blank, unlike postcards that offer space for a message and address.
Once I got the items home and examined them closely, I realized that the woman in the convertible was wearing stockings held up by a garter belt. Then, I realized what they were: Pinup cards, and they were the first demure types that I had seen at auction. Red convertible had the title “Sport Model,” and redhead was “Free and Squeezy.”
I’m sure I was able to get this lot because the male bidders didn’t bother to check out the tray, and if they did, they didn’t find these cards flashy enough. Anything that resembled porno or racy pinups normally precipitated heavy bidding. At auction two weeks ago, some porno films and what the auctioneer called “model” photos were grabbed up pretty quickly.
Mutoscope cards were first produced in the 1940s and dispensed from vending machines for 2 cents each, according to the site mutoworld.com, operated by a collector. They were sized at 5.25″ by 3.25,” and had the words “A Mutoscope Card” imprinted on them.
The cards ran from the demure ones in my tray lot to more risqué. There were several series, including Glamour Girls (1940), All American Girls (1941), Follies Girls (1944, which mutoworld.com says are rare), Hot’Cha Girls (1945; “Free and Squeezy” was from this series and she was one of the least provocative), and Calendar Girls 1 (1950) and Calendar Girls 2 (1952).
The major makers of these cards were two calendar companies – Louis F. Dow and Brown & Bigelow, for whom many of the pinup artists contracted.
My red convertible card was attributed to Gil Elvgren and the redhead to Earl Moran, both of whom were pretty well known among pinup-card connoisseurs. Elvgren, considered one of the most successful pinup artists, was a painter and illustrator. His work reached beyond just pinups and glamour girls. He also did illustrations for major corporations such as Coca Cola and for magazines. His works have been sold by Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
Earl Moran began his career in the early 1930s when two calendar companies bought pinups he had submitted. He also illustrated movie posters and magazines, and did contract work for Sears. In the 1940s, he moved to Hollywood and developed a long friendship with Marilyn Monroe, whom he painted pretty often. Later, Moran spent most of his time creating fine art works depicting nudes.
While most of the Mutoscope cards were pinups, there were some made from the Jimmy Hatlo comic strip of the 1940s and ones of musicians, including Guy Lombardo.
Both of my cards appeared to be authentic (mutoworld.com offers advice on how to spot a fake). Louis F. Dow released “Sport Model” in 1940, and Brown & Bigelow released “Free and Squeezy” in 1945. That card has the B&B logo on the front. Both have some wear around the edges.
Another interesting find.
