Booked for Tonight

Pinup by Edward D’Ancona for Louis F. Dow Co., c. 1950

Turkey With Trimmins

Vaughan Bass, November 1962

A stool pigeon

Art by Joyce Ballantyne for Shaw-Barton, c. 1953

Housemaid’s Knee

Earl Moran for Brown & Bigelow, June 1935, #34326

Vaughan Alden Bass vs Gil Elvgren

Lucky Dog by Gil Elvgren for Louis F. Dow Co.
“Latin from Manhattan” believed to be a Vaughan Alden Bass overpaint of Gil Elvgren’s “Lucky Dog” for Louis F. Dow Co.

Gil Elvgren began his career with the Louis F. Dow Company in the 1930s but left for Brown & Bigelow over a contract dispute. Because Elvgren produced many popular pin-up paintings for Louis F. Dow Co., the company continued to use his works by having them overpainted and retitled by Vaughan Alden Bass to avoid copyright infractions after Elvgren left for the competition. Thus there are a number of “Elvgren-looking” ink blotters that are actually overpaints by Bass. Bass was an excellent artist in his own right and produced many great original pin-ups for the Louis F. Dow Co. See A Sheik Chick

Who’s Afraid?

Art by Al Buell for the Gerlach Barklow Co., 1944

BLOTTER – CHICAGO – ADVERTISING FOR SOUTH SHORE LINE AND CHICAGO AURORA AND ELGIN – MUTOSCOPE-TYPE PIN-UP – THROW IN THE TOWEL – 1955

Bare Essentials

Gil Elvgren for Brown & Bigelow, August 1958, #38-304-8

Doctor, are all those fellows internes?

Gil Elvgren for Brown & Bigelow, August 1946, #36828

Playful Mood

Art by Gil Elvgren for Brown & Bigelow, January 1962, #31-305-1