On this day in 1894, the great pin-up artist George Petty was born. You certainly know his art, because it copies of it were used to decorate planes used in World War II — most notably the Memphis Belle. His father was a successful photographer of women — so maybe it was in the blood. Or maybe seeing dad’s nudes had an environmental impact on the young man.
He is known for having created a kind of iconic figure: the Petty Girl. It sounds sexist: the women in the images have smaller than normal heads and longer and normal legs. I don’t especially see the smaller head. But the ridiculously long legs are hard to miss. These were created for Esquire magazine when it had centerfolds — the predecessors of those later found in Playboy. I assume they were thought rather racy in their day. Today, they look downright homey.
All right, not quite:

Happy birthday George Petty!
What’s with her hands? It looks like either she’s related to a chicken or it’s part of a root system.
That’s very funny! It does look like he got rid of the other fingers. It’s always telling when distorted images of women become iconic to men. Is that what we like? I don’t know. Now that you mention it, though, this one is really creepy. The lower torso looks like her upper body is exploding out of it. It does have a plant-like look to it.
Or the aliens from Pal’s “War Of The Worlds.”
Yes, but where are the suction cups?!