The weekend's weather
Tomorrow: Still cool with mostly cloudy skies.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
HIGH LOW 67 46
Sunday: Warming up and partly sunny.
HIGH LOW 74 51
Kansan
Weekend Edition
KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PO BOX 3585
TOPEKA, KS 66601-3585
Friday
May 1, 1998
Section:
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
A
Vol.108No.149 Saturday & Sunday
(USPS 650-640)
American Icons
The University houses a little-known collection of Esquire magazine pinups. Its worldwide popularity allows Spencer Museum to collect thousands of dollars in royalties each year.
Story by Laura Roddy · Photos of pinups by Roger Nomer
They make a pilgrimage to the University of Kansas Spencer Museum of Art every summer and trickle in throughout the rest of the year.
Pilgrims pore over a little-known museum collection, leafing through remnants of a bygone era. One peruser sports girlie tattoos, another, an embroidered girlie bomber jacket.
They are peeking at pinups. Considered girlie art by some and classic Americana by others
the University's collection of idealized watercolors
nized watercolors clad in sheer clothing and high heels was painted by the likes of Alberto Vargas and George Petty. They once graced the pages of *Esquire* magazine. Called Petty Girls and Varga Girls, the pinups became American icons during World War II, their images tacked up on barrack walls and copied onto airplanes, tanks and boats for good luck. Even the U. S. Treasury Department once used a Varga Girl on war bond posters.
One of the collection's most famous images is the Memphis Belle. In fact, the aircraft that bore the name and image of Petty's Memphis Belle was immortalized on the silver screen twice. The first film was a 1944 documentary, and the second was a 1990 Hollywood movie.
But the only way to view the University's Memphis Belle and the rest of the pinups is to make an appointment with Spencer Museum.
In more than 17 years since their arrival, the pinups never have been exhibited formally and rarely have been displayed for public viewing.
The pinups are tucked away in flat files, covered by acid-free paper at a temperature-regulated room in the museum. Still others are locked in Fraser Hall's attic, a dry, dark and somewhat dusty hideaway.
But while it is difficult for the public to see this popular art at the University of Kansas, art dealers in San Francisco are cashing in on reproductions of the University's collection.
The University does make some money on the Vargas pinups. It receives royalties from sales of Varga Girl images at the San Francisco Art Exchange.
Andrea Norris, director of the museum, said that she was not willing to disclose the specific amount that the University received but that it was between $3,000 and $60,000 per year.
"We don't depend on it to survive, but it certainly
helps." Norris said.
The pinups are part of the University's Esquire collection, more than 16,000 pieces acquired by the University in December 1980 after Esquire Inc. had contacted Lee Young about the donation. Young, professor emeritus of journalism, said the University ended up with one of the largest pinup collections in the United States because of its designation as the official repository for the Magazine Publishers Association.
The entire collection was sorted and cataloged, and about 800 pieces were separated for storage at the museum.
Of the 800, about 175 are pinups, many of which are Varga Girls, said Steve Goddard, curator of prints and drawings at the museum.
Because of limited space at the museum, the remainder of the collection has been boxed up in Fraser's attic.
"The stuff has been sitting for 20 years," said Carol Holstead, associate professor of journalism. "While we have taken out the 'really good stuff,' this is a really deep collection."
Sharon Bass, associate professor of journalism, called the
collection in Fraser a hidden treasure trove. She has brought students up the eight stories to see it firsthand.
Naked bulbs in a slanted ceiling shed light on two rows of cardboard boxes stacked three and a half feet high and about 70 feet long.
The boxes are askew, and some artwork is lying out in the open not far from old psychology department files.
"It is not much of a place for scholarship," Bass said. "When I first saw the collection, boxes weren't open. Dust is now getting inside."
The boxes contain original photographs, line drawings, oil paintings, watercolors and cartoons by various artists.
There is more than artistic value involved, too. There are thousands of dollars involved in reproducing some of the works, and the University's rights are cloudy in some cases.
Young said there were some concerns about who owned the right to reproduce the art.
In the case of Vargas, the Univer-
In the case of Vargas, the university clearly has the ownership rights and the San Francisco Art Exchange has the reproduction rights, Goddard said. Sales of Vargas paintings, drawings and prints at the San Francisco Art Exchange are approaching $13 million, said James Hartley, Art Exchange director. Of that $13 million, about
See VARGA on page 6A
CONCERT CALENDAR
Tonight:
Bottleneck: The Band That Saved The World; $4/5
Free State Brewing Co.: Free State Jazz Quartet; Free
Seattle Jazz Quiz & Free
■ Jazzhaus: The Colony, Tim Mahoney and The Meanies; $4/5
■ West Campanile Hill: Day On The Hill; Free
■ Bottleneck: Shaking Tree; $4/5
■ Jazzhaus: High and Lonesome; $3
Sunday:
■ Bottleneck: Swing Set; $3/4
■ Liberty Hall: Ray Davies; $19/22/25
Index
Feature ...12A
Nation ...2A
Coupons ...3A
Entertainment ...11A
Sports ...1B
Horoscopes ...2B
Classifieds ...10,11B
Movie Listings ...5A
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents.
Striking out
After two unimpressive stints set in the big leagues, Major League takes its act to the minor league where the movie belongs See page 11A
The 10th Annual Day on the Hill festival will be held tomorrow on West Campanile Hill. Soul Coughing will headline the event. See page 8A
Freemusic
Then & Now
A look back at the history of Lawrence: How it has changed, how it has remained the same and the events that have shaped the city's character.
See page 5B-8B
See page 1B
The games we play
Club sports teams give non-varsity options to students who wish to play competitively.
There's no stopping
University policy against meeting on Stop Day is summarily ignored by student groups ... and the administration doesn't do much to make them stop.
See page 3A
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