DESCRIPTIONA 1940s Mutoscope pin-up arcade card titled "HERE'S A HOT DISH." A smiling redhead in a white chef's toque, a sheer green apron and pink briefs leans over a green stove, stirring a pink mixing bowl with a long spoon and glancing back over her shoulder at the viewer, against a mauve-pink ground with a deep painted shadow.
Front imprints: "A MUTOSCOPE CARD" and "PRINTED IN U. S. A." along the bottom, and a small "© B&B USA" mark at lower right. The art is not signed on the card. Collector checklists list this title in the 1945 Mutoscope "Artist Pin-Up Girls" set and attribute the art to Earl Moran. Size approx. 3.25 x 5.25 in. (from the scan).
HISTORICAL CONTEXTFor pin-up art collectors. Earl Moran (1893–1984), born in Belle Plaine, Iowa, signed an exclusive contract with the calendar publisher Brown & Bigelow in 1932, and by 1937 his pin-ups had sold millions of calendars. Life magazine made him a national name in 1940.
Marilyn Monroe's painter. From 1946 a young Marilyn Monroe posed for Moran for four years.
The B&B mark. The "© B&B USA" mark on this card is Brown & Bigelow's, the calendar house behind much of mid-century American pin-up art.
For kitchen and cooking collectors. The chef's toque, stove and mixing bowl give this card crossover appeal for collectors of food, cooking and kitchen advertising.
A penny-arcade collectible. Mutoscope cards were sold one at a time from coin-operated vending machines in arcades and amusement parks during the 1940s. Most carried pin-up art, issued as named sets through the decade; the 1945 "Artist Pin-Up Girls" set ran to 64 cards.
CONDITIONVery good. Bright color. Corners sharp to slightly soft, the lower left a little softer. Please see the photos, which are part of the description.
ABOUT THE PRINTINGThis card is printed in halftone: under magnification the color resolves into a regular, even grid of dots, the photomechanical process used for mass-produced cards of the period. The caption and imprints are printed in black. The card is flat, not embossed.
PROVENANCEFrom my family's estate collections, built over more than 60 years by knowledgeable antiques collectors and traders. Stored in a climate-controlled environment.
ALSO IN OUR STOREAnother Earl Moran pin-up from the same 1945 Mutoscope set, "Inflation Control": the same 1945 set, a Zoë Mozert pin-up with a baseball caption: visit TF sales Intl: and detailed item descriptions are provided as a courtesy only and are not guaranteed to be one hundred percent accurate. Please do your own research. There are generally no receipts available for any items from original purchases. Any dimensions and/or weights are approximate. The absence of a more detailed condition report does not imply there are no condition issues with the item(s). Please inspect images carefully as they are part of the official item description and best representation of the actual condition. Additional images may be available upon request depending on time and availability. Not responsible for internet mis-translations or mis-identification of maker's marks if found or assumptions of makers or materials — item descriptions will indicate if it is assumed. If you see a problem, please message us immediately and we will do our best to sort out a solution and confirm the information. With the exception of rules, no returns are accepted.
Ref# 1.0511
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