These pin-up paintings by Jay Scott Pike continue the quirky 1950s theme of women's panties falling. We were told by someone who was around back then that this was actually a thing, due to elastic sometimes becoming fatigued. Who knew? Earlier we looked at prints of a similar style by Art Frahm, and you can see those here and here. 

The woman who finds herself standing over a dead (or possibly drugged) man is a classic motif in true crime magazine cover art. Sometimes the woman is responsible for what's happened, while other times she simply has the bad luck to stumble into the situation. Covers of this type, you're probably already aware, fall under the category of Good Girl Art, with the “good” referring to the woman’s appearance, rather than her morals. Above and below are unlucky thirteen examples from mid-century crime magazines, with art from Barye Phillips, Jay Scott Pike, George Gross, Jack Rickard, and others. We borrowed one of these from Fringepop, and most of the rest we culled from online auctions where they’ve been languishing for months if not years. Feel inclined to collect a few classic true crime magazines? There are plenty of choices out there right now. Thanks to the original uploaders. 

Lovely cover art from pin-up master Jay Scott Pike for an issue of True Detective published forty-six years ago this month. Pike was born in Philadelphia in 1924, and studied art at the Parsons School of Design, an institution well known to the world thanks to the Bravo television series Project Runway. We’ll have more Pike art in the future.