Alberto Vargas

The pin-ups that won the war: How Alberto Vargas maintained troop morale

Alberto Vargas took over Esquire magazine’s monthly pin-up post in late 1940. By 1942, when the U.S. joined the war, he had more than a million ardent enlisted fans who carried his pin-ups in backpacks and duffel bags as reminders of the American girls they’d left behind. When Esquire was charged with obscenity over a particularly spicy pin-up in 1943 the military stepped in to fight for The Varga Girl, declaring her necessary to maintain the morale of young fighting men. Today these wartime pin-ups are the most collectible of Vargas’ work. Find them all in this pocket-sized delight