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Margie Stewart, WWII Pinup Girl With Wholesome Air, Dies at 92
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Matthew Kruk
May 15, 2012, 6:03:40 AM5/15/12
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/us/margie-stewart-world-war-ii-pinup-girl-dies-at-92.html?ref=obituaries
May 6, 2012
Margie Stewart, WWII Pinup Girl With Wholesome Air, Dies at 92
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
For American troops in World War II, Margie Stewart was the girl they'd left
behind. For the Army, she was a wholesome pinup girl who had an important
message for the boys.
The Army made a dozen posters of her, and ultimately printed 94 million copies.
Most pictured a handwritten letter at the poster's forefront. "Please get there
and back," was the message on some posters. "Be careful what you say or write."
Miss Stewart, the Army's official poster girl, posed in practical clothes, in
contrast to the provocative pinup photos of stars like Betty Grable ("the girl
with the million-dollar legs") or Ann Sheridan (the "Oomph Girl") that soldiers
carried to distant battlefields.
Miss Stewart hit a tender spot in homesick soldiers' hearts. Stars and Stripes,
the armed services' newspaper, told of a pair of soldiers, one from Iowa and one
from Kansas, agreeing that she had to be a farm girl - but hotly debating which
of the two states she was most likely from. Even soldiers' wives applauded Miss
Stewart's wholesome look.
Eleanor Roosevelt tried to stop the posters on the grounds that this salubrious
image might turn warriors' thoughts homeward, Miss Stewart later wrote. But
soldiers were sending barrages of letters to the Army asking who the pretty girl
was and asking for more pictures. So nine more posters followed the initial
three. These carried letters urging servicemen to buy war bonds so they could
save money to buy homes after the war.
The same images and messages on the posters were included in inserts sent to
soldiers with their paychecks, accounting for many millions of reproductions.
Miss Stewart, who had long been Mrs. Margie Stewart Johnson, died at 92 on April
26 in Burbank, Calif., her family announced. She had recently enjoyed a renewed
popularity after the Web site reminisce.com printed an essay she wrote about her
life. On her own site, margiestewart.com, she enjoyed answering requests for
autographed pictures.
Margie Stewart was born on Dec. 14, 1919, in Wabash, Ind. She attended Indiana
University for a year and was elected freshman princess, a title that included a
free trip to Chicago. There she met an advertising executive who was looking for
two women to pose in a rowboat on Lake Michigan for an outboard motor ad. That
led to a job modeling in a Chicago department store, then at a store in Los
Angeles.
RKO signed her to a movie contract in 1942, and she appeared in about 20 movies
over the next three years, often uncredited. She said she did not become a star
because she "wanted to be me."
The ad executive who had put Miss Stewart in a rowboat was a retired Army major
who approached the War Department with an idea: to bolster troop morale with a
series of pinup posters. That led to photos taken by George Hurrell, who is
credited with helping invent Hollywood glamour photography, for at least the
first three posters.
The second group of "Margie posters" was printed in response to demand from the
men Miss Stewart called "my boys." In 1943, she traveled around the country,
with stars like Fred Astaire, Judy Garland and Harpo Marx, to sell war bonds.
She was one of four young starlets on the tour called Bondbardiers.
In 1945 Miss Stewart toured Europe and was one of the first Americans to enter
the defeated Germany in civilian clothes. In London, The Daily Telegraph
reported that "Uncle Sam's Poster Girl" caused gridlock at Hyde Park Corner as
crowds tried to catch a glimpse of her.
In July, in Paris, she married Jerry Jeroske, an Army captain who later changed
his last name to Johnson. One edition of Stars and Stripes said one of its
editors had fainted in dismay at the news. Another edition carried the headline,
"Margie, How Could You?" Mrs. Johnson said that headline haunted her for years,
because she feared that her admirers felt abandoned.
Mr. Johnson died in 2003. Mrs. Johnson is survived by her son, Stephen, and
three grandchildren.
May 6, 2012
Margie Stewart, WWII Pinup Girl With Wholesome Air, Dies at 92
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
For American troops in World War II, Margie Stewart was the girl they'd left
behind. For the Army, she was a wholesome pinup girl who had an important
message for the boys.
The Army made a dozen posters of her, and ultimately printed 94 million copies.
Most pictured a handwritten letter at the poster's forefront. "Please get there
and back," was the message on some posters. "Be careful what you say or write."
Miss Stewart, the Army's official poster girl, posed in practical clothes, in
contrast to the provocative pinup photos of stars like Betty Grable ("the girl
with the million-dollar legs") or Ann Sheridan (the "Oomph Girl") that soldiers
carried to distant battlefields.
Miss Stewart hit a tender spot in homesick soldiers' hearts. Stars and Stripes,
the armed services' newspaper, told of a pair of soldiers, one from Iowa and one
from Kansas, agreeing that she had to be a farm girl - but hotly debating which
of the two states she was most likely from. Even soldiers' wives applauded Miss
Stewart's wholesome look.
Eleanor Roosevelt tried to stop the posters on the grounds that this salubrious
image might turn warriors' thoughts homeward, Miss Stewart later wrote. But
soldiers were sending barrages of letters to the Army asking who the pretty girl
was and asking for more pictures. So nine more posters followed the initial
three. These carried letters urging servicemen to buy war bonds so they could
save money to buy homes after the war.
The same images and messages on the posters were included in inserts sent to
soldiers with their paychecks, accounting for many millions of reproductions.
Miss Stewart, who had long been Mrs. Margie Stewart Johnson, died at 92 on April
26 in Burbank, Calif., her family announced. She had recently enjoyed a renewed
popularity after the Web site reminisce.com printed an essay she wrote about her
life. On her own site, margiestewart.com, she enjoyed answering requests for
autographed pictures.
Margie Stewart was born on Dec. 14, 1919, in Wabash, Ind. She attended Indiana
University for a year and was elected freshman princess, a title that included a
free trip to Chicago. There she met an advertising executive who was looking for
two women to pose in a rowboat on Lake Michigan for an outboard motor ad. That
led to a job modeling in a Chicago department store, then at a store in Los
Angeles.
RKO signed her to a movie contract in 1942, and she appeared in about 20 movies
over the next three years, often uncredited. She said she did not become a star
because she "wanted to be me."
The ad executive who had put Miss Stewart in a rowboat was a retired Army major
who approached the War Department with an idea: to bolster troop morale with a
series of pinup posters. That led to photos taken by George Hurrell, who is
credited with helping invent Hollywood glamour photography, for at least the
first three posters.
The second group of "Margie posters" was printed in response to demand from the
men Miss Stewart called "my boys." In 1943, she traveled around the country,
with stars like Fred Astaire, Judy Garland and Harpo Marx, to sell war bonds.
She was one of four young starlets on the tour called Bondbardiers.
In 1945 Miss Stewart toured Europe and was one of the first Americans to enter
the defeated Germany in civilian clothes. In London, The Daily Telegraph
reported that "Uncle Sam's Poster Girl" caused gridlock at Hyde Park Corner as
crowds tried to catch a glimpse of her.
In July, in Paris, she married Jerry Jeroske, an Army captain who later changed
his last name to Johnson. One edition of Stars and Stripes said one of its
editors had fainted in dismay at the news. Another edition carried the headline,
"Margie, How Could You?" Mrs. Johnson said that headline haunted her for years,
because she feared that her admirers felt abandoned.
Mr. Johnson died in 2003. Mrs. Johnson is survived by her son, Stephen, and
three grandchildren.
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