George Brown Petty IV was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 pin-up artist. His pin-up art appeared primarily in Esquire

Esquire (magazine)

Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...

and Fawcett Publications's True

True (magazine)

True, also known as True, The Man's Magazine, was published by Fawcett Publications from 1937 until 1974. Known as True, A Man's Magazine in the 1930s, it was labeled True, #1 Man's Magazine in the 1960s. Petersen Publishing took over with the January 1975, issue...

 but was also in calendars marketed by Esquire, True and Ridgid

RIDGID

Ridgid is the brandname of the Ridge Tool Company of Elyria, Ohio. Founded in the 1920s as a manufacturer of professional plumbing and HVAC tools, it has branched out into more general-purpose hand tools and power tools. It is now a division of Emerson Electric Company.-External links:*...

 Tool Company. Petty's Esquire gatefolds originated and popularized the magazine device of centerfold

Centerfold

The centerfold of a magazine refers to a gatefolded spread, usually a portrait such as a pin-up or a nude, inserted in the middle of the publication, or to the model featured in the portrait...

 spreads. Reproductions of his work were widely rendered by military artists as nose art

Nose art

Nose art is a decorative painting or design on the fuselage of a military aircraft, usually located near the nose, and is a form of aircraft graffiti....

 decorating warplanes during the Second World War, including the Memphis Belle

Memphis Belle (B-17)

Memphis Belle is the nickname of a Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress during the Second World War that inspired the making of two motion pictures: a 1944 documentary film, Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, and a 1990 Hollywood feature film, Memphis Belle...

, known as “Petty Girls”.
George Petty was born in Abbeville

Abbeville, Louisiana

Abbeville is a town in and the parish seat of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States, 150 miles west of New Orleans. The population was 12,257 at the 2010 census...

, the seat of Vermilion Parish in south Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 to George Brown Petty III and his wife, Sarah.