Above: Full view

Above: The artist’s distinctive signature

Above: Another view

A large art deco modernist pastel illustration by Rolf Armstrong titled “Hello Everybody.” From the estate of Mike Wooldridge and never before offered for sale, this is easily one of Armstrong’s most iconic works for The Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company. For good reason, this is one of the artist’s most widely distributed images featuring a cute and sassy flapper girl in feminine jazz-age business attire.

Above: Framed and lined behind glass view

Above: Frame profile detail

Above: Stylized art deco silk stockings

Mike Wooldridge collected printed versions of this image as it appeared in playing cards, advertising blotters, notebook tablets, calendars and prints of all sizes and configurations. Many are included with sale. Most intriguingly, Hello Everybody became one of Armstrong’s iconic Orange Kist advertisements, and a large sized die-cut of this usage accompanies purchase. A 34th Anniversary Brown & Bigelow “Broadcaster” incentive and business practices brochure from 1930 with our image as the cover is included in the sale as well. This lovely pastel “Hello-Everybody” with its Great Depression-be-damned working girl pin-up imagery was voted by hundreds of Brown & Bigelow clients as being as being the most popular subject in the 1931 calendar line, she was selected by “The Broadcaster Committee Personality Plus” girl with the tall order of “picking up sales” at the factory. Included in this brochure is the story by the sitting model Mabelle Lindquist outlining the process and laborious technique of making a print calendar from the finished pastel. This text is included at the bottom of this listing. A special and historically important pastel and rare surviving example of “The Great American Pin-up”.

Above: Orange Kist advertising sign featuring Hello Everybody

The image also served as the Cover for College Humor in March of 1929. Included in the listing is a 1930 photograph which shows the headquarters of Brown & Bigelow in which the entire front yard is adorned with a lighted Christmas billboard announcing the publication of “Hello Everybody”.

Above: 1930 Christmas lawn decoration at Brown & Bigelow

Above: A vintage deck of playing cards with “Hello Everybody” image included in sale

Above: A 1931 Brown & Bigelow large advertising calendar of “Hello Everybody” included in sale

Above: The image as it appeared on the cover of College Humor; March 1929

Mike Wooldridge was a lifetime collector and co-author of “Pin Up Dreams” a monograph on Rolf Armstrong that was researched and enthusiastically compiled by Mike over many years. Mike was without question the greatest scholar of Armstrong, the American illustrator and Calendar Pin-up artist. His sudden death in January of 2010 was a tremendous loss to his family, friends, and the collecting community at large. We are honored to have the opportunity to share these examples from Mike’s legendary collection, and to have known Mike as a friend, respected colleague and font of knowledge.

Below is a selection of the many varied published appearances of Hello Everybody, all included with purchase.

Above: Interior text and image of “Hello-Everybody”

Above: Brown & Bigelow Standee featuring image

Above: Another blotter

Above: A Brown & Bigelow Blotter

Above: Broadcaster Cover featuring Hello Everybody

Above: The story of the calendar making process as told by sitter in this pastel Mabelle Lindquist