Known as "the Norman Rockwell of pin-ups," Elvgen lent is lush oils, well-learned from mentor Haddon Sundblom, to an stream of girl-next-door beauties. Today, he's usually mentioned in the same breath as Vargas and Petty as being the tops in pin-ups (aka Good Girl Art, or GGA), though his playful situations owe more to Driben and Bolles than to Vargas or Petty. Like Sundblom, Elvgren had a successful career in advertising and, to a lesser degree, magazine work. Also like Sundblom, his ad work was usually unsigned, making it difficult -- and sometimes impossible -- to distinguish his work from others of the Sundblom school. Painted for Coke, Schlitz, GE, Pabst, Serta (and possibly other mattress brands), Ford, Studebaker, Quink, and a brief stint after Gunnor Petersen on Ovaltine. His pretty girls also appeared on many billboards, the same image recurited to sell more than one type of product. A resurgent in interest in his work has seen newly printed calendars and as many as three books.