This is the cover page from the personal scrapbook belonging to Jewel Flowers.
Jewel was the favorite model of Rolf Armstrong, one of America's premiere pin up
artists. In 1939, Armstrong had moved into the Hotel des Artistes on West 67th.
Street in Manhattan. He was somewhat depressed at the prospect of being 50
years old, and not knowing which direction his career would take him. Jewel
Flowers, then 17, had recently moved to New York at the request of a lonely
friend from her hometown. Jewel had recently been crowned Miss Lumberton, North
Carolina. In an effort to convince her parents to let her make the move to New
York, she enrolled in a business school in Manhattan, which she very much
disliked.
On a Sunday in March of 1940, her friend's husband showed her an ad in the New York Times placed by artist, Rolf Armstrong. He was looking for a model with
qualifications to model for him. She had been crowned Miss Lumberton, North
Carolina, but did not have any photos of herself. The aspiring model went to a
photo booth at a nearby Woolworth's, took a picture of herself and sent it off
to the P.O. Box. A week later, she received a reply stating, "Phone me
SU-7-6600 some morning (9-10 a.m.) next week for an interview. R. Armstrong.
On the morning of March 25, she arrived, finding Armstrong alone in the studio. He handed her a black rhumba dress which he had purchased with another model
in mind, and asked her to model for him immediately. Armstrong was a demanding
artist, constantly barking out orders to smile, look up, look down, tilt her
chin, lift her eyebrows, step up, and step down. Being from the South, she was
not used to being talked to so impolitely, without even as much as a please or
thank you. She was quite intimidated by this artists demands, and was
constantly asking Armstrong, "How am I doing?". When the painting was
finished, Armstrong had a suggestion for the calendar company committee which
titled the paintings. He asked them to title this one, "How Am I Doing?". By
the time this calendar was published, World War II had begun, and young
soldiers wanted images of "the girl next door" to hang in their barracks.
These images became known as pin ups, and "How Am I Doing?" became a huge
success. It became Brown and Bigelow's best selling calendar for 1942. So
happy were Brown and Bigelow's executives with Jewel and her first modeling
job, that they threw a party for Rolf and Jewel. The party was attended by a
New York Times writer, and an article appeared in his column. Jewel Flowers
had begun her career as one of America's top pin up models. Armstrong
continued to paint Ms. Flowers for the next two decades, creating more than
sixty works of art using her as the model. Jewel Flowers died on Feb. 6, 2006.
As you move the cursor over the image, you will be able to see a more close up
view of the items on the page.
Rolf Armstrong was born in 1889 in Bay City, Michigan and settled in Bayside, New York on the shore of Little Neck Bay, while keeping his studio in Manhattan.
His interest in art developed shortly after his family moved to Detroit in
1899. His earlier works are primarily 'macho sketches of boxers, sailors, and
cowboys'. Armstrong had previously been a professional boxer and accomplished
seaman, and the ruggedly handsome artist was seldom seen without his yachting
cap. He continued to sail his entire life and could be found sailing with movie
stars such as James Cagney when the Armstrongs were in California.
Armstrong left Detroit to attend the Art Institute of Chicago. From there, he moved to New York and magazine covers became his primary focus. His first was
in 1912 for Judge magazine. He later created artwork for advertisements,
calendars, and sheet music. He made contributions to periodicals such as
College Humor, Life, and Shrine Magazine. He became noted for his portraits of
silent film and motion picture stars as well as pin ups and magazine covers. By
1927, Armstrong was the most popular and best selling calendar artist at Brown
and Bigelow. As the 1930's began, Armstrong was working with everyone from the
Thomas D. Murphy Company, to RCA. Everyone loved the spirited, colorful and
often sporty "Armstrong Girls".
The wealth he accumulated through these high profile commissions, afforded Armstrong a mansion of his own, in Little Neck Bay, Long Island. There, on the
beach and in the sun, he would paint his models. But in 1940, he met Jewel
Flowers, his "perfect dream-come-true model. It's interesting to note that in
later life, Rolf Armstrong adopted her.
As WW II began, artists of talent were volunteering and being employed in
various patriotic campaigns. In 1949, Armstrong was amongst the very best, when
he was asked to attend a War Advertising Conference with Earl Moran and Norman
Rockwell. It was during this conference, that a memer of the press asked
Armstrong why he insisted on the use of a live model, now that photographs were
so often used. Armstrong's response came without pause and Jewel Flowers was
smiling at his side: "When I paint, I want the living person in front of me.
As I look at her again and again and again while I work, I get a thousand fresh,
vivid impressions...all the glow, exhuberance, and spontaneous joy that leaps
from a young and happy heart."
Armstrong moved to Hawaii in 1959 after his retirement from painting years before. He died in February of 1960.
