The market for vintage Hollywood pin-up photos has to be one of the most underexploited collectible investments around. Currently, it doesn't even exist as its own stand-alone collectible category.
One of the reasons is due to the fact that original vintage Hollywood pin-up photos are rare by definition. Most were never produced for mass public consumption, but rather for press purposes. They were most often distributed to press agencies, featuring press snipes, studio captions, and - sometimes - photographer stamps on their versos. In many cases, they were disposed of. So, each photo is truly a limited edition historical artifact.
I love coilecting in this area precisely because of the joy of the hunt. If you lose a contested auction for a valued original pin-up photo, it can often take several years - or perhaps never again - before you find another original print of that exact same photo up for sale or auction.
Because some of these photos are so rare, condition is often beside the point. Many of these photos were extensively handled by the press agencies and newspapers who used them for various publicity purposes. They often have editorial markings on the back, along with a newspaper stamp, which adds to their historical value. Imagine that your original pin-up photo was once used as the template for a news item that was published in a newspaper several decades ago!
Another great thing about collecting such photos is that you can curate a great collection of aesthetically appealing photographs over time. I imagine that, in the future, fans of old Hollywood memorabilia will bid extensively to acquire original and rare pin-up photos of Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, Betty Grable, Ann Miller, Ginger Rogers, Esther Williams, Dorothy Lamour, and more.
Some might discover more comparatively obscure pin-up favourites such as Martha Vickers, Evelyn Ankers, Mara Corday, Yvonne De Carlo, Adele Jergens, Julie Newmar, Vera-Ellen, Joan Caulfield, Adele Mara, Leslie Brooks, Joan Blondell, Marilyn Maxwell, and so many more.
Then there are the very, very rare pin-up portraits of actresses who generally weren't known for their cheesecake poses. Imagine being one of the very rare owners of an original "leggy" pin-up pose of Loretta, Young, Barbara Stanwyck, Deborah Kerr, or Debbie Reynolds.
So, why isn't this generally considered a collectible category unto itself? Probably due to the fact that, historically, Hollywood pin-up photos were subsumed under the general category of original Hollywood movie stills and press photos. This is a category that is filled with movie scenes, head shots, and any number of miscellaneous curiosities.
Often, one has to search through a batch of thousands of photos on an ebay seller's channel before unearthing that one very rare original pin-up that has that "sweet spot" of everything you want in a truly collectible original pin-up photo.
There are a number of features that can make an original pin-up photo collectible. A photo with a blank verso is less collectible than one which has a press snipe, photographer's stamp, or studio caption on the back. All things being equal, an 8 x10 size original photo may be more valued than the same pin-up that has been trimmed or produced to a smaller size.
There is also the very subjective value as to what makes a great pin-up pose. Often, an original vintage photo of an otherwise obscure actress can be hotly bid on due to its uniquely evocative visuals that truly capture what a dedicated collector loves about vintage Hollywood pin-ups. In this realm, it all comes down to the "legginess" and classic glamour poses that make for a great pin-up photo. So long as the photo is an original issued in its era, the "leggy" appeal of that photo may be the feature that trumps all other features of collectibility.
In my view, the most collectible era for this hobby are those original photos that were issued in the 1930s- 1950s. If a collector were to make a checklist as to what you want most in a valued photo, it is ultimately a great pin-up visual that has the snipes, caption, or stamps on back - and that isn't torn or too creased in a way that it noticeably sacrifices the visual appeal.
But be careful. It is easy to find blank verso photos that are second generation prints. So, in this hobby, you really do want to look for the valued information on the back of the photo. But not always. A blank verso photo can still be an original studio-issued photo, particularly if it has the lower border studio copyright credits printed on the front lower border (most typical of vintage Universal and Paramount photos). When you collect enough of these photos, you can get an instinctive feel for the grain and texture of the paper, which often marks it as an original from its era.
As for rarity, you also want to look for great original pin-up photos that are very limited run studio promotional pieces released to a relative handful of publicity people. These are known as keybook photos. You can identify a keybook photo - often, but not always - by its characteristic double weight grade paper, along with three hole punches (as they were included in promotional binder-like books).
There are also those very rare pin-up photos that were submitted to the censor, and which contain a very rare "Approved" stamp on the verso.
Other collectors may treasure those pin-up photos that have the photographer's stamp on the back. Some very prolific pin-up photographers from that era are Enest Bachrach, Bert Six, Whitey Schaefer, Roman Freulich, George Hurrell, Otto Dyar, Elmer Fryer, Ray Jones, Maurice Seymour, Bruno Bernard, Jack Woods, Cronenweth, Gene Kornman, John Miehle, Robert Richee, and Madison Lacey.
As you build and curate your own growing original vintage Hollywood pin-up photo collection, you may discover that certain very obscure actresses tended to photograph quite well as pin-up models. In this way, you may grow to be a fan of Peggy Moran, Barbara Bates, Dusty Anderson, Ramsay Ames, Marguerite Chapman, Helene Stanton, or Vivian Austin.
At the end of the day, the best part of collecting in this category is that it is currently affordable, but has a very limited supply factor, which makes the prices potentially volatile to even moderate upticks in demand. A few interested bidders could make all the difference between a photo going for as low as $10 in one auction and the exact same photo going for $200 in another.
Much depends on today's first wave collectors who are in the process of doing that hard work of sifting through the archives of large sellers who feature for sale pin-up photos that are often buried within a miscellaneous inventory of other kinds of Hollywood memorabilia. Once a critical mass of these dedicated pin-up collectors come to market with their own focused inventory, the more casual collector will have an easier time of finding and appreciating the hunt for original collectible Hollywood pin-up photos.
In the event this hobby one day earns its own standalone collectible category, you could very well be sitting on a collection whose value has grown by orders of magnitude.
