Vintage & Other Stuff

Archie Dickens (June 1907 – November 28, 2004), was a British greeting card artist, and later a pin-up artist who was born in Balham (London) in June 1907.

At a young age it became apparent that Archie and his older sister, Doris Louise, had some talent in drawing, and it was intended that both he and his sister attend the Slade School of Art in London. However, due to a change in his father's circumstances, only his sister continued her education while Archie, at the age of 14, was sent to work.

After returning from Sydney, Australia where Dickens had spent much of World War II, he purchased a house in Acacia Gardens in West Wickham, Kent, and worked in a studio on the grounds.

Dickens worked as a commercial artist and his airbrush paintings of the 1940s and 1950s have a popular combination of meticulous detail and risque content. He spent much of the early post-war years drawing pin-ups, but during the 1960s and 1970s turned his artistic talents to greeting cards which could be seen in greeting card shops across the UK.