Though cards featuring scantily-clad and suggestively-posed women made their appearance in the late 19th Century it was the evolution of pinup art during WWII that resulted in what were perhaps the genre's most beautiful cards. During the 1940s multiple manufacturers offered sets of pin-up art cards and the colorful cards are still immensely popular today. Featuring the provocative artwork of Gil Elvgren the 24-card American Beauties set was produced by Warren Bowman's Gum Inc. though the cards were not issued with gum - they were sold in tobacco stores packaged 12 to a pack in cellophane or made available in nine-card sheets. Presented here is an attractive higher-grade complete set strong enough to rank #14 on the PSA Set Registry with a rating of 6.292. Each of the cards (with one exception) bosts a numerical grade of EX 5 or better though several have qualifiers related to centering. The overall eye appeal of the cards however is exceptional. A complete breakdown of the cards by grade is as follows: PSA MINT 9Q (3 cards): #1 #4 #7; PSA NM-MT 8 (1 card): #13; PSA NM-MT 8Q (4 cards): #8 #12 #17 #20; PSA NM 7 (7 cards): #9 #10 #14 #15 #18 #23 #24; PSA NM 7Q (1 card): #2; PSA EX-MT 6 (5 cards): #5 #16 #19 #21 #22; PSA EX 5 (2 cards): #3 #6; PSA VG-EX 4 (1 card): #11. An extremely attractive higher-grade set one of the most popular of all the non-sports issues. 21 cards total.