In 1940, Merlin Enabnit was hailed by Life magazine as England's answer to George Petty; the Merlin Girl was a big favorite of British 'Tommys'   (G.l.s)  via regular appearances in Sketch magazine. Merlin's sleek, airbrushed damsels certainly do evoke Petty, although they have a bounce and personality of their own. Merlin, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts of England, was not British. He was born near Des Moines, lowa, in 1903, and worked out of Chicago.