Pete the Penguin Revisited In Comic Strip Form
Original Penguin has teamed with London-based artist Jethro Haynes to bring the origin story of its mascot, Pete the Penguin, to life.
Haynes used a 1950s-era comic strip style to tell the tale of how Pete lost — and then recovered — his head, and the brand gained a mascot.
According to company lore, traveling salesman Abbot Pederson picked up a penguin in a taxidermy shop in New York as a drinking buddy for an upcoming flight. He named him Pete. After a few cocktails on the plane he accidentally knocked off Pete’s head, but a kind flight attendant reattached it by using Pederson’s bowtie — and a logo was born.
Haynes ran with the story and created a cartoon depicting the tale, which is used on 19 pieces in an Original Penguin x Jethro Haynes collection. The line includes short- and longsleeve T-shirts, polos with left chest patch and allover prints, graphic hoodies, short-sleeve button-down shirts, swimwear and a rain jacket with a printed liner.
“I really enjoyed illustrating Original Penguin’s offbeat origin story for this collection,” Haynes said. “I went for a 1950s comic strip style with my own twist to add a visual time-stamp to the funny, unlikely and unique tale. Although in 2022 Pete’s inspiration should be left unstuffed, waddling around the Southern Hemisphere and still timelessly cool.”
Prices range from $45 to $165 and the collection will be sold online as well as in the Original Penguin stores on Lincoln Road and at the airport in Miami, Florida.
Haynes is a multidisciplinary artist working with illustration, animation, typography, model making, sculpture, art direction and wildlife photography.