Gladys Emma Peto

Gladys Emma Peto (1890, Maidenhead, Berkshire – 1977, Northern Ireland) was an English artist, fashion designer, illustrator and writer of children's books.

Peto was well known throughout the United Kingdom in the 1920s and 1930s. Her obituary, appearing in The Times (London) in 1977, noted that in the 1930s it was the "in thing" to wear a Peto dress. Peto's advertising illustrations for infant formula, Ovaltine and many other products were prominently featured in magazines and posters. She illustrated books for children and wrote some of the stories herself. Peto's work is invariably signed "Gladys Peto" or GEP and its distinctive style makes it instantly recognizable.

Education

Peto attended Maidenhead High School and art classes in the town before heading off to London to study at art school there. She married Cuthbert Lindsay Emmerson, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, and with him during the 1920s she traveled with him to Malta, Cyprus and Egypt. Among the most interesting Peto productions are the guide books she wrote for English "Sojourners" to those places (i.e., long-term residents). Malta and Cyprus and The Egypt of the Sojourner were published by J.M Dent in London for their Outward Bound Library.