Alvin J. Pimsler, a native New Yorker, graduated from Pratt Institute in 1941 and was then employed in the art department of the Herald Tribune. He later took a job at Bamberger’s Department Store in Newark, New Jersey, until he was drafted into the army in 1941. He served until 1946. He later returned to New York where he attended the Art Students League and the National Academy School of Fine Art.