USAAF pinups and other unclothed ladies
 

When and where did the first pinups or scantily clad female figures appear on an American plane in WW2?
My guess is that it could have been on P-39s/P-400s in Port Moresby early in 1942, ie well ahead of the arrival of 8th AF in Europe.

Thanks in advance.

Chris

Re: USAAF pinups and other unclothed ladies
 

Some info on Wiki but nothing specific and precise:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nose_art

http://www.lowvarates.com/va-loan-bl...s-Noseart.jpeg

Re: USAAF pinups and other unclothed ladies
 

don't know if Vargas and Petty art/paintings are classified in the Pin Up variety but they certainly adorned many a quonset wall with more than a few copy attempts on various USAAF aircraft.

Re: USAAF pinups and other unclothed ladies
 

Marilyn Monroe was 16 in 1942 and Ava Gardner was unknown to the public.

Re: USAAF pinups and other unclothed ladies
 

True, it is failure of the author of the poster above. By the way- is there any favorite actress or signer used for pin ups?

Re: USAAF pinups and other unclothed ladies
 

Don't know if this qualifies, but at least one book about the Doolittle raid includes a photo of one of the B-25s with an artful chalk-outlined drawing of a young lady wearing nothing but a smile.

Re: USAAF pinups and other unclothed ladies
 

Interesting. As for the most popular they were, as someone remarked, copies of Vargas, others were one-off originals or girlfriends.

I've always said if you wanted to know what Americans were fighting for in WWII, look at their planes: it was not "freedom", "Democracy" or the "motherland", but US women! ;)

Re: USAAF pinups and other unclothed ladies
 

That's probably as true as any other statement.
one popular British complaint about US servicemen was that they were
"over-paid,over-sexed,and over here"

Re: USAAF pinups and other unclothed ladies
 

I highly doubt the average American airman was "oversexed" as opposed to his RAF counterpart. The same with German airmen who generally avoided this sort of thing. To me, the so-called pin-up, depending on how much of the body was exposed, was a scandal. The girlie magazines of the mid to late 1940s were generally frowned upon by the general public in the United States. It was not that long ago when I was at a convention in the United States where a few magazines from the period were displayed behind a dealer's table, behind a piece of plastic. But if one wanted to get a look, there was usually a box under the table as well, and the man would look about to make sure no one was paying close attention to his wares.

To me, "pin-up" art and its meaning during wartime, has been blown out of proportion.



Ed

Re: USAAF pinups and other unclothed ladies
 

The Americans brought their own unique brand of humour across the Atlantic with them; their retort to the above was that the BRITISH were "Under-paid, under-sexed, and under EISENHOWER!"

BC

Re: USAAF pinups and other unclothed ladies
 

I guess without an actual factual document for this sort of thing then we are probably just recycling myths and rumors about the war.
since these things don't seem to have specific dates, places or official records of any kind.

Re: USAAF pinups and other unclothed ladies
 

Dismissal is easy. Research is difficult. There are definitely written accounts about pin-ups in general and USAAF pin-ups on aircraft in particular. However, I will not be providing any references for what I consider to be a disrespectful - to women - practice.




Ed