USAAF pinups and other unclothed ladies

[CJE]

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

[Pilot]

Some info on Wiki but nothing specific and precise:

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

[drgondog]

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.

[CJE]

Originally Posted by Pilot

Some info on Wiki but nothing specific and precise:

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

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

[Pilot]

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?

[fsbofk]

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.

[John Beaman]

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!

[kurlannaiskos]

Originally Posted by John Beaman

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!

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"

[edwest]

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

[BC]

Originally Posted by kurlannaiskos

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"

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