Before Snapchat and Instagram, American soldiers serving in World War II reminded themselves what they were fighting for by looking at provocative photographs of the 1940s’ pin-up models. Admiring the scantily clad young women was a sought-after activity for American servicemen, so much so that the soldiers demanded more pictures and posters they could pin up in their barracks. To keep morale high, the military supported the distribution of pin-up photos to the troops … unofficially, of course.
Pin-ups weren't all pinned to a wall. Some photos inspired paintings. (samys.com)
As for the pin-up models, most of them posed for these seductive photos because they hoped it would pave the way for a Hollywood movie career. Others simply needed the money. Only a few of them achieved long-lasting fame. Let’s look at some of the most popular pin-up models of the 1940s in a series of colorized photographs.
Pin-Ups in the 1940s
Glamorous Dorothy Lamour is the pin-up girl of leatherneck motor transport battalion on Okinawa. (GettyImages)
Of course, men enjoyed looking at images of pretty, sexy ladies since long before the invention of photography, but it was in the 1940s that pin-ups really came into their own. In fact, the term was first coined during World War II. Photographs were published in calendars, magazines, and postcards that the soldiers literally pinned up on their walls. For servicemen stationed overseas, gazing at the scandalously dressed gave them a purpose for fighting and something to look forward to when they returned home. The models and future starlets that posed for pin-up posters believed they were doing their part to help the war effort … and earning a bit of cash as well.
Betty Grable
More than 5 million copies of this photograph of Betty Grable were distributed to American GI's. (lalitkumar.com)
One of the 1940s’ best-loved pin-up girls was Betty Grable. Grable was a reluctant star. From the time she was 13 years old, her overbearing mother pushed her into show business. Her mother lied about Betty’s age and schemed to get her minor movie roles until she started to get noticed and her star began to rise. In 1943, Betty Grable did her part to help the war effort by posing for a pin-up shoot with photographer Frank Powlony. More than five million copies of this iconic pin-up poster were distributed to American GI’s serving overseas.
Carole Landis
Carole Landis, shown here in a colorized photo, was nicknamed 'The Chest'. (wwiidogtags.com)
During the 1940s, Carole Landis posed for literally hundreds of pin-up photos while she pursued Hollywood stardom. The platinum blonde was quite well endowed and was given the nickname “The Chest” for her cheesecake pics that emphasized her curves. As an actress, Landis appeared mostly in bit roles until 1940 when she was cast as the lead cavegirl in the movie One Million B.C. which earned her a degree of stardom. After the film came out, a press agent dubbed her “The Ping Girl”, with “ping” being an odd contraction of “purring.”
Marie McDonald
A colorized postcard of pin-up girl Marie McDonald. (todocoleccion.net)
A Kentucky beauty queen with her eye on stardom, Marie McDonald quit school at age 15 and moved to New York City. She found work as a model and won several local beauty pageants culminating with the title of Miss New York 1939. She then moved to California to seek her fame in Hollywood, but her singing and acting talents were not enough to propel her to fame. Her volume of pin-up photos remains her lasting legacy.
Jane Russell
Howard Hughes tried to design a push-up bra for Jane Russell but she said she never wore it. (allthatsinteresting.com)
The voluptuous Jane Russell was a talented actress with a great sense of comedic timing, yet she was often cast in films that required little of her than to show off her curves. Her first major movie role, in The Outlaw, caused a sensation. The movie was filmed in 1941, but the censoring board delayed the release of the film until 1943 because the censors were unhappy with Jane Russell’s skin-tight, cleavage-bearing outfits. Before she found Hollywood success, however, Jane Russell worked with eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes. It was Hughes’s own publicity machine that cranked out cheesecake pics of Russell in swimsuits, clingy sweaters, and low-cut dresses. He even set his Spruce Goose engineers to work designing a bra that could house Russell’s ample bosoms.
Diana Dors
Did you know that Diana Dors, the pin-up model in this colorized photo, was once married to Richard Dawson, the host of "Family Feud"? (worthpoint.com)
From childhood, English-born Diana Dors had her heart set on becoming a big star. As a 13-year-old, she looked much older. She lied about her age and posed for pin-up photos that were totally inappropriate, given her true age. Diana Dors viewed cheesecake modeling as a way to open the door to an acting career. Later, she went on to marry Richard Dawson, the host of Family Feud. The couple had two sons together before they divorced in the mid-1960s.
Beyond the 1940s
The pin-up girls of the 1940s set the stage for the cheesecake models of the 1950s, like Marilyn Monroe shown in this colorized photograph. (huffpost.com)
Pin-ups remained popular even after World War II. In fact, some of Hollywood’s most beautiful sex symbols, like Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield were pin-up models in the 1950s. Thanks in part to American soldiers serving in World War II and their lust for images of Americana, pin-ups became less scandalous (unless, of course, they were too revealing) and were seen as a natural way for starlets to increase their exposure (pardon the pun) as they made their way to Hollywood stardom.
