Pin-Up Girls in World War 2

Pictures of beautiful movie stars filled the barracks of American soldiers during WWII.

Now pictures like these are simply viewed as porn.

But for these men, they meant so much more.

1 in 5 US

soldiers had a

copy of this

picture during World

War 2.

But it was

more than just a pretty face for the boys to look

at.

This face represented...

and her

and her

her

They were supposed to support their

men...

...so they sent their own pictures

and that is what they thought about...

...and it became what the men were fighting for

This...

...became this

Men didn’t fight for

They fought for the ones they left behind

and the one they wanted to return to.

Images UsedBetty Grable Pin UpPowolny, Frank. “Studio portrait of Betty Grable taken for promotional use.” 20th Century Fox Studio Promotional Portrait, 1943. JPEG.

Write that Boy AdR. C. “Write that boy in the service today!” Newark Evening News (1944). Duke University Libraries Digital Collections.

Window womanHine, Lewis W. “Woman with Leaf Print.” George Eastman House. ARTstor.

Young WomanShall, Mar. “Portrait of an unidentified woman.” Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America (Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. ARTstor.

V-DayEisenstaedt, Alfred. “V-J day times square, New York City.” (1945). ARTstor.

FlagBritton, Ian. “American Flag.” (2009). FreeFoto.com.

Couple and Baby“An unidentified woman holding an infant.” Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America (Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University (1945). ARTstor.

Woman Working“Unidentified woman packaging Bird's Eye-brand vegetables.” Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America (Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. ARTstor.

Jane Russell PlaneJane Russell (The Bettman Archive) featured in Westbrook, Robert B. “I Want a Girl, Just Like the Girl that Married Harry James: American Women and the Problem of Political Obligation in World War II.” American Quarterly Vol. 42, No. 4. Dec (1990): 587-614. The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Homemade Pin-UpNancy Gillam Westbrook, Santa Monica, California (1945) featured in Westbrook, Robert B. “I Want a Girl, Just Like the Girl that Married Harry James: American Women and the Problem of Political Obligation in World War II.” American Quarterly Vol. 42, No. 4. Dec (1990): 587-614. The Johns Hopkins University Press.

AirplaneFeggy, Art. “P-51 Mustang-Duxford.” (2010). flickr.

Audio Used

The Las Goodnight. “Pictures of You.” Virgin Records America. 2007.

Works Cited

Westbrook, Robert B. “I Want a Girl, Just Like the Girl that Married Harry James: American Women and the Problem of Political Obligation in World War II.” American Quarterly Vol. 42, No. 4. Dec (1990): 587-614. The Johns Hopkins University Press.

McGreevy, John. “World War 2 at Home.” Modern US History, University of Notre Dame. 7 Mar 2011