the great american pinup

Over the weekend, I perused my local bookstore and fell upon this book, “The Great American Pinup,” which had some of the most beautiful pictures of classic American pin-up girls.

I have a strange fixation for pin up girls. In fact, if I could go back in time, I’d probably choose to live in the era of the pin up girls, a time when the American economy was booming and women were celebrated for their female form and strength and courage.

Anyone heard of Bettie Page? Talk about the quintessential risque pinup girl. From the makeup to the costumes, these girls are full of fun and flirtation, and are symbols of a time when the entertainment industry was just starting to explode. One of the artists in the book was Rolf Armstrong. I fell absolutely in love with his artwork. How can you not?

Don’t these images just make you smile? Well, they should because these were sent out to military soldiers with hopes of perking up the troop morale during war times. I clicked over to the handy dandy Wikipedia and saw that many women back in the day were considered pinups. From Ingrid Bergman to Betty Grable, pin-ups were classy yet tempting, not like the trashy images you see today that go way too far. These ladies were the sex symbols of their era, women who weren’t afraid of showing what their momma’s gave them. I think that they could teach a thing or two to the young ladies out today who flaunt all of their assets without a shred of class. I don’t know why I feel that the pinpus are different from the Lindsay Lohans and Britney Spears of our day. Maybe it’s the oversaturation?

images from the pinup files.