During the War, the pin-up also became iconic nose art on predominantly American bombers.

Betty Grable pin-up became the most requested of the War and all kinds of pin-ups graced the inside of untold thousands, tens of thousands, of soldiers’ lockers and helmets. The term, 'pin-up' came into use during World War II. We see the style again in the Sci-Fi covers of the 1930s-1950s and advertisements for companies like Coca-Cola, General Electric, and RCA in such publications as The Saturday Evening Post and Esquire. These images are often studied as an American ideal or in comparison to the Flapper of the 1920s, the 'true woman' vs.

Similarly, you can trace the style into the 20th century with images by Charles Dana Gibson and his idealized American girl (Gibson Girls). An early feminist tendency can be seen in this narration. Using the carte-de-viste, these performers not only advertised their shows but also created their own public images that then became part of popular culture via mass reproduction, distribution, and consumption.

Art historian, Maria-Elena Buszek, discusses the emergence of the pin-up 'style' as an extension of advertising the 19th century burlesque performer. Pin-ups have been studied by feminist scholars, art historians, cultural historians, an occasional military historian, and pin-ups occupy several distinct spaces in history.

Pin-ups can be fun and entertaining, and many people enjoy flipping through a picture book filled with pin-ups, whether they are photographs like the iconic WWII pin-up of American actress Betty Grable or the hand drawn pin-ups of Earle Bergey.

2021 pin up