Ethnic Project: 1940s-1950s USA

Happy Veteran's Day!

I'm not sure what made me wonder about the pin-up girl era and I forgot what exactly I asked this Navy vet, but he said something about the pin-up girls booming around the WWII time.

So, in light of Veteran's Day, I thought it'd be cool to add a rather modest and modern pin-up girl session to the Ethnic Project.

Pin-ups refer to informal photos meant to be "pinned up". Since I wanted a more modest shoot (and low-budget), we did a modern 1950s style pin-up girl session (yes, we know it's supposed to a high-waisted pants, but hey, modern).

Pin-ups were used for a variety of things, but to tie it in with Veteran's Day, we'll focus on the pinnacle of the pin-up: the ones designed by the US government to boost soldier morale by presenting an all-American view of the sweetheart waiting for him — the girls worth fighting for.

Quick note: The pin-up era started in the 1800s due to a bicycle. Women typically donned floor length dresses which made it difficult for women to ride these bicycles. So, they started wearing more functional and form-fitting clothes.

Fast forward to war time. Pin-ups were used in recruitment materials, posters, and calendars promoting the purchase of war bonds.

So started this golden age of the pin-up, when thousands of images were commissioned to raise soldier morale while they were fighting overseas. These were everywhere in the field! Even carried in pockets!

When men returned from the war, the women of the Roaring Twenties weren't willing to surrender the freedom they had acquired while their husbands were away.

Combine this with the overall atmosphere of rebellion that helped define the Prohibition period, this increasingly revealing clothing reflected an ever-opening society.