The Birth of the Pin-Up Girl: An American Social Phenomenon, 1940-1946

When we think of mid-twentieth century pin-up girls today, we typically imagine a “blonde bombshell” actress bursting out of her bullet bra and swiveling her hips to rock ‘n’ roll, or a long-legged beauty painted by any one of the several dozen pin-up calendar and advertising artists. While we occasionally establish that pin-ups first appeared during World War II, we often gloss over the pin-up’s original context and, therefore, overlook exactly why pin-up girls became meaningful cultural signifiers in the first place. Tracing the development of pin-up girls during World War II reveals how pin-ups became an American social phenomenon that remain relevant cultural signifiers today.

While most historians credit Esquire for introducing pin-ups to American soldiers and the general public, pin-ups first appeared in Life magazine and were disseminated to the masses by Life and regional newspapers. Life’s photo-articles on Hollywood glamor, “pin-up” artists, its profiles on average men and women, and its penchant for publishing risqué photographs coalesced when it introduced American culture to the pin-up girl on July 7, 1941 in a feature on actress Dorothy Lamour. Regional newspapers followed suit, expanding the reach of pin-ups.

While the “pin-up girl” first appeared in 1941, pin-ups did not become a social phenomenon until mid-1943 where GIs wrote to Life and their hometown newspapers requesting “illustrated” or “Hollywood” pin-up girls and, importantly, pin-ups of “everyday women.” This was a vital shift in pin-up girls that is often glossed over in histories of pin-ups. By the end of 1944, and into 1945, pin-up girls were increasingly represented by the girlfriends, wives, and even children of homesick soldiers needing a boost in morale. “Illustrated” and “Hollywood” pin-ups helped to popularize the initial phase of pin-ups to a general audience, but everyday women from mid-1943 until the end of the war turned pin-up girls into a social phenomenon.