USO Canteen FReeper Style....Nose Art and Pin Ups go to War....May 8,2002

FRiends of the USO Canteen FReeper Style and Snow Bunny

[Snow Bunny]

The practice of personalizing military aircraft with custom artwork began a few years before WWI, and continues to this day. The peak of this practice occurred during WWII, when hundreds of thousands of aircraft were adorned with such artwork, generally painted near the nose of the aircraft... hence the term, "Nose Art."

Often, flight and ground crews wore a smaller version of the artwork painted on the backs of their jackets. Of course, the quality of the artwork varied, from crude to excellent, depending on the skill of the artist.

The sultry, wonderful world of Nose Art is as varied as the individuals who dressed up and decorated the aircraft and the feelings of the men who flew them into combat. Though this variety is staggering, common themes run through them all from World War II to the end of the Korean War when the genre all but left the scene.

Humor, pathos, slogans, girls, cartoons, nicknames, hometowns, girls, patriotism, dishing it to the enemy, warriors, girls, youthful bravado, girls...these transcended nationality as both Allies and Axis pilots went to war in their individually marked chariots. Men at war separated from home, family, loved ones and a familiar way of life sought ways to personalize and escape the very harsh business surrounding them. For the most part they thought about women, represented on the sides of aircraft in the most tender of ways to the most degrading. These men spent many hours longing for the tenderness a woman could bring to their lives...and for the sexual pleasure they could provide. Whether top level commanders ordered it off the aircraft or not, the men let their feelings flow onto their machines.

As their aircraft reflected, fighter pilots of both wars were busy strafing, bombing, hunting for aerial kills and protecting friendly aircraft, airfields, supply lines and troops. But the ground crews were just as busy trying to make sure the aircraft they had generously loaned to the pilot was on the line each day and ready to bring him home. There is never enough credit to be given to these men who worked ten hours for every hour the pilot flew.

The fame and glory attached to the pilot over shadowed his faithful ground ponders, but this usually did not prevent the enlisted men and officers from becoming devoted friends. Each needed the other to make the mission successful, and a pilot's crew would experience as much pride for a victory, knowing they were behind the guns as well. As a result, nose art was often the choice of the ground crew rather than the pilot. Some units made room for both by having the pilot's art on the left side and the ground crew's on the right.

Unique among fighters, the P-38 Lightning had three noses to adorn, allowing a separate canvas for the pilot, crew chief, armorer and radio man.

Pin Ups.......

The Professor is trying to give you a more scientific explanation of how this kind of cheesecake affected the average American soldier.

World War II pinups appeared in many forms, from fighter and bomber nose art and bomber jacket art to calendars, postcards, matchbooks, and playing cards. The term pinup was coined during World War II, when soldiers would "pin up" these idealized pictures on their barracks and foxhole walls, and sailors did the same to lockers and bulkheads. There were photos of Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner, and hundreds of other calendar girls and Hollywood starlets whose only claim to fleeting fame was their image seared into a GI's brain from a ragged page of YANK or Esquire magazine.

"Servicemen soon began to create their own pinup art, decorating the noses of their planes and their bomber jackets with more primitive paintings of shapely babes."

Betty Grable as she appeared in a map-reading manual. This image was used to get pilots used to reading map grids.

An early centerfold featuring Dorothy Lamour, "... the No. 1 pinup girl of the U.S. Army."

Nose art was a popular morale builder, it ranged from tame cartoon characters to some really "RACEY" women.

It must be remembered that these men were young, at war, and homesick at times. The names of mothers, girlfriends and colorful limericks were often the inspiration for this unique art form. These pictures and captions are published here for historical value, exactly as they appeared on the planes.

[Snow Bunny]

May 27, 2001 — Hartzell Spence, the founder and editor of YANK, has died at the age of 93. YANK, a weekly magazine written by and for ordinary soldiers, was a wonderful experiment in democratic (if highly restricted) journalism that was read each week by an estimated 2.2 million soldiers, sailors, and airmen. Spence championed Sgt. George Baker, who had won an army cartooning contest, and published Baker's "Sad Sack" cartoons, with their colorful and realistic depiction of GI life.

YANK's most popular feature — the sexy photos of Rita Hayworth, Betty Grable, Hedy Lamarr, and other Hollywood stars and starlets, usually attired in low-cut gowns, swimsuits, or lingerie, that graced each and every issue of the magazine.

[Snow Bunny]

[Snow Bunny]

[Snow Bunny]

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Bunny. Here's a picture of Otto at the Seaplane conference...

[Snow Bunny]

Last night,I noticed you were talking about storing animation gif's and jpg's.And where to store them.I tried to post this then but my mouse froze up on me and I could not get back on fast enough.LOL

So I just wanted to share this with you.It is a fantastic place to store animations and even regular pictures and graphics. St.Louie1 and Mama_Bear told me about it.

This is the addy......
Domania Internet Services
http://d21c.com/index.shtml

[JohnHuang2]

Good morning, my friend =^)

[JohnHuang2]

Good morning to you, too, amigo =^)

[JohnHuang2]

[Aeronaut]

Hi John, how's it going?

[Snow Bunny]

giggle..... He is so adorable. I just love Otto!!!!

He must have had such fun at the Seaplane conference. ( BIG smile)

Good to see you Aeronaut, thank you soooo much for his picture.

[JohnHuang2]

Hi John, how's it going?

Hanging in there, friend. The weather here is getting a tad warm -- maybe it's time to move to North Carolina..hehe.

[JohnHuang2]

Hope you're doing okay yourself.

[Snow Bunny]

Hi John, thank you sooo much. Great to see you.

[JohnHuang2]

You're more than welcome, my friend -- and it's great to see you, too!

[Aeronaut]

The weather here is getting a tad warm

We're predicted to rocket up into the mid fifties today. Yee-Haw!

[JohnHuang2]

We're predicted to rocket up into the mid fifties today.

Wow -- we Floridians won't see anything like that for another six months! =^) Right now, we're lucky if low temperatures go into the 70s.

[MeekOneGOP]

Mornin' Snow Bunny! Great graphs (especially the ladies!) :O)

BUMP!

[JohnHuang2]

Our daytime highs tyically soar into the upper-80s, or higher.

[JohnHuang2]

Morning, friend