Posted by MyBomberJacket.com on 8th May 2017

WWII Aircraft Paint Art

There are, without a doubt, a lot of forms of pin up art out there. None though, can beat the pin up art on planes. Pin up art is a form of art that was usually made for decorative purposes on the fuselage of planes. It was mostly either a painting or a creative design. This art gained glory mostly from the US armies in the first and second world wars. Over the years, different forms of this art graced different places. Ranging from boy’s lockers in high schools, bunk rooms of the American soldiers and even on calendars. It however gained its prevalence in the primary wars between 1940 and 1960 and that’s when it became so popular. More often than not, it would be a picture of Marilyn Monroe, Theda Bara, Betty Grable or even Elizabeth Taylor. These are undoubtedly the most alluring women from their respective eras.

Luck and Motivation

This form of art was mostly common among the soldiers and was believed to be a form of motivation given the soldiers were able to see something beautiful rather than their all male colleagues. It was also considered a protection from the stress that was most likely to come up from the terrible graphics from the wars they used to fight and the thought of a probable death. Some even believed they were a lucky charm; one American soldier even went as far as making a pin up of his own wife and placing it on his war craft. This shows the art reminded them of the friends, families and even loved ones they had left behind as they set off for war.

Entertainment

These young men left their homes and their loved ones thinking they would only be gone for a while and would come back with wonderful stories and a profound pride having fought for their countries. Unfortunately, the war took longer than expected. It was then that they resorted to putting up erotic pictures of attractive women on the noses of the planes, sometimes of women who were almost totally naked, as well as develop magazines such as the Men Only. They also came up with a set of cards with pictures of these attractive women to this effect too.

Avenue for Creativity

Around 1930, there was immense growth in the forces and therefore a need for urgent expansion came up. Each pilot was given their own aircraft and thus each one was able to draw whatever they deemed best on their planes. They started scouting for the most skilled artist to draw the most attractive women possible on their crafts. Some even went as far as drawing them themselves. Pin up art became more than just naughty pieces of art to get the soldiers minds off war rather; it became a symbol of the spirit of the allied forces.

Although pin up art was never really authorized as any form of legal practice due to the certain level of indecency it carried, it was also never restricted by any specific laws. Over time though, the laws on gender sensitivity became more serious and most of this art was scraped off after the war. You can still find some of these planes in the archives though just to remind us of the old times. Pin up art is still being widely practiced even in the modern times though in a more decent form.