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.

[lodwick]

Wonderful WWII B-24 NoseArt Site

Have a great day Canteeners!

[Pippin]

Good morning,Sam! Hey, if male pilots use sexy female pinups and nose art what do the women use? pictures if Tom Crews(SP?)? LOL

[SAMWolf]

[ST.LOUIE1]

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.

Good morning, Bunny. : )

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

I'm glad you posted the addy. They're the best!

And if a problem should come up (which is rare) the owner of the site deals with you himself.

[Jen]

Just after the B-52s started daily ops over Afghanistan there was a pic of one with a NYPD logo on it and a pilot with a determined look on his face. I hope it shows up here!

Here ya go!

[SAMWolf]

Tom Cruise isn't sexy enough, they use the Canteen Chippendales as models for their nose art.

[McLynnan]

Good morning, and thank you for adding me to your ping list. I may lurk more than I post, but rest assured I'll enjoy checking this thread every day.

[McLynnan]

SassyMom, I see you're a fellow Texan. Better you got here late than not at all. Are we remotely close to each other? I'm in central Texas just a few miles from that famous Crawford ranch.

[SAMWolf]

Any Female Pilots out there?

[Iowa Granny]

Good Morning, Sam.

Tom Cruise isn't sexy enough, they use the Canteen Chippendales as models for their nose art.

LOL,, that's not the Chippendales we were hoping for!

Can't you do better than that?

[McLynnan]

Good morning you two. CS, what do you think? Should we divide these guys up?

[Iowa Granny]

post #69:

Be Still My Heart!

B I N G O! Thanx Sam

[SassyMom]

We are 35 miles SW of Foat Wurth. I'm really glad that you are at the Canteen. We really have a lot of fun here, but our main objective is to let all of our troop know how much we appreciate them. And to thank ALL of our veterans for what they have done to keep this GREAT country free.

WELCOME!!!!

[SAMWolf]

Take your pick.

[Jen]

Oh noooooooooo! How are you going to keep those young Navy students of yours interested in studying now???

Jen

[Jen]

#69 -- I want the one on the left (soon as I give him a haircut)...

Whew! That pix will get a gal's heart racing. Thanks for the female eye candy, Sam. hehehehehe

[Lee'sGhost]

Uhhh. Sam, I think that photo might strike a chord with the, uhhh, how should I say it . . . ferry nice guys out there.

By the way, I think the prayers are helping. Things are looking better but we're not out of the woods yet. THANKS and don't stop.

[SAMWolf]

Equal time for the Ladies.

[McLynnan]

We aren't too far from each other by Texas standards. Thank you for the welcome and explanation of this thread. It's a wonderful thing to honor and encourage our military people this way.

[McLynnan]

I kind of liked the blonde myself!