by Taschen

The term “pin-up” was coined during WWII, when lonely servicemen tacked pictures of pretty girls over their beds to remember what they were fighting for. Because the pin-up was public its provocation was restrained, generally stopping short of nudity; bathing suits, lingerie, babydoll nighties, and blowing skirts, lifted to reveal show-stopping legs, were more common. Pin-up girls didn’t start in 1942, however. Rolf Armstrong’s and Enoch Bolles’ sultry flappers first appeared on calendars and magazine covers in the mid-’20s. Through the 1930s, ’40s, ’50s, and into the ’60s pin-up was a ubiquitous American art form, dying out only when the sexual revolution made such coy expressions of sexuality seem outdated. Then in the late 1990’s public interest again soared. Today classic pin-up art has reached a peak of popularity not seen since WWII.