Betty Grable's famous over-the-shoulder pin up was the inspiration for many of the "nose art" works of WW2. The picture I ran across had her painted on the nose of a B-17G named "Sentimental Journey", and currently owned by the Arizona Wing of the Confederate Air Force. ( according to the book "Warbirds" published in'9o)
Jonathan--sorry to bust your bubble, but Bettie Paige's ( or Page--Have seen it spelled both ways) time on the pin-up scene came a little later--late 40s and through the 50s.
FWIW, and I know this is OT, a lot of the original work was Alberto Vargas'-- later known as Varga, George Petty, and a number of others.
If one were to check into some of the books on nose art-- well, some of the artistry was pretty crude, some of the lettering was worse, but the other side of the coin had some real talented people doing this stuff. Last bit of useless trivia-- a lot of this was discouraged by the brass, especially the less than covered. So, when the news types were around, out came the brushes, and the water soluble colors to cover up the ladies. Next time it rained, their attributes re-appeared in all their glory.
Hope you all took notes--there will be a written test on Friday. It will count as one third your final grade.
Corey--that came up on the tube only last evening-- it is said that Marilyn Monroe was the first centerfolder in 1953.
[ August 06, 2002, 06:52 PM: Message edited by: Bill Preston ]
-------------------- Bill Preston Fly Creek, N.Y. USA Posts: 943 | From: Fly Creek, N.Y. USA | Registered: Jan 2000
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-------------------- John Smith Kings Bay Signs (Retired) Kissimmee, Florida Posts: 822 | From: Central Florida - The Sunshine State | Registered: Jan 2000
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posted
Betty Paige was the original pin up girl but the girls on the war planes were copies of the covers of Esquire magazine, most of which were drwan by Alberto Vargas... heres a link>>>> Vargas
-------------------- Ken McTague, Concept Signs 57 Bridge St. (route 107) Salem MA 01970 1-978-745-5800 conceptsign@yahoo.com http://www.pinheadlounge.com/CaptainKen
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"A wise man once said that, or was it a wise guy?" Posts: 2425 | From: Salem, MA | Registered: Apr 1999
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posted
The "Memphis Belle" your referring to is GEORGE PERKINS but he was never a pin-up. He is still living in Memphis painting and stiping police vehicles to work off some D.U.I. fines.
posted
For information on the real Memphis Bells go here www.memphisbelle.com The plane still exixts (restored) and sits in a museum of sorts in down town Memphis. The nose art , like a lot of WW2 nose art isn't executed all that good. The web site has a pic of the pin up girl done up vargas style, I don't know if this is the original that was the inspriation or something that was painted at a later date but it will definately give you something to go by. As far as Betty Paige, now there would have been some "HOT" nose art
-------------------- George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@bigriver.net
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
posted
For more info on Sentimental Journey check out http://www.arizonawingcaf.org/b17.asp and also run a Google search for "nose art". You'll find a ton of links.
And George, you're right about Betty Paige!! She's gotta be one of the best pin-up girls of all time!
-------------------- Chris Elliott 1longshot@classicnet.net cell 62084two2232 Posts: 686 | From: Scottsdale, AZ & Anthony, KS, USA | Registered: Dec 1999
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