Pin-up pictures were already around, but the war helped them to have a meteoric rise in popularity. These sexy/cute/cheesy portraits of famous actresses and models were embraced both by the “boys over there” as well as plenty of schoolboys still home in America.
Here are some of these portraits of vintage pin-up girls from the 1930s and 1940s — all with a Halloween theme, which is why we’re calling them pumpkin cheesecake.
1940s classic Halloween pin-up girl shushing a black cat
Vintage actress and Halloween Pinup girl Nancy Gates
Silent film actress Clara Bow posing for for Halloween
Retro Halloween pin-up model
Vintage Halloween pin-up girl in a swimsuit coming out of a pumpkin house
Vintage Halloween pin-up model in a cat costume
Vintage actress Cyd Charisse dressed up for Halloween
Retro Halloween pin-up girl surrounded by creepy carved pumpkins
Vintage actress Lillian Wells – Halloween pin-up
Add pin-up models to your scrapbooks for the boys over there
Pin-up girls have proved their worth in keeping warm the cold and often barren temporary quarters of many boys in service. They a certain “something” essentially “American.”
Scrapbooks made under sponsorship of the USO are now including fresh “pin-ups.” Makers of scrapbooks are advised to use either gummed tape or adhesive tape so that when the picture is removed, as it always is, the book will remain complete for other readers. – The Times (San Mateo, California) October 26, 1943
Vintage actress Veronica Lake dressed as a witch on a broom
Vintage Halloween pin-up girl with “Halloween and Spook Stories” book
Gloria Dickson – vintage Halloween pin-up girls
Vintage Halloween pin-up girl with pumpkin and jack o’lantern shadow
Lona Andre – Vintage Halloween pinup girl from the 1930s
Youths reveal ideal of pin-ups
South Washington school pupils in this year of 1944 find all about those bevies of pin-up girls. Pin-up girls have become idealized by the men in our armed services. In barracks all over the world, the walls are plastered with pictures.
The boys of Washington High [in Ogden, Utah] have selected their own imaginary pin-up girl. Questions concerning the color of eyes and hair and height were put to the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth grade boys. The average of the opinions was summed up by the committee.
The preferred girl would have azure blue eyes, long flowing brunette hair, and be about five feet two inches in height.
A pleasing personality is a necessity for any ideal pin-up girl. The boys of Washington are especially fussy about a girl’s personality. She must like some sports, dances, school activities, and all social events. She must be neat in appearance, and any boy likes a good figure. – The Ogden Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) October 22, 1944
Anne Gwynne – Vintage Halloween pin-up girl
A vintage actress with a Halloween mask
Ava Gardner – Vintage pinup girl for Halloween
