Reading is Sexy – Pin Up Girls

The term Pin Up was first used in the 1940s to describe an image that could be cut from a newspaper or a magazine (or perhaps even postcards) and be pinned onto a wall as a form of cheap, mass produced art. 

The history of pin up goes back to the late 19th century though when Burlesque artists and actresses would often leave photographic advertisement as business cards to promote themselves which could be found in almost every Green Room. Rather than being a disrespectful form of promotion the women of the era saw the pin up as at the time they were inextricably linked to their sexuality and sought to use it to further themselves rather than allowing others to rule them and decide their exposure.

Eventually Pin Up became so popular that artists would create images of styalised women in varying poses that were both risque and yet still had a naivity about them and their popularity exploded.

Of course there are thousands of Pin Up images in existence but I was pleasantly surprised to see just how many of these slightly naughty ladies enjoyed a good book. Obviously reading was a main pastime of the era and these lovely ladies really do go to prove what we have always known, reading is most definitely sexy.

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Edward D’Ancona

 Vaughan Alden Bass

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Gil Elvgren

Edward D’Ancona

Yes, reading is definitely a sexy pastime; it may be the favourite pastime of the modern era but I simply cannot imagine any Pin Up girls with a mobile phone in their hands can you?

I thoroughly enjoyed sifting through the dozens of images to pick just a few that I think are really lovely; where I have been able to find the artist’s name I have added it but there are so many that are all but impossible to discover (although I am certain you dear Reading Addicts will prove me wrong).