Patriotic Poontang Pinup Tear off a Piece! War Bond Sign from World War Two makes it HOT

Patriotic Poontang Pinup Tear off a Piece!  War Bond Sign from World War Two makes it HOT!

Well, it is nice to see a World War Two Pinup who isn't Betty Grable...but my guess is that this risque folk art painting disturbed some of the folks on the home front.  It is working though...more than halfway to the goal!  The small text reads "Buy Bonds and make it HOT for the Japanazis.  

I had no idea the phrase "tear off a piece" went back that far.  It goes back to the 19th Century.  "A phrase denoting seduction or sexual achievement from the male point of view" but raising money was at the time was more important than good taste, I guess.

This isn't the first "piece" of risque WW2 ephemera I've seen.  Here is a set of sexy patriotic pins I presume were worn by USO women helping serve the boys.  PIN ME DOWN SAILOR! 

Snapshot circa 1943 Pinup Bond campaign and Patriotic Pins Collection Jim Linderman courtesy Curley's Den of Antiquities  

Patriotic Pins of Trite Sexual Innuendo "Pin me Down, Sailor"

A coincidence all these somewhat risque and trite platitude pins are patriotic red white and blue? Nope...and I'll tell you why. During World War Two, not only was there a shortage of able bodied men at home, it was also virtually a woman's responsibility to nurture our soldiers...even to the extent of, well...encouragement.  This could be meeting troops on the train headed to training, or serving meals to the boys.  Rosie the Riveter in a skirt! Pins were a way of welcoming the boys to a USO club, a way of adding humor to a pretty dismal time in our history, a way of adding some encouragement to a kid who would soon be leaving (or returning) to battle. These pins indicate even sexual sleaze played a heroic role for the greatest generation, trite or not...and the heroes in this case were offering warm, humorous appreciation with implied comfort to other heroes on the way to a future unimaginable.
Collection of patriotic sexual innuendo pins, circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman