Nearly 80,000 men were lost during the second world war missions by the U.S. Army Air Forces. Some 10,000 planes were shot down. It was the most dangerous of jobs and the tale is truly heartbreaking. One of the most amazing segments of recent documentary film making is found in the Ken Burns segment of his PBS series on the war which covered the Flying Fortress raids. The men (boys, actually) who went out were fighting the odds with every mission...and nearly as often as not, they didn't make it back. Shot down or run out of fuel...either way it was brutal for the squad doing it, the people on the ground and the folks back at the base waiting for them to come home.
Perhaps because of the overwhelming odds and the equally overwhelming bravery, the brass cut the boys some slack and let them decorate their planes lovingly. Many cartoonists and illustrators who returned home after the war painted similar scenes on duffel bags, helmets and such while over there. Seems to me these would make them a flying target, but then they already were.
As for "poontang" I will let you look up the meaning on your own...JFK was widely rumored to have said "I guess my poon days are over" when he was elected president. That gives you an idea.
I don't own these snapshots, but I could have. For some reason the fellow who had them listed on Ebay last week blocked my bid...some kind of snag and probably my fault. Consequently, though they had opening bids of virtually nothing, they didn't even sell. Maybe he will re-list them. A good collection lost, but nothing compared to the men.
Set of Amateur Snapshots of Flying Fortress Pin Up Girls Circa 1942-1945. (A post on VINTAGE SLEAZE the BLOG as well)DULL TOOL DIM BULB BOOKS HERE
Untitled Photograph (Practice) Circa 1960 Collection Jim Linderman
AT THE CIRCUS in BLACK and WHITE is a continuing series on Dull Tool Dim Bulb This is Entry number 28.
PHOTO BY CRAIG SEMETKOI like to say this blog is about authenticity, and you can not get any more authentic than Donna Lethal, a woman I love like a sister and would suspect WAS my sister except she has the wrong hair color...she being one of Hollywood's most beautiful and few authentic Gingers. My love and respect is real too.Donna has (finally) written her memoirs. Milk of Amnesia. That she is from the same town as dear Ti Jean (Jack Kerouac) is no coincidence, as lightning has been known to strike twice. And wouldn't you know it? Donna Lethal is Amazon's newest 5-star author.
Can a bright young woman survive a father who is a bookie, a mother who is an ex-nun, a brother in and out of jail and the whole scene smothered in minor crime, minor drugs and major drama? AND make it both funny and serious? Ayup!
Donna Lethal, who is pictured here in just two of her guises...truly is a genius. This book receives a Dull Tool Dim Bulb guarantee(shirt). That's right...you don't like, I send the white. Read the reviews and trust them all. Buy Today. 
Massachusetts-born Donna Lethal divides her time between Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert, accompanied by her 90-pound pit bull. She won her first writing contest (third place!) in fifth grade and is currently collaborating on a book with fellow poet Nicca Ray and painter Jesse McCloskey. Intending to teach film studies, Lethal attended the New School in New York City, but decamped for Los Angeles after 9/11. She has also lived in Boston, New York, and London. Her collage work and photographs have been shown in Los Angeles galleries, and her work can be found in Dowager Quarterly, The Hair Hall of Fame, Find a Death, The LA Beat, Cold Dirt Press, Scorchy Girls and a chapter in the book Weird Hollywood. Her blog, Lethal Dose (www.DonnaLethal.com), and its collection of vintage beauty ephemera has been featured in Elle Girl (Korea). Since 2010, she has assisted celebrated photographer Phil Stern in organizing and archiving his vast collection of slides, negatives and prints, spanning over seventy years of classic material. She has also worked as a photo researcher for Cameron Crowe on The 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert for HBO and on the Peabody-nominated special 48 Hours: Black Dahlia. She is an avid amateur ornithologist.
Detail from an original hand-tinted photograph circa 1952 taken by Rudolph Rossi at a Camera Club session in New York City.
See also TIMES SQUARE SMUT
Also of interest is THE BOOK OF ROCK AND ROLL
NEW FROM DULL TOOL DIM BULB BOOKSIntrigued by the question "Why aren't there any black pin up girls" on an internet message board, writer Jim Linderman decided to find out. With 100 rare vintage photographs all showing women of color in magazines not seen for over 50 years, Linderman not only reveals many answers to the question, he reveals a long gone part of America and African-American culture. Secret of the Black Pin Up takes us from "tease" to "sleaze" and reveals a world never before seen. Using rare photos and publications, the untold story of African-American women in the soft-core pornography world from 1940 to date. Yes, there WERE black pin ups, and they are found HERE.
$22.95 Paperback 120 Pages Over 100 Photos
FREE PREVIEW of the New Book HERE
Imagine a rural world in which a shoe company could offer a HORSE with no more hoopla than a free week at Disneyland. A contest held in the Upper Peninisula of Michigan, which actually hasn't changed much since!
Free Tom-Boy Pony! Your lucky ticket 1931 Collection Jim LindermanSEE DULL TOOL DIM BULB BOOKS IN PRINT HERE
Who said to me after I told him his music was one of the very few things I kept from my drunk days, shook my hand and said "That means a lot to me son" George has lived nearly 15 years since then, and so have I.Life is GoodTender Years / Battle of Love 45rpm Picture Sleeve Collection Jim Linderman
Someone was given a pen to shut him up in church. Note reverse: The Way to Hell --Simply Do Nothing
Defaced Church Invitation, circa 1900 Collection Jim Linderman(Also posted on old-time-religion the blog)
WHAT the? It looks like Jesus climbed up and took the ladder up after him! Actually, this is an image of, well...a totem pole? A crucifixion? Note horse, rider and weathervane! A serious conglomeration of carver crafts all mounted on one goofy pole! Incongruity defined!
This is a 1914 German postcard from the Black Forest area. Long known for their carvers (of the most bizarre things...bear cubs holding a bench up, pile of pile upon pile of fake wooden deer heads with antlers, crazy cuckoo clocks, various gnomes and yodelers) and every damn one of them BROWN. They HAD paint, as seen here, but for some reason never used it.
The carvings might be German, they might be Swiss, but they are all brown. For those of you interested, the Black Forest belongs completely to the state of Baden-Württemberg and comprises the city of Pforzheim as well as the following districts (Kreise). In the north: Enz, Rastatt and Calw; in the middle: Freudenstadt, Ortenaukreis and Rottweil; in the south: Emmendingen, Schwarzwald-Baar, Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Lörrach and Waldshut. Does that help? As you can see, Ida visited.
I remember once a dealer had dumped like two hundred Black Forest carvings on tables at the 26th Street Flea Market (R.I.P)...most of them deer heads and most of them busted up. No one showed any interest at all.
German "Postkarte" mailed 1914 Collection Jim Linderman
NOTE: An outstanding and thoughtful interpretation of this piece appears on the beautiful site "THE JESUS QUESTION" HERE. by Victoria Emily Jones. Very much appreciated and recommended...and a great site.
Dull Tool Dim Bulb Books
The lovely, talented, prolific and brilliant Deanna Dahlsad is having a seasonal Fall contest on her Antiques and Vintage Collectibles site INHERITED VALUES which provides a perfect time for you to explore her site, one of several, and one I recommend. Deanna is a writer and scholar, smart as a whip and with a far better eye than I. Check out Inherited Values. One of the best antique sites on the web and a site to treasure. Inherited Values is also on Facebook.
