Pin-up girl

A pin-up girl, also known as a pin-up model, is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display. Pin-up girls may be glamor models, fashion models, and actresses.

The term pin-up may also refer to drawings, paintings, and other illustrations done in emulation of these photos (see the list of pinup artists). The term was first attested to in English in 1941; however, the practice is documented back at least to the 1890s.

The pin-up images could be cut out of magazines or newspapers, or be from postcard or chromo-lithographs, and so on. Such photos often appear on calendars, which are meant to be pinned up anyway. Later, posters of pin-up girls were mass-produced. They became an instant hit.

Many pin-ups were photographs of celebrities who were considered sex symbols. One of the most popular early pin-up girls was Betty Grable. Her poster was ubiquitous in the lockers of G.I.'s during World War II. Other pin-ups were artwork, often depicting idealized versions of what some thought a particularly beautiful or attractive woman should look like. An early example of the latter type was the Gibson girl, drawn by Charles Dana Gibson. The genre also gave rise to several well-known artists specializing in the field, including Alberto Vargas, Gil Elvgren, and George Petty, and numerous lesser artists, such as Art Frahm.

1910s and 1920s

 * Vilma Bánky
 * Belle Bennett
 * Clara Bow
 * Mary Brian
 * Louise Brooks
 * Camille Clifford
 * Betty Compson
 * Bebe Daniels
 * Marion Davies


 * Billie Dove
 * Ruth Etting
 * Barbara Kent
 * Bessie Love
 * Barbara La Marr
 * Colleen Moore
 * Mae Murray
 * Nita Naldi


 * Alla Nazimova
 * Pola Negri
 * Anita Page
 * Mary Pickford
 * Gloria Swanson
 * Lilyan Tashman
 * Olive Thomas
 * Alice White

1930s

 * Annabella
 * Joan Blondell
 * Virginia Bruce
 * Joan Crawford
 * Marlene Dietrich
 * Dolores del Río
 * Greta Garbo


 * Jean Harlow
 * Sonja Henie
 * Ruby Keeler
 * Gypsy Rose Lee
 * Carole Lombard
 * Myrna Loy
 * Sally Rand


 * Ginger Rogers
 * Barbara Stanwyck
 * Thelma Todd
 * Lupe Vélez
 * Mae West
 * Toby Wing

1940s

 * Lauren Bacall
 * Maureen O'Hara
 * Diana Barrymore
 * Ingrid Bergman
 * Vivian Blaine
 * Linda Darnell
 * Yvonne De Carlo
 * Lisa Fonssagrives
 * Ava Gardner
 * Judy Garland
 * Betty Grable
 * Kathryn Grayson
 * Jane Greer
 * Anne Gwynne
 * Susan Hayward


 * Rita Hayworth
 * June Haver
 * Lena Horne
 * Candy Jones
 * Olga San Juan
 * Veronica Lake
 * Carole Landis
 * Hedy Lamarr
 * Dorothy Lamour
 * Joan Leslie
 * Viveca Lindfors
 * Marilyn Maxwell
 * Marie McDonald
 * Ann Miller


 * Carmen Miranda
 * Maria Montez
 * Gloria Nord
 * Frances Rafferty
 * Ella Raines
 * Donna Reed
 * Jane Russell
 * Ann Sheridan
 * Alexis Smith
 * Gene Tierney
 * Lana Turner
 * Esther Williams
 * Marie Wilson
 * Shelley Winters

1950s

 * Pier Angeli
 * Carroll Baker
 * Brigitte Bardot
 * Elizabeth Montgomery
 * Candy Barr
 * Virginia Bell
 * Betty Brosmer
 * Cyd Charisse
 * Mara Corday
 * Hazel Court
 * Dagmar
 * Dorothy Dandridge
 * Sandra Dee
 * Faith Domergue


 * Diana Dors
 * Anita Ekberg
 * Gloria Grahame
 * Allison Hayes
 * Betty Hutton
 * Eartha Kitt
 * Joi Lansing
 * Gina Lollobrigida
 * Sophia Loren
 * Jayne Mansfield
 * Irish McCalla
 * Marilyn Monroe
 * Cleo Moore


 * Barbara Nichols
 * Kim Novak
 * Maila Nurmi
 * Bettie Page
 * Suzy Parker
 * Barbara Payton
 * Barbara Rush
 * Lili St. Cyr
 * Sabrina
 * Gia Scala
 * Tempest Storm
 * Märta Torén
 * Mamie Van Doren

1960s

 * Pamela Green
 * Tina Louise


 * Margaret Nolan
 * June Palmer


 * Twiggy

1970s

 * Loni Anderson
 * Catherine Bach
 * Adrienne Barbeau
 * Barbi Benton


 * Jacqueline Bisset
 * Farrah Fawcett
 * Cheryl Ladd
 * Peggy Lipton


 * Julie Newmar
 * Suzanne Somers
 * Cheryl Tiegs
 * Raquel Welch

1980s

 * Samantha Fox
 * Monique Gabrielle


 * Tawny Kitaen
 * Kelly LeBrock


 * Linnea Quigley

1990s

 * Pamela Anderson
 * Carmen Electra


 * Cindy Margolis


 * Anna Nicole Smith

2000s

 * Jami Deadly
 * Bernie Dexter
 * Masuimi Max
 * Heidi Van Horne
 * Dita Von Teese
 * Veronica Varlow

Other kinds of pin-ups
In comic books, a pin-up is simply a full-page piece of artwork, most often without dialogue, that showcases a character, group of characters, or significant event, published within an issue, rather than made available by itself as a poster.

In professionally published fan magazines for films and television series, a posed photograph of actors or actresses from the subject matter, but might also showcase specific scenes from the subject matter in photograph form (called stills) are occasionally called pin-ups. The label is very casual, though, as these types of fan media are more accurately described as posters.