Saturday, April 7, 2012

Women in Parachutes

Looking in old postcards I found this oddity. Two postcards from WW II have the same subject same artist, and the same number. Note the difference.



 Which one came first? Did the postcard company editor say less "chess cake" or more? Was one sold in one part of the US of A thought more prudish? How would that work if you could send it anywhere?

 I wish I could see the postmarks but only the fronts were available on-line.Today the idea of making fun of actual service women might seem wrong. I think so. In the 40s service women had separate units such as the WAACs etc.

The Europeans went with this joke and were less shy.


Some of these image have been posed before but the subject of women using parachutes goes way back.






The opening scenes of the 1957 film The Tarnished Angels features Dorothy Malone as "Laverne", a 1930s "Barnstormer" performing a parachute stunt.



The Italian language poster had more cheesecake...






I don't think 21st Century folks would "buy" this premise.

It did come back in the comedy series "Jack of All Trades" with Bruce Campbell as US secret agent. The setting was the late 1700s.





The lady was supposed to be President Jefferson's daughter escaping from the French.




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