Rita Hayworth, 1941. This was one of the most popular pinup photos among American soldiers and sailors during World War II.
Four months after Hayworth’s photo was published, America went to war. And soldiers took the silk-and-lace picture along to remind them of home. Eventually, the picture became one of the most famous and most frequently reproduced American pinup images ever.
By the end of the war, more than 5 million copies of this photo were sold. The US Navy named her, “The Red-Head We Would Most Like to be Ship-Wrecked with”. Only Betty Grable, smiling cutely over her shoulder in a white bathing suit and heels, with legs that went on forever, sold more pin-ups.
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