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It's getting ... so hot in here. "Summer 1941. Detroit, Michigan. Girls playing cards and drinking Coca-Cola." The next entry in this curious series snapped by Arthur Siegel for the Office of War Information. View full size.
So THIS is why my grandmother thought card playing was sinful!
Eisenhower was in the White House and I was young but my mother told me there were "chippies" like this out in the real world.
but my mother threw them out.
Where's the third lady? What's the story with the rendering of a house on the radiator at the right. Who won? Why did Siegel take these pictures? Was there a sequel?
If she takes that coat off I hope she doesn't back into that radiator.
Despairing of figuring out the purpose of this bizarre series, I am left to conjecture that perhaps these photos were for a stillborn "steam heat is wonderful!" ad campaign ... either that or a covert attempt on the part of deep agents to reinforce Axis psychological warfare efforts featuring "what is your sweetheart doing now?" themes.
Hey, Doris. Remember how we used to "experiment" in college?
Is there any information as to the purpose of this series of photos for the Office of War Information?
I can't believe that it would be good for morale for the boys at the front to know that this sort of thing is going on among the sweethearts they've left behind.
I know the Office of War Information ended up not using this series, but were these photos perhaps originally intended to be given to the troops to keep up their morale? That wouldn't have been nearly as risque as some other projects conceived for the troops in the name of morale (and not mentioned on the home front).
Not only is this rather risque for the day, the fact that this young woman is also braless is really over the top (so to speak)! Mind you, I'm not complaining. Just seems a bit weird that she's older than my 85 year old mother!
Little Jimmy, playing in his yard next door, is getting quite the education through those lacy curtains. Hubba Hubba
You just have to wonder how this was useful to the Office of War Information.
Is killing me! Where are we going with the bathing suit? What's on the other side of the open overcoat? And where did the third woman go?
It seems the third gal has seen where this was going and "chickened out."
Keep 'em coming - everyone wants to see where this ENDS.
How could there be an Office of War Information in the summer of 1941? The United States wasn't at war then.
[The United States was heavily involved in the Allied war effort by 1940. The photos all have OWI catalog numbers written on the negatives. - Dave]
I've learned two things from this photo series.
1) I'm playing the wrong card game.
2) I'm playing with the wrong people.
This series is really entertaining and shocking for this age. I think I sprained my imagination.
I'm curious as to where the third lady is. Two guesses and the first one is wrong? Too bad we'll never get the full skinny about these photographs.
You know, just yesterday my prurient interest tapped me on the shoulder and asked when another installment of this series might appear. But then it remembered seeing "1941" and "Office of War Information", and said, "Oh, never mind." But I would like to know what happened to the third contestant...
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