Yank, the Army Weekly was a weekly magazine published from 1942 through 1945 and distributed to members of the American military during World War II. Yank included war news, photography, and other features. It had a circulation of more than 2.6 million. One of its most popular features, intended to boost the morale of military personnel serving overseas, was the weekly publication of a pin-up photograph.[1]
A feature story in Parade published in 1945 noted: "Excellent war reporting and photography, serious discussions of postwar problems and the now famous Sad Sack cartoons have made Yank welcome on far-flung battle lines. But the page most often torn out and tacked up for future reference on barrack walls and foot lockers is the one bearing the official insigne, 'Yank Pin-Up Girl.'"[2]
Yank pin-ups were distributed to locations worldwide where American soldiers, sailors, and Marines were serving. In 1944, the Associated Press published a report that pin-up pictures from Yank were discovered on display on the wall of the chief's hut in a remote jungle village in Burma.[3] According to an account published by the Central Press, American pilots in the Pacific planned to drop Yank pin-up photographs to Japanese soldiers with the inscription: "Eat your hearts out . . . Here's what we are fighting for."[4]
- ^ Amy Pilkington (2012). The Pin-Up Girls of Yank, the Army Weekly 1945. p. Introduction, p. 1 – via Amazon.com.
- ^ "Yank Pin-Up Girls". Parade. January 28, 1945. pp. 8–11. Archived from the original on August 17, 2023. Retrieved August 17, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "'Primitive' Natives Have 'Yank' Pin-ups". The Austin Statesman. Associated Press. December 1, 1944. p. 2. Archived from the original on August 17, 2023. Retrieved August 17, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "'The Shape!'". Wisconsin State Journal. Central Press. December 14, 1944. p. 3. Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.