6. Another Betty insured her legs in the 1940s, and Lloyd’s covered the risk (but not the legs)
During the Second World War, American GIs adorned their lockers and barracks walls with pinup posters of female motion picture stars, with Rita Hayworth being the most popular in the early years of the war. Images which resembled Hayworth were painted on the noses of American bomber and fighter aircraft, and appeared in magazines such as Esquire. By 1943 Hayworth’s pinup sales were challenged by those of Betty Grable, who exhibited her legs in a swimsuit pose which became an iconic image of World War II. Years later Life Magazine included it in a list of “100 Photographs that Changed the World”. It was the largest-selling pinup poster of the Second World War.
A leading manufacturer of women’s hosiery (which was forced to shift from silk to nylon during the war, and even nylon stockings were rationed) stated that Grable’s legs as regards the proportional measurements of thigh to calf to ankle, were “ideal”. Fox Studios insured their star’s legs for the sum of $1 million dollars and presented her as the girl with the million-dollar legs. Lloyd’s accepted the policy and covered the legs, but to the relief of young men around the world did not insist that Fox and Grable cover her legs. Grable once noted, “I became a star for two reasons, and I’m standing on them”.