The Bare Butts of World War II

Between 1935 and 1947, the Farm Security Administration sent out dozens of photographers to document contemporary American life.  They photographed farmers, miners, schoolteachers, schoolboys from Maine to New Mexico, in big cities and small towns.

A surprising number of photographs zeroed on bare chests and bulging biceps, like these CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) workers in Maryland.














Or these young men swimming in Lake Providence, Louisiana.

There are also a lot of bare butts on display.  Apparently rear nudity wasn't NSFW in 1942.

A coal miner demonstrates the shower he built in his basement.

Sargent Cambliar showers at his army base.

I'm not sure why the students in a "short farming course" at the University of Wisconsin need to shower after class.  Maybe it's dusty in the fields.

A fireman in Washington, DC strips down after a call.

A FSA Camp in Wilder, Idaho.

This one is just captioned "Sunray, Texas," but he's probably a factory worker.

I couldn't find any penises, but it's rather interesting to find so much male nudity in government-authorized photographs 70 years ago.