Stubborn Yank Who Hid Out with a Million Dollar War Souvenir 

Mort Künstler made this painting called "Stubborn Yank Who Hid Out with a Million Dollar War Souvenir" sometime after 1927. In it, we see an American soldier perched on a precarious-looking veranda in what looks like the Pacific. Two women flank him, one clinging to him while the other shoots at an approaching plane. This image is a pulp adventure scene, a genre that became wildly popular in the mid-20th century. Künstler’s training in illustration is clear here: dramatic action, beautiful women, and a conflicted hero were all key ingredients. These images often reflected contemporary anxieties about war and changing gender roles. The role of women, both as damsels in distress and gun-wielding protectors, raises questions about their evolving place in society during and after wartime. Studying the context of pulp illustration helps us see how anxieties about wealth, conflict, and gender roles could be visually encoded and consumed by a wide audience. Using archives of popular magazines, cultural historians can trace the changing attitudes reflected in these once-disparaged art forms.