Human Interest

In the 40s, the girl with the "Million Dollar Legs" was none other than Betty Grable and she became a legend that is still hard to beat today. The iconic image became the number- one pin-up of World War II. The emphasis in the photograph is, of course, Grable's beautiful legs. Why were they labeled as such? Because hosiery specialists of the era acknowledged the ideal legs as having measurements of 18.5" thigh, 12" calf and 7.5" ankle. Guess whose legs met those measurements...Betty Grable! So famous were those legs that they were insured by Lloyds of London for one million dollars. That's a lot of moola for the 40s!

One in every five American servicemen during the war owned this picture of Betty Grable. It was, as LIFE magazine acknowledged, one of the photos that changed the world–not least because among the rowdy servicemen who owned the picture was one Hugh Hefner, who would later cite the pin-up as his inspiration behind Playboy. [Source: Iconic Photos]

Question is "What does the million dollar legs from the 40s have to do with an historical account of the 90s?

This Day in History: March 9, 1997