Here we have three fine sailors in spotless uniforms exulting over some candy bars, and I can’t blame them: war sucks, and this would be a welcome treat. Especially when it’s so attractively packaged. You have to love the blunt pitch in the copy: the order of relatives is “aunts and uncles, mothers and fathers, sweethearts and wives.” Coupled with the main headline, this is an obvious pitch for the Aunt market, no?

As for the swabbies, we have the three archetypes: the happy-go-lucky Standard-Issue Mick, the handsome ethnically-indistinct All-American Gene-Kelly guy who will probably break into a dance routine when they get leave in New York, and the tall Ray Bolger-esque comic relief who has a few endearing, distinctive, but non-threatening idiosyncrasies. The sailor on the left appears to be looking at something else besides candy bars; either that or he was hit with a Freeze Ray the moment someone unfurled a Betty Grable pinup. Gene Kelly appears to be just baked, and groovin’ on the whole ship-thing; only Ray Bolger grasps the enormity of the situation.