Lipstick Fifinella - [Aviation Gremlins]

Lipstick Fifinella. - [Aviation Gremlin] - Latin name: Aeschynantho Fifinellica 

• About this Gremlin:  This particular band of Fifinella proves positively that the human spirit, heart & soul is a machine which can be manipulated just like any automobile. Put lightly, when it comes to broken hearts, these flighty "Hanger Queens" are often to blame!! - The 'Lipstick Fifinella' is a little lady who's particular passtime is to leave luscious red lip stains littered across the laundry of Military leaders & lieutenants alike. The soldier's suspicious spouses generally gravite to believe in the baffling dishonesty of deviants in the division! The Pink Lipstick Fifinella 'flutters your flaps' and is a backseat pilot that favours in facilitating flirtation fatally. The little lady will often whisper wonderful distractions into the pilots ears, causing mayhem to ensue, otherwise they cause casualties in the bunkers more so than the air. - In many way's Fifinella are much more dangerous than the male gremlin (especially when it comes to the pilots personal lives.) - [The "Lipstick Fifinella" predates the following and should not be confused with "Hairy Fifinella", the Canadian W.I.D's devisions "Dingbelle" & they should most certainly not mistaken with the "Silverwing (W.A.S.P) Fifinella."]

• History & Early appearances: The Lipstick Fifinella was earliest named In "Gremlin Americanus" [Dec 1942, Solane] - Eric gives two unique examples of folkloric "Fifinella" from his time in the air force, the "Lipstick" & "Hairy" Fifinella. - The entry, with correspondence from "Pilot 54566" (likely Sloanes second Wife*) goes as follows: 

[Solanes illustration - 1942]

"The female of the species is called "Fifinella". shes a petite lady gremlin who is always busy yet always seems to have plenty of time for mischeif.

When you consider how occupied the average Fifinella is with the job of keeping up with her husband in aerial pranks, and occasional flights ("Just for the ride") as a back seat pilot, it is more astounding that the Lipstick Fifinella can spare the time to devote to her peculiar hobby – the skillful placement of lip-stick smears where a fliers wife or sweet heart cannot miss them.

Many a married man, after an innocent if prolonged tour of duty and official business, has returned wearing definite lipstick marks. He is innocent but his wife will never believe him. in vain he tries to prove that it was all a gag planted by playful Lipstick Fifinella, but wives are like brass-hats they simply will not admit gremlins exist.

Merry little Lipstick Fifinella puts red on cigarettes and glasses and makes certain that they're left in conspicuous places army and navy men know that she carries an inexhaustible supply of red quick. Fifinella gets it conspicuously on collars and smears it where it will do the most damage. Its all in fun, but all femmes dis-believe it.

Re: Lipstick Fifinella – My husband says there is such a thing as a Lipstick fifinella and he is very truthful. Pilot 54566 Wife of the author."

...The Addenda at end of the book also mentions the following about fifinella: "Female gremlin are always addressed as fifinella. Fifinella are one of the rare females who really take an interest in her husbands work. often she becomes a successful career-woman, competing with the best of the males in the feild of making pilots lives unhappy hours in the air. More often Fifinella is content to reign as the belle of the airfeild and goes on flights merely for the "ride". Then she is the back seat pilot and realizes the importance of heckling and kidding the pilot. She often sits upon the pilots shoulders, making sputtering noises like a quitting motor. The male gremlin consider this great stuff."

• About the Correspondence: The weather-hill farm, solane museum believes that The pilot mentioned in the correspondence, is Erics second wife (c.1934-c.1944) - Barbara "Bobbie" Lawrence Sloane: a famed acrobat & pilot, 'she would often take Sloane up into the clouds so that he could get colour notes for his cloudscape paintings. - A newspaper article about her life September 30 2001, refers to Barbara as “Queen of the Air” for her high wire trapeze act in a circus troupe. - Later, she served as a pilot for her husband and claimed to learn to fly to aid her husband sketch cloud formations up close. – She said, “I take him up in my plane and watch him make color notes for his paintings... On every trip, day or night, I really do have a wonderful time.” - Barbara Lawrence Sloane died Sept 8 2001 in Torrington at 89. " - no word about why they broke up but Solane would go onto marry five more times!

[clipping from newspapers.com] 

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The "Lipstick Fifinella" also has a top knot pony tail, resembling the example of the Fifinella present in Life magazine and other illustration & advertisements from the time. - [above Life magazine, November 1942]

[THEM!!! "in an ad for bryant chucking company." - [April 29 1943.]]

It should also be noted that although 'Fifinella' & gremlins were indeed "popularized" by Disney & Dahls popular portrayals & attempted movie, in-fact these 'femlins' (female gremlins) where present in the folklore & slang quite a while before the famous 'silver winged fifinella' design was famously donated to the Womans Airforce Service Pilots. (WASP) by Disney. 

The absolute earliest published, written mention of a 'female gremlin' being referred to as a "Fifinella" (that I've found) seems to be defined in an illustrated aviation dictionary, published on January 1st of 1942 [the dictionary is again mentioned in an earlier entry in solanes book, under the 'Dud-Gremlin' entry.] this pre-dates disneys & dahls advertisements which would start to hit papers in towards the middle/end of that year. 

[illustrated aviation dictionary. January 1st 1942]

According to the Smitshonian: "A memo from Chester Feitel to Roy and Walt Disney after his first meeting with Roald confirmed that they were not original to Dahl. ‘The gremlin characters are not creatures of his imagination,’ Feitel reported. ‘They are “well known” by the entire RAF and as far as I can determine, no individual can claim credit." 

The name 'Fifinella' was supposedly taken from the great “flying” filly Fifinella, who won The Derby and Epsom Oaks in 1916. 

[Early 'scantily clad' femlins [H.W 1942.] "SHH! gremlins!" with cute "! & ?" hats. ]

• Similar gremlins:

["Dictionary of folklore" [Funk and Wagnalls, 1949]

...Interestingly Erics descriptions of Lipstick Fifinella seem to mirror the 'Dingbelles' description from the later "Dictionary of folklore" [Funk and Wagnalls, 1949] - in that they seem like to cause 'suspicions of infidelity' as their prank of choice [But the 'Dingbelles' seem to target women specifically, ruining their dates; As the book says, the two should not be conflated.] - But, given that this one and what the next 'Hairy Fifinella' does: it sure does seem that female gremlins (at least by erics account) were at one point once used as "patsy" for cheating & infidelity, in a similar way as to how the males would be more commonly blamed for serious work place accidents.  - The fifinella messes with the pilots personal lives rather than their machines. 

as well, "Aeschynantho" is a genus of subtropical plants that happen to look a bit like lipstick. Finally a 'Hanger Queen' is also slang for an 'old plane that has been in the shop for what seems like an indefinite amount of time, Naturally, gremlins would be to blame!

Art sticker by samkalensky part of my gremlinology series of stickers, check my shop and follow for more!