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Designing for Victory 1914-1945
November 15, 2007 - February
3, 2008
The stirring image
of an airplane flying through a red sky over a pair of "doughboys"
is one glimpse into the past from the exhibition "Designing for 
Victory 1914-1945: Posters from the U.S Army Heritage
and Education Center," which will be on display in the Bowman and Kerstein
Galleries from November 15, 2007 to February 3, 2008. (right: Elmo
White, "Invent for Victory", c.1944, offset photomechanical poster,
28 x 20 inches)
"[W]arring nations enlisted the commercial poster
as a primary means to communicate their needs to the public. ... Mass produced
and widely disseminated, the war poster emerged during the first half of
the [20th] century as a powerful communications tool," according to
the program written for this comprehensive exhibition of vintage posters
from World War I and II.
All of the posters are on loan from U.S. Army Heritage
and Education Center (AHEC) and the Carlisle Barracks. This exhibition explores
how artists and government agencies used these posters to justify wars,
bolster morale and persuade citizens to enlist for combat, buy war bonds,
conserve vital resources, and accept sacrifices and losses.
The posters demonstrate how artists "did
their part" during the wars and reveal the transformation of graphic
design from the Beaux-Arts tradition of the early 20th century to the comic-book
and movie-poster style of the 1940s. The artists whose work appears on the
posters include some familiar names like Howard Chandler Christy and Norman
Rockwell. The pieces chosen for "Designing for Victory" were produced
all over the world with examples from the United States, Germany, Great
Britain, France, Canada, China and Russia.
Roger Durham, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center museum
director, says "We are fortunate that so many posters survive because
they are objects of history that open a small window into another time,"
adding that these works of art were designed to inspire the citizenry, but
not necessarily designed to last. (left: Albert Sterner, "We
Need You", 1918, offset lithographic poster, 37 x 24 1/2 inches)
The Army Heritage and Education Center (AHEC) is the nation's
center for preserving and interpreting the American Soldiers' stories and
"Telling the Army story, one Soldier at a time." AHEC offers historical
archives, exhibits and educational programs. The AHEC Military History Institute
is a publicly available research center for soldiers' photos, personal papers,
plans and reports. The AHEC will expand exhibition and education opportunities
in the Visitors and Education Center in 2007, and expects to open the AHEC
Museum in 2010. For more information, visit www.carlisle.army.mil/ahec.
This exhibition is organized by The U. S. Army Heritage
and Education Center and The Trout Gallery
Object labels from the exhibition
-
- 1. Artist unknown
- Gov. Stephens Proclaims Squirrel Week Apr. 29 - May 4 . . .
- Offset lithographic poster
- United States of America, c. 1918
-
- During World War I, the United States government was concerned that
the abundance of squirrels would destroy the grain crop that was needed
to feed American and Allied soldiers. The need for wheat was so great that
the government recommended that each family do without it for at least
one day a week. The Rodent Control Division produced this poster to ask
California citizens to assist in the population control of squirrels. As
part of the effort, children were given poisoned barley to feed to the
squirrels.
-
-
- 2. Artist unknown
- Fats are Fuel for Fighters . . .
- Offset lithographic poster
- United States of America, c. 1917
-
- The War Production Board asked housewives to save house fats for the
war effort because 10% of those fats were glycerin, which was a vital component
in the production of explosives. The scene included in this poster shows
troops in a World War I trench using a trench scope to scan the battlefield.
-
-
- 3. L. N. Britton
- Eat More Fish, Eggs, Cheese, Poultry: Save the Meat for the Boys
at the Front
- Offset photomechanical poster
- United States of America, c. 1917
-
- The United States Food Administration encouraged Americans to eat more
fish and poultry products so that red meat could be sent overseas to the
troops. This poster depicts a setting of turkey, eggs, fish, and cheese
with the meat noticeably absent. The wide rectangular shape of the poster
indicates that it was designed for display in trolley cars.
-
-
- 4. Wallace Morgan
- Feed a Fighter; Eat Only What You Need
- Offset lithographic poster
- United States of America, c. 1917
-
- This United States Food Administration poster urges Americans to conserve
their food resources for the American troops fighting overseas.
-
-
- 5. Artist unknown
- Are You Breaking the Law? Patriotic Canadians Will Not Hoard Food
- Offset lithographic poster
- Canada, c. 1917
-
- Posters issued by the Canada Food Board encouraged citizens to conserve
food products for export to Britain. Food stuffs such as flour and sugar
were rationed, and anyone caught hoarding these items was subject to fine
and/or imprisonment.
-
-
- 6. Elmo White
- Invent for Victory . . .
- Offset photomechanical poster
- United States of America, c. 1942
-
- During World War II, the National Inventors Council worked with the
Department of Commerce in an effort to solicit useful ideas and inventions
from the American public. The poster depicts tank blueprints on a drafting
board, with various military vehicles and machines filling the background.
Between 1941 and 1945, over 300,000 war planes and 124,000 ships were built,
as were millions of trucks and other essential vehicles.
-
-
- 7. Norman Rockwell
- Let's Give Him Enough and On Time
- Offset photomechanical poster
- United States of America, 1942
-
- A ragged World War II G.I. crouches behind his machine gun, firing
and running out of ammunition. Rockwell's image appeals to all Americans
to support the war effort by producing more supplies and equipment for
the United States Army. A massive effort was needed to meet the production
goals announced by President Franklin Roosevelt in January 1942. Weapons,
munitions, vehicles, uniforms, and thousands of other supplies were required
to equip and maintain the soldiers. 600,000 contractors at a cost of 68
billion dollars worked to outfit the troops.
-
-
- 8. Maginel Wright Enright Barney
- War Gardens Over the Top
- Offset lithographic poster
- United States of America, c. 1917
-
- Maginel Wright Enright Barney, sister of architect Frank Lloyd Wright,
designed this poster to support the food conservation efforts during World
War I. After men and munitions, food was the most important resource for
an army. Twenty million Americans signed food pledges to help conserve
food for the Allied forces in Europe.
-
-
- 9. Albert Sterner
- We Need You
- Offset lithographic poster
- United States of America, 1918
-
- This Red Cross recruiting poster encouraged young professional women
to care for wounded servicemen. When Germany invaded Belgium in 1914, the
relief ship Red Cross left New York with surgeons, medical supplies, and
120 nurses. By October 1, 1918, over 14,000 nurses had been assigned to
the United States Army.
-
-
- 10. Paul J. Veerees
- Join the Air Service and Serve in France
- Offset lithographic poster
- United States of America, 1917
-
- This poster was designed by Paul J. Veerees, a Belgian soldier who
was wounded early in the war and later emigrated to the United States.
Working as an illustrator in New York, Veerees created this bold image
of a Curtis Jenny aeroplane flying low while doughboys scan the horizon.
In December 1917, there were fourteen volunteer American pilots in the
Lafayette Escadrille for France. When this poster and others like it were
exhibited, 38,000 men volunteered to join the newly formed United States
Army Air Service.
-
-
- 11. McClelland Barclay, USNR
- Sub Spotted; Let 'Em Have It
- Offset photomechanical poster
- United States of America, c. 1942
-
- World War II artist and Naval Reservist McClelland Barclay created
this U.S. Navy recruiting poster showing the Blue Jackets dropping depth
charges. Barclay designed many of the recruitment posters for the U.S.
Navy. On July 18, 1943, Barclay was aboard LST342 sketching and taking
photographs for posters when it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.
Barclay and most of the crew perished.
- 12. Steele Savage
- For Your Country's Sake Today . . .
- Offset photomechanical poster
- United States of America, c. 1944
-
- This full color recruitment poster depicts four young women wearing
the uniforms of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard. On May 14,
1942, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps was established to support the war
effort. With the encouragement of Eleanor Roosevelt, the Navy authorized
a Women's Naval Reserve and Women's Marine Corps Reserve. The Coast Guard
followed shortly after with the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency
Service (WAVES).
-
-
- 13. D. Charles Fouqueray
- Journée de l'Armée d`Afrique et des Troupes Colonials
- (African Army and Colonial Troops Day)
- Offset lithographic poster
- France, 1917
-
- French Moroccan troops lead the charge in a World War I battle, while
Moroccan Cavalry of an earlier time are symbolically pictured in the background.
During World War I, the army that fought under General Leclerc in North
Africa and Italy was made up largely of Africans, including Moroccans.
Of the 212,000 French Africans recruited during World War I, 163,000 served
on the Western Front. Approximately 30,000 of these soldiers died for France
during the war. The Arabic text on the poster reads, "In the Path
of Truth with France."
-
-
- 14. E. V. Kealey
- Women of Britain Say "Go!"
- Offset lithographic poster
- Great Britain, 1915
-
- A mother and son look out the window with the family governess as soldiers
march away. During the first world war, it was the duty of men to join
the military to protect the country, while the women stayed behind to care
for the home and children.
-
-
- 15. Fred Spear
- Enlist
- Offset lithographic poster
- United States of America, 1915
-
- When the Lusitania was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland by German
Submarine U20, two of its victims, a mother with a three-month old
child clasped tightly in her arms, washed ashore. The mother and child
became a symbol of German brutality and a rallying cry for American involvement
in the war.
-
-
- 16. Artist unknown
- True Sons of Freedom, Colored Men; The First Americans Who Planted
Our Flag on the Firing Line
- Offset lithographic poster
- United States of America, 1918
-
- This World War I poster shows a group of African- American doughboys
fighting the German Army in the trenches of Europe. Abraham Lincoln appears
in the clouds and looks upon the soldiers with admiration and approval.
By the end of the war, 404,348 African-Americans served in the United States
Army.
-
-
- 17. George M. Richards
- Oh Boy That's the Girl! . . .
- Offset lithographic poster
- United States of America, 1918
-
- This poster represents an appeal by the United War Work Campaign for
contributions to fund the Salvation Army in Europe. Even though the war
was over by the time the poster was produced, the large occupation force
that was still overseas required the support of the Salvation Army. The
Salvation Army was known for its compassion as well as its doughnuts, a
treat that the charity made popular during World War I.
-
-
- 18. Jules Abel Faivre
- 3e. Emprunt de la Défense Nationale
- (3rd National Defense Bond)
- Offset lithographic poster
- France, c. 1917
-
- A French soldier, or poilu, plants the flag of Liberty into French
soil as the blood of Europe flows off the world. The word poilu in French
literally means "hairy one," an affectionate term applied to
French soldiers.
-
-
- 19. G. Haale
- Ausstellung van Plakanten für die 8. Kriegsanleihe (Poster
Exhibition for the 8th War Bond)
- Offset lithographic poster
- Germany, c. 1917
- This poster promotes an exhibition of war posters as part of a fundraising
effort to sell war bonds. It features a uniformed German sketching the
battlefield while stationed in his trench.
-
-
- 20. J. Carl Mueller
- Hero Land; The Greatest Spectacle the World Has Ever Seen . . .
- Offset lithographic poster
- United States of America, 1917
-
- In order to raise money for the war effort, one hundred National War
Relief Organizations came together to create Hero Land, a nineteen-day,
multi-floor spectacle held at the Grand Central Palace in New York City.
Hero Land included an exact reproduction of the Hindenburg trenches, a
variety of government war exhibits, a complete floor redesigned to look
like the streets of Baghdad, athletic contests, restaurants, three movies,
ice skating, a host of celebrities performing music and dance shows, submarine
divers demonstrating undersea mining, and an actual tank recreating a battle
from the French front. Hero Land attracted more than 250,000 visitors and
generated $400,000 for war relief.
-
-
- 21. Offelmeyer
- 9te Zeichnet Kriegsanleihe! Subscribe to the 9th War Bond!
- Offset lithographic poster
- Germany, 1918
-
- A German aviator with goggles sits in the open cockpit of his Fokker
aeroplane and points to an appeal for monetary contributions to help support
the war effort.
-
-
- 22. Ellsworth Young
- Remember Belgium; Buy Bonds
- Offset lithographic poster
- United States of America, 1918
-
- During World War I, Allied Nations relied on images and accounts of
German atrocities to motivate their citizens to participate in the war
effort. In this scene, the silhouetted German soldier with his thick Kaiser
mustache drags a young girl away while the ruins of the city burn in the
background.
-
-
- 23. Howard Chandler Christy
- Americans All! Victory Liberty Loan
- Offset photomechanical poster
- United States of America, 1919
-
- Lady Columbia places a laurel wreath above an Honor Roll of fallen
American soldiers. The variety of names on the wall illustrates the ethnic
diversity of the American forces. Over 400,000 first generation Americans
served in the military during World War I. Although the war had been over
for more than five months when the Victory Liberty Loan was established,
the two million American soldiers still in Europe required support until
they could return home.
-
-
- 24. H. R. Hopps
- Destroy This Mad Brute
- Offset lithographic poster
- United States of America, 1916
-
- In this recruiting poster, a King Kong-type gorilla wears a German
World War I helmet and holds a bloody club with the word "Kultur"
inscribed on its shaft. The ape carries a fainting young maiden in its
arms as it steps onto the American shore. The ruins of Europe in the background
suggest that the same fate awaits the United States if no action is taken.
This dehumanized figure left a lasting impression on the German public.
The ape image would reappear later in a Nazi poster as a symbol of Allied
intolerance.
-
-
- 25. Maurice Neumont
- La Guerre est L'Industrie Nationale del al Prusse
- (War is the National Industry of Prussia)
- Offset lithographic poster
- France, 1914
-
- The German military, represented here as a gigantic octopus, ensnares
all of Europe with its tentacles in this World War I French poster. The
text on the poster highlights the rise of German militarism in Europe and
Asia Minor from 1715 to 1914.
-
-
- 26. Artist unknown
- Darf Belgien; Englands Aufmarschgebiet Werden?
- (Should Belgium Be Allowed to Become England's Operational Base?)
- Offset lithographic poster
- Germany, n.d.
-
- A large map of Western Europe shows possible paths for English and
French forces to invade Germany. As part of this invasion, the poster suggests
that England will use an under-Channel tunnel (then unbuilt) to move its
troops into Calais. The German industrial centers are pictured in flames
with estimates of how long it will take the invading troops to reach each
area.
-
-
- 27. Artist unknown
- The Delusion of Grandeur of Wilhelm II
- Offset lithographic poster
- Russia, 1914
- This anti-Kaiser poster depicts a straight-jacketed
- Wilhelm II drooling over the world. The poem reads:
-
- The globe you covered with blood
- Without even blinking a brow,
- So many souls you have wasted,
- So many families you have ravaged.
- But the day of reckoning has arrived.
-
- We will now teach you a lesson,
- And warm you up with a jacket,
- And shave off your mustache,
- And put a cap on your dome,
- And put you in chains.
-
-
- 28. Ben Shahn
- This Is Nazi Brutality
- Offset photomechanical poster
- United States of America, 1942
-
- In reprisal for the assassination of S.S. Leader Reinhard Heydrich,
the Nazis shot all 172 men and boys over the age of sixteen in the town
of Lidice, Czechoslovakia. The women and ninety-nine children were sent
to concentration camps; the other more German-looking children were taken
to Nazi orphanages. The town of Lidice was completely destroyed and removed
from the map. In this poster, a hooded and chained civilian from Lidice
awaits his execution.
-
-
- 29. Artist unknown
- This Is the Enemy
- Offset photomechanical poster
- United States of America, 1943
-
- Charged with educating the public about the beliefs and policies of
the Axis powers, the Office of War Information created a series of posters
that illustrated the evils of the Nazi regime. In this example, a Nazi
soldier plunges his "dagger of honor" into the Bible. The swastika,
seen on the soldier's sleeve, is an ancient symbol derived from the Sanskrit
word, svastika, meaning good luck. Appearing throughout history with largely
positive associations, the swastika was transformed in the twentieth century
to a symbol of evil when it was associated with Nazi atrocities.
-
-
- 30. Artist unknown
- Warning! Our Homes Are in Danger Now!
- Offset photomechanical poster
- United States of America, 1942
-
- Emotional appeals, especially the fear of imminent attack, proved effective
in poster design during World War I and World War II. The Oldsmobile Division
of General Motors produced this poster of Hitler and Yamamoto poised to
attack and divide the United States. The text calls on Americans to work
to support their troops and implies that failure will produce dire results.