Leadenham continued, "The office commissioned many of the most famous commercial artists of the day. These posters were designed to have an effect on people to make them do something--Buy War Bonds!-- or think bad thoughts about the enemy or remember our values."
The Office of War Information (OWI) placed posters into five categories-- the five N's:
** The nature of our allies
** The nature of our enemy
** The need to work
** The need to sacrifice
** The need to fight.
All five categories are in the Hoover Institute's collection as well as Rader's.
Both have Norman Rockwell's famous Four Freedoms-- "Freedom of Speech," "Freedom of Worship," "Freedom from Fear" and the famous Thanksgiving table "Freedom from Want." A set of the four original 28-by-40-inch posters goes for $3000 on eBay.
The OWI series "This is the Enemy" crosses the political-correctness line. One features a Nazi hand clutching a dagger stabbing the Bible. Another features Japanese soldiers with bug-like features.
Leadenham adds, "You have to put these posters into context. You have to understand what was going on back then. We were at war."
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois, had an exhibit of war time posters several years back. I spend quite awhile at it looking and reading about them and have been interested in then ever since.
Save That Old Stuff. You Never Know When It Might make You Rich. --DaCoot
No comments:
Post a Comment