War Propaganda Posters at Sigal

The Sigal Museum now has a new, outstanding exhibit in the Chrin Gallery called "Liberty Called and Northampton County Answered".

For a mere $7 - about the price of a decent burger, keep in mind - you'll get to see not only those posters in a professionally-done gallery, but the rest of the surprisingly large Sigal history museum, too.

I'll give you an introduction to the wartime propaganda posters.

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War is always an expensive affair. Ammunition, food, fuel, the payment of the troops... nothing spurs production and cost (and unfortunately, loss) quite like wars.

And no wars are more costly than world wars.

Twice, the United States entered a world war already in progress: 1917 and 1941. These years too saw the rise of massive propaganda machines in the states, all aimed – in one way or another – towards the goal of increasing production and support and decreasing waste.

Propaganda posters in the U.S. During the world wars were stark, straightforward, and to-the-point. They used few words and gripping imagery to capture the attention of passers-by. Basically, they asked Americans to either do something or refrain from doing something. For instance:

DO!

•    Buy war bonds
•    Volunteer for work in factories
•    Conserve resources
•    Enlist in the military (if the person was an able-bodied young man)

DO NOT!

•    Take unnecessary trips
  
•    Waste fuel
•    Report troop movements
•    Start forest fires

During World War I, the U.S. Committee of Public Information, similar to Britain's Ministry of Information (of World War II's Keep Calm and Carry On fame), hired popular magazine and book artists of the time to illustrate propaganda posters. They didn't shy away from depicting the enemy Germans as "huns" and - especially stinging - "mad brutes."

Them's fighting words! The last guy that called me a mad brute? Well, no one ever has. But if they ever did? I'd just laugh. Different times, those.

Where was I?

Right, so, a couple decades later, during World War II, the Committee had ceased to exist. In its place, the Office of War Information, military recruitment bureaus, and even the United States Departments of the Treasury and Agriculture and others - all these had propaganda posters printed up. They were posted on the streets, in public buildings, in factories, and in newspapers. And, apparently, they worked.