Produce for Victory:
Posters on the American Home Front, 1941-1945
October 30, 2003 – August 13, 2004
Exhibit Images
The Produce for Victory exhibition featured twenty-five
vintage replica posters from World War II. Six of the posters are
available on this website for you to view. Enjoy!
 Battle
Stations!
(Fisher Body Division, General Motors Corporation)
Hollywood style posters engaged workers and encouraged them to take
the role of “production soldiers” vital to America’s
success in war. Credit: Terry McCrea, National Museum of American
History, Smithsonian Institution.
 Are
You Doing All You Can?
(General Cable Corp., 1942)
This image plays on the famous “Uncle Wants You” figure
made familiar during World War I. Credit: Terry McCrea, National
Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
 It’s
a Two-Fisted Fight. Keep ‘Em Fighting.
(Fisher Body Division, General Motors Corporation, 1942)
For manufacturers, the war was an opportunity to gain greater control
over their workforce and increase productivity. Government agencies
offered tips on poster design and placement, and eventually, privately
produced posters outnumbered official government-issued posters.
 Keep
Us Flying. Buy War Bonds.
(US Treasury, 1943)
Extending the Treasury’s goal of universal war-bond ownership
to new audiences, this poster pictured one member of an elite corps
of Black airmen, designed to appeal to African Americans. The model,
Robert Deiz, had recently joined the 99th Pursuit Squadron of Black
aviators established at Tuskeegee College in the spring of 1942.
Credit: Terry McCrea, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian
Institution.
 More,
More, More Production
(General Cable Corporation, 1942)
Private industry produced vast numbers of production-incentive posters
during the war. Government urged employers to use at least 1 poster
per 100 workers.
 Dear
God, Keep them Safe! (Kroger Grocery and Baking Company)
Posters depicting an enemy threat were successful in gaining widespread
participation in the home front war effort.
TOP
|
