Over the years, I’ve seen more than a few war posters. Every so often, I come across some that surprise me still. These fall into this category.
1. Jap Trap–No matter how many times I see posters depicting an enemy as an animal, I still get a little surprised. I always wonder, “how did it get to that?” And as a child of the 1970s and 1980s, that world, all that fear was gone, though festering in other places. Still, an evocative image.
2. Let’s Catch Him with his “Panzers” Down–Now that’s a great line, no matter how you slice it.
3. Of Course I Can–A great look with a nice double entendre.
4. Quiet-Know Your Place-Shut Your Face–While I love the line, the Ministry of Homeland Security marker leads me to believe this might be a photoshop job.
5. He’s Coming South–This is a poster I’ve never seen and I included it here, even though we can see the photographer in the image. Another reason: that final line is BEGGING for commas. “It’s fight work or perish.” You know, commas to introduce a series of ideas? “It’s fight, work, or perish.” See? It makes all the difference.
6. Be Smart-Act Dumb–I’ve seen variations of this idea but never in this cartoony form. The half caricatures on each side show just enough to get the viewer thinking and provide balance to the image.
7. Every Rivet a Bullet–This is a different take on the idea of production. Many posters focus on the person AND work. This one shows the finished product.
8. Save Waste Bones–Say what? That’s right, bones can be made into glue for production. Who knew?
9. He Can’t Do it Alone–I couldn’t resist adding this one here. It really is a tribute to modern day photoshop artists who have borrowed amazing bits of art (style) and rhetoric from the period and made something new and interesting. Plus, you can never go wrong with Star Wars.
Source: http://digital.library.northwestern.edu/wwii-posters/faq.html
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