So I’ve made three previous posts on the posters of World War II, and the samples I’ve chosen have come from a wide range: conservation, keeping quiet, respect the sacrifice, etc. For this post, I wanted to focus on the paratrooper.
Careless Talk Got There First is a favorite of my comp classes when we discuss persuasion. Most say that the image goes too far in showing what an idle comment back home might produce. Would it really be connected in such a way, they ask? Perhaps not, but the fear was there, and that’s all that mattered.
Back the Attack is one I seen before but only DLed recently. It has a general message compared to other posters that push a single idea. This one really doesn’t. But it’s here nonetheless, and the Thompson machine gun with “gangster” front wood handle is a different look. I’ve seen more (though I’m no expert, believe me) of the longer, rectangular handle, pictured here.
His Needs Come First is another I’ve found only recently. The message here is put your money toward the war effort, and this is a theme that played out in hundreds posters produced during the war years.
They’ve Got the Guts is one of the more memorable posters from the war, at least to me, and even graces the cover of a recent WW2 book. It’s dramatic (the soldiers are IN action) and is stunning in its look. The red, gray, and green aren’t colors that you think would “pop” as they do, but they come together here in dramatic ways, especially as the eye is pulled from left to right, presumably from the wind on the field. This is great image.
Where Are Men Are Fighting, Our Food is Fighting. This image…I wouldn’t think that red, white, and blue would work that well with this set of ideas: food and invasion, but it all does and I’m not sure why. The message for food conversation on the home front is clear enough, but the colors, with the read as a focal point on a blue canvas, flanked by white chutes just come to together to make the image work.
Invest in Invasion – Buy War Bonds looks a little like a comic book panel compared to a few others here. The message is clear: dramatic action is required by some; money is needed from all.
Source: http://digital.library.northwestern.edu/wwii-posters/faq.html
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