World War II Propaganda Art In America

World War II Propaganda art in America

Propaganda art is a powerful form of persuasion that was used during World War II to persuade many people to support the war and even to bring about hatred for the enemy. The propaganda art persuaded people to consume less goods so more material could be utilized for the war. Propaganda was not as popular when it first started, “The U.S. adopted the “strategy of truth,” where they would release information, but not try and sway the public’s opinion regarding the war.” Propaganda art is very influential and played an immense role in the victory of the United States and its allies in World War II.

Propaganda art was spread in many ways throughout World War II, the United Sates spread of propaganda included

leaflets, comic books, radio, posters, movies, newspapers, books, and magazines. Leaflets would be dropped by planes in rural areas and over enemy territory by the thousands. The leaflets were dropped by B-17 bombers to show how powerful the United States was because they could devote planes to dropping leaflets. The United States expressed their power following the atomic bombings in August of 1945, by dropping leaflets in Japan that suggested they were working on a more powerful bomb to be used if necessary. Comics were not an omission to American propaganda. Many comics had common themes among them associated with the war effort whether that be the characters fighting Axis Powers or purchasing war bonds, production, etc.
Radio was likely the most widely used form of propaganda during the war.

Shows could be broadcasted across the United States as well as the world, which helped broaden its reach. Popular shows during this time were President Roosevelt’s “Fireside Chat,” which was a radio show featuring the President. The show was created in the 1930s, but he did several of them during World War II. Other popular war-themed shows included This is War, which was broadcast around the world and Our Secret Weapon which was a show that listened to Axis broadcast signals and discussed the most entertaining lies of the week. Posters were widely used by the United States for propaganda during World War II, so much that there were over 200,000 poster designs created and printed during the war. The posters mostly had a positive message, which differed from other countries and they were designed by artists who were not compensated for their

work.
At first, movies were more neutral to the war than anything, not portraying any one party in any way. Following Pearl Harbor, this changed completely, and movies began favoring the Allied cause. Most movies produced during this time feature some sort of wartime aspect. They were either based on the war, or they were set in a war atmosphere. This was true even if the movie had nothing to do with warfare. Propaganda art during World War II always had a main theme and an underlying them, “The main theme was always to support the war effort; the underlying theme could be anything from buy war bonds to something anti-German or anti-Japanese” (Riddle). During the war, the sale of War Bonds was extensively promoted. Originally termed "Defense Bonds", they were called "war bonds" after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Much of the nation's artistic talent and best advertising techniques were used to encourage people to buy the bonds so as to keep the program voluntary. The War Advertising Board did its best to convince people that buying bonds was a patriotic act, giving buyers a stake in the war. Advertisements were initially used on radio and in newspapers, but later magazines were also used, with both government and private companies producing the advertisements. The Writers' War Board was founded for the purpose of writing copy for war bond ads. War bond rallies and drives were common, and were staged at many social events. Teachers passed out booklets to children to allow them to save toward a bond by purchasing war bond stamps. Marlene Dietrich and many other female movie stars sold many thousands of dollars worth of war bonds. The Little Orphan Annie radio show urged its young listeners to sell war stamps and war bonds. Even product ads often contained the slogan, "Buy War Bonds and Stamps!". Enrolling in payroll deduction plans to buy war bonds was also urged through the media. One hundred and thirty-five billion dollars worth of liberty bonds were sold, most of which were purchased by banks, insurance companies and corporations. However, individuals purchased $36 billion in bonds, with children accounting for close to $1 billion.
Newspapers were told that government press releases would be true, and to give no aid and comfort to the enemy—but this latter was not to be considered a prohibition on releasing bad news. However, partially through the cooperation of supportive journalists, the Office of Censorship (OOC) managed to remove negative news and other items useful to the enemy—such as weather forecasts—although neither the OOC nor any other agency managed to completely slant the news in a positive, morale-boosting manner. Indeed, some government officials found that both newspapers and radio were using uncorroborated news from Vichy France and Tokyo.
Books were more often used in the post-combat consolidation phases than in combat, particularly because their intent was indirect, to mold the thinkers who would be molding public opinion in the post-war period, and therefore books had more of a long-range influence rather than an immediate effect.

And some topics were considered off limits. Books on submarines were suppressed, even ones drawing on public knowledge and made with naval assistance. In fact, attempts were made to suppress even fictional stories involving submarines. As fiction grew less popular, bookstores promoted non-fiction war books. A few weeks after D-Day, crates of books were landed in Normandy to be distributed to French booksellers. An equal number of American and British efforts were included in these shipments. Books had been stockpiled for this purpose, and some books were specifically published for it. Magazines were a favored propaganda dissemination tool, as they were widely circulated. The government issued a Magazine War Guide which included tips for supporting the war effort. Women's magazines were the favored venue for propaganda aimed at housewives, particularly the Ladies' Home Journal. Magazine editors were asked to depict women as coping heroically with the sacrifices of wartime. Fiction was a particularly favored venue, and was used to subtly shape attitudes. Ladies' Home Journal and other magazine also promoted the activities of women in the armed

services.
The pulp magazine industry was especially supportive, if only to prevent their being perceived as unessential to the war effort and discontinued for the duration of the war. The Office of War Information distributed guides to writers for Western, adventure, detective and other pulp genres with possible story lines and themes that would help the war effort. Among the suggestions were a detective who was "cheerful" about following a suspect without using an automobile, a woman working in a traditionally male job, the importance of the 35 miles per hour speed limit and carpooling, and good Chinese and British characters.
Propaganda art encouraged clothes rationing was introduced by the British Government in June 1941. It was essential raw materials were not wasted as factories were utilised for the production of weapons. The Make Do and Mend campaign was launched by the Board of Trade in 1942. This poster was illustrated by Donia Nachsen to encourage people to repair their clothes and make use with clothing they already had.
The artist John Gilroy has featured a dustman leading a figure made of rags for recycling. This poster was designed in 1943 to encourage people to give any fabric material to the rag collector for salvage. Rag could be used to make uniforms and blankets for soldiers. In 1939 Britain was reliant on cheap imports of food from overseas, and only 30 per cent of food was home-produced. The introduction of rationing by the Ministry of Food was therefore inevitable in January 1940 and families were encouraged to grow their own. By 1943 there were over 1.4 million allotments, producing over a million tons of vegetables that year. The need to change the public’s attitude towards waste and portion size was very important when food supply was limited. People were encouraged not to waste food or to take more than they needed. In this poster James Fitton captures the positive message of austerity that the Ministry of Food were keen to promote. Illustrated by James Fitton for the Ministry of Food, c. 1942. Increasing calcium intake amongst vulnerable sections of British society was a priority for the Ministry of Food. Milk rations were increased for pregnant women and children as priority groups. The initiative’s legacy would be the provision of free milk to schoolchildren from 1946 until 1971. Abram Games was appointed Official War Office Poster Artist and created this effective poster to encourage people to grow their own food using all available space. The connection between the food grown in the ground and the food on your plate was one the government was keen to emphasise, particularly for those who lived in built up areas and were not familiar with growing their own fruit and vegetables. Tom Purvis designed posters for the Ministry of Supply and for National Savings. This poster was designed to remind people to share their shelters and help others take cover when the air raid sounds. People were encouraged to stick it on the inside of a door as a handy reminder. The blackout caused an increase in road traffic accidents and personal injuries. People were encouraged to wear something white such as a glove or badge so that they could be spotted. Fougasse was the pen name of Cyril Kenneth Bird, a cartoonist for Punch and illustrator for London. He offered his services to the Ministry of Information to design this poster free of charge, believing humour could unite British people in joint action. In 1939 when this poster was made heavy bombing of the urban areas of Britain was predicted. When the first wave of evacuation began on 1st September 1.5 million children were moved, most in school groups. However, as no bombing occurred during the first year known as the Phoney War nearly half of all evacuees returned home by January 1940. This poster was used to encourage mother’s to keep their children out of London as Hitler appears as a ghostly figure trying to get her to take her children back home. Children were encouraged to help the war effort by collecting metal, paper and rags for recycling. On this poster, soap cartons have been used in the manufacture of artillery shells. Children could earn the red Junior Salvage Steward cog badge as shown on the poster for their salvage efforts. The “Cogs” even had their own song which began “There’ll Always be a Dustbin” sung to the tune of “There’ll Always be an England” which gave them a sense of belonging. The Squanderbug was created by artist Phillip Boydell, an employee of the National Savings Committee. The Committee raised funds by urging the public to save their own money and invest it in the war effort. The cartoon bug appeared in press adverts and poster campaigns as a menace who encouraged shoppers to waste money rather than buy war savings certificates. Recycling was very important during the Second World War. Relentless attacks on British and Allied shipping meant that Britain had to be self-sufficient. People were encouraged to recycle animal bones for their multiple uses, such as glue and fertilizer. The Czech artist Dorrit Dekk, moved to London from Austria after the 1938 Anschluss and designed many posters, including some for London Transport