Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Office of Price Administration Poster, 1943. |
Object Name |
Poster |
Scope & Content |
Office of Price Administration Poster, 1943. Poster with a white background on top and bottom with two pencil engravings of two women at a store buying cans of rations from a mustached man at a counter. The first one has the one woman, with a firm angry look, buying all the cans of rations from the man at the counter and the other woman with an angry look at the man who points to the woman who bought all the rations. In the first engraving, on top of the woman buying all the rations, in a painted white border with red bold lettering, the text says "WITHOUT RATIONING". The word "WITHOUT" is underlined. The second one has the man smiling and giving one can of rations to both women who are both smiling. On top of the woman on the left, in a painted white border with red bold lettering, the text says "WITH RATIONING". The word "WITH" is underlined. In the middle of both engravings, in a red background border with white and big lettering, the text reads "Rationing means a fair share for all of us." At the bottom middle of the poster, printed in black, bold and tiny lettering, the text reads "U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943--O-514175". Next to the text above, printed in black, bold and small lettering, the text reads "Office of Price Administration / Washington D.C." Next to the text above, in a black and white insignia with a small scale in the middle, at the top in white and in bold and tiny lettering with a black background, the painted text reads "OFFICE OF PRICE ADMINSTRATION". At the bottom of the black and white insignia, painted in white, in bold and big lettering with a black background, the text reads "OPA". Dimensions: 28 x 20 |
Date |
1943 |
Creator |
Unknown |
Catalog Number |
0000.790.008 |
Collection |
Archival Collection |
Notes |
"To control the content and imagery of war messages, the government created the U.S. Office of War Information (OWI) in June 1942. Among its wide-ranging responsibilities, OWI sought to review and approve the design and content of government posters. Eventually, two contending groups within OWI clashed over poster design. Those who saw posters as "war art" favored stylized images and symbolism, while recruits from the world of advertising wanted posters to be more like ads. When admen gained the upper hand at OWI, the look of government posters changed decidedly. OWI officials felt that the most urgent problem on the home front was the careless leaking of sensitive information that could be picked up by spies and saboteurs. OWI officials brought a variety of approaches to poster design. Graphics chief Francis Brennan, former art director of Fortune Magazine, believed that posters should be "war art", combining the sophisticated style of contemporary art with the promotion of war aims. OWI drew some of its specialists from the world of advertising and commercial art, who tended to think in terms of "ad campaigns". The results were sometimes oddly superficial -- posters that translated messages of sacrifice and struggle into the familiar advertising world of smiling faces and carefree households. Advertising specialists in OWI finally gained the upper hand in 1943. From that time, government posters looked more like magazine illustrations, and the idea of "war art" was abandoned. OWI's admen now ran "information campaigns", using posters in concert with magazines, radio, and other kinds of paid advertising space." [http://americanhistory.si.edu/victory/victory5.htm-12/4/2016] |
Search Terms |
Cans Poster Posters Stores World War II World War Two |
Subjects |
Cans Posters Stores & shops World War II |
Credit line |
Courtesy of R.N. Faulkner |