Grayson Collins and Shelbey Devine

Project 2 Final Paper

Dr. Wickliff
English 4274

War Propaganda Posters Project

The two images that we selected were created as posters to persuade citizens to
contribute to the war funding efforts, as people would buy war bonds, making a loan to
the U.S. government. The history of the posters we selected are from the WWII era.
This era falls between the years of 1939-1945. There was much fear of German Nazi
takeover, or home invasion (such as the war coming to American grounds) from German
submarines off the Atlantic Coast. There was also much fear, responsibility, and
patriotism through these posters to the American people, to
encourage those that were at home and not fighting abroad
to support the war from home and to help to bring their
families home.
The Dont Let That Shadow Touch Them poster
was released in 1942 and was created by Lawrence Beal
Smith specifically for the US Department of Treasury.
Although this poster has been mass-produced, the initial
image can be found in the Library of Congress. It was

Figure 1: "Don't Let That

Shadow Touch Them Buy
War Bonds. 2016. Library
of Congress

originally published in Washington D.C. in the U.S. Government Printing Office for the
purpose of influencing the WWII era American citizens to support the war by buying war

bonds (which were essentially loans to the federal government). This classic World War
II propaganda poster shows a strong perspective on ethos, pathos, and logos through
underlying rhetorical themes. The poster features three young children playing outside
within the rims of a swastika symbol. The poster reads, Dont Let That Shadow Touch
Them Buy War Bonds. This hits both the ethos and pathos that the poster aims to
accomplish. Children remain society's most innocent and vulnerable being, this is why
they are always terrifyingly subjected to be in the creepiest horror films. In most
societies, people see children as honest, innocent, and untainted. They havent lived long
enough to understand the horrors of the world. The visual representation of the three
children on the poster under the horrifying swastika co-developed with the strong verbal
representation symbolizes that these kids could be your own. To put an even stronger
emphasis on this message the children appear with classic toys of paper hats, airplanes,
and dolls, the children that could be your own are so innocent and unaware of the
danger that lurks behind them of the Nazi attacks; though in this poster the older brother
seems to be aware somewhat and be protecting his younger sisters. We see in this poster
an older male child seeming to be looking out for or protecting his younger sisters. This
exemplifies the male responsibility in American 1940s society. This aids in calling out to
any man viewing this poster to their responsibility in taking care of their women,
families, and country through this time of worldwide crisis.
The use of highly saturated colors make the poster more dramatic and seeming
more cautious than if they were to have used lighter hues of colors. There is black
shadow surrounding the swastika, known to represent the American enemy. This poster
also used dreary colors, no red (other than in the US flag), pink, or other perceived happy

colors. The poster uses orange and yellow on the clothes of the children, but still uses
duller dreary shades of that color, versus the sunny yellow and bright orange we
often see in childrens clothing. The yellow and orange were most likely picked for the
childrens garments so that attention would be drawn to them specifically. This dullness
of color is used to contribute to the overall dreary message and cautiousness that is
brought to the image.
Another aspect that is involved in this poster is the idea of patriotism. The little
boy holds a small American flag compared to the large swastika. The idea behind the
symbolization of war, infamous Nazis, and the American flag encourages viewers to
stand up for their country. The War Bonds claim to hold the power that will keep the
children and people of America safe. Now, one can see this poster reproduced as a
representation of the time period and American history, altogether. The older boy in the
image stands in front with his arm in front of the smaller children. With his father most
likely at war, he is the man of the house, even at his young age socially he is now of a big
responsibility to protect his family while his father is at war. Typography plays a deep
role in this poster. The typeface is in a small san serif font that reads, Dont let the
shadows touch them. Then the type switches to a script typeface for the word buy.
This emphasizes the need for people to take action. Then the typeface switches again to a
very large and bold san serif font that reads, War Bonds. This is the focus of the entire
advertisement so it make sense for this to be the largest font and a bold san serif.

The second poster, Till We Meet Again was created by Joseph Hirsch for the
US War Savings Staff in 1942. It is a part of the World War Poster Collection as well as

the World War Two Collection. It is currently held at the

University of North Texas (UNT) Digital Library, but it was
originally published in Washington D.C. in the U.S. Government
Printing Office.
War Bond propaganda posters were a huge part of
advertising during World War II. This Poster conveys a strong
message through the use of words, color, typography, and design
Figure 2: "Till we meet again:
buy war bonds." 2016. UNT
Digital Library.

elements. The color in this image co-developed with the words

create the most salient design. The color yellow was a very

important color during World War Two. This color was often on yellow ribbons, this
represented that the person was waiting for a loved one to return from war. The color
yellow in the poster represents just that. It also is a great attention getting color and is the
only warm color represented in this poster. When reading the poster, So well Meet
Again, Buy More War Bonds goes right with the theme of the yellow and waiting for a
loved one to come home. This sends a powerful message to families to purchase war
bonds to help bring their husbands home.
The major aspect of this selection of images is the impact or influence that it is
attempting to have on viewers. These images were based on the assumption or
impression that the US was in war and was therefore in a national crisis and in need of
help from the citizens within the nation. Fear, concern of the nations status, and hope for
future success within the nation are all themes that we will embody within our project on
this selection of images. The United States used posters to advertise war bonds and

gather support for WWII, and produced more propaganda posters than any other country
fighting in World War II. Almost 200,000 different copies were printed during the war.
The two artists responsible for these posters created both of them specifically for
the US Department of Treasury for their use of advertising the need of War Bonds to the
US public as propaganda posters. Both of these posters were published in Washington
D.C. in the U.S. Government Printing Office. Some of Smiths original lithographs,
paintings and, sculptures are included in the permanent collections of major galleries,
such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Fogg Art Museum in
Cambridge, the University of Chicago, and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
Joseph Hirsch was a realist painter whose work was often socially oriented and imbued
with humanism. During World War II, he created many war-related posters, while he
served as an artist-correspondent for the U.S. government.
Photography was used to get the painting to print, then rollers with ink were used
to make copies of them. They would also add fine particles of clay in paper production to
the processes to prevent the inks/ dyes from bleeding onto other surfaces. The particles
of clay would absorb the ink and hold it in the paper, making it sealed better within the
paper. Johannes Gutenberg invented the handbill that allowed for printing and
advertising. This invention was created in 1450 and later improved in 1796. This started
the lithographic process which started the illustrated poster. An analogy for this type of
technology leading to the development of the posters would be like the flip phones
invention leading to an iPhone - the changes were drastic, but they were definitely the
stepping stones for the 1940s technology that created the posters. The process was
very long and consisted of many things to ensure the poster were sustainable. The

posters were needed in places where they would be viewed the most. They were placed
where there was a high volume of drivers and people walking around, this is when
billboards were needed. The billboards were originally roadside advertising. People
would paint posters on walls and fences so bypasses would know that their organization
was close by and sold certain items. In 1835, the largest poster was more than 50 square
feet, this was advertising for the circus. Public service advertising was very encouraged
in 1913 and placing this on billboards is still very popular.
During World War, the need to support war efforts was huge. Propaganda posters
appeared everywhere trying to encourage people to buy war bonds. These posters
represented a time of American unity, where this nation knew that in order to get through
this war and bring their loved ones home alive, they had to come together and work, raise
money, and save resources for the war effort. Although no war would probably be
considered as a good event in history, how the Americans back home banded together to
assist the effort was remarkable and can remind us of a time when the American was less
the individual black, white, male, female and more a member of this nation. Posters
like these bring us back to times like these and can hopefully help restore the unity in
this nation. We believe this is why poster and various other memorabilia are so popular,
even nearly seventy years later.

Work Cited
American Historical Association. The Story of Propaganda 2013.
https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-andarchives/gi-roundtable-series/pamphlets/what-is-propaganda/the-story-ofpropaganda
History Net. World War II Facts, information and articles about World War 1939-1945
2016. http://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii
Library Of Congress. Dont let that shadow touch them, buy war bonds 2016.
https://www.loc.gov/item/2015647884/
Outdoor Advertising Association of America. History Of OOH 2016.
http://www.oaaa.org/about/historyofooh.aspx
Time. WWII Posters. 2015 http://search.time.com/?q=WWII+posters&site=time
Ro Gallery. Lawrence Beall Smith, American (1909-1989) 2016.
http://rogallery.com/Smith_Lawrence/Smith_Lawrence-bio.html
UNT Digital Library. Till we meet again: buy war bonds. 2016.
http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc447/
United States History. U.S. War Bonds 2016
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1682.html