Ad Gallery.
These advertisements represent the atmosphere from 1939-1941 prior to when America entered into WWII.
1939-1941
THE LOOK OF HOMEFRONT AMERICA - Graphic Design's influence on America during WWII
PERSPECTIVES BEFORE WE BEGIN
As I collected artifacts and heard the stories, it became clear this generation was amazingly different from any other. It was a time American design went from main stream to world class moderist. Not all artifacts represened this new approach, but many mass media stared to grasp the style.
Information design is key to educating Americans on world events. With charts, diagrams, maps and symbols, Americans from every class were able to comprehend and keep up with the changing times
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EASILY RECOGNIZABLE SYMBOLS
Symbols were an important informational tool. Designers were able to
communication without limitation of literacy or language.
PRELUDE TO WWII
You build AN understanding about a group and their attitudes towards each other by researching their artifacts and they message the leave.
Artifacts become a mirror into how a group reprieved themselves and their environment. Whether it is a realistic view is not the point, but how a society represented themselves. America was thirsty for knowledge and eager to help in any way they could - which leads to completely embracing the marketing aimed towards them. Most had a high stake in WWII since their loved ones were on the battle fields.
After ten years of depression and strife, America celebrated a fresh hope for the new decade with the NY World's Fair in 1939. With Hitler's Wehrmacht blitz into Poland which began WWII, America's idealistic perspectives would soon be focused on wartime efforts and solutions.
The music, the arts, the cinema, and design reflected both the confidence of an invigorated nation and the romanticism due partly to doubts about the future. The 1940 tune "This Changing World" by Ray Eberle, said it all by asking where the world was taking us, and what it meant.
SETTING THE TONE for design
(Meggs' history of Graphic Design - pg356 Fifth Edition) "From 1935 - 1939, when the Federal Art Project was abolished, over two million copies of approximately thirty-five thousand poster designs were produced. Most of the designs were silk-screened. Silk-screen printing's characteristic flat color combined with influences from the Bauhaus, pictorial modernism, and constructivism to produce a modernist result that contrasted with the traditional illustration dominating much of American mass-media graphics of the era."
THE BAUHAUS INFLUENCE:
The Bauhaused trained designers introduced and influenced American modern design throughout the war years.
The Bauhaus - 'Building house": A German design school which attempted to create a new unity between art and industry by rejecting any division between decorative and constructional techniques.
Instructors at The Bauhaus: Kandinsky, Klee, Feininger, Moholy-Nagy, Gropius, Albers, Bayer, Schmidt, Breuer and others, some of which immigrated to America along with their students. The growing cloud of Nazi persecution led many to join the flight of intellectuals and artists to America.
MASS MEDIA
American media was the main method of communications. The newspaper, the magazines, posters, pamphlets, product advertisement and radio - all educated and inform the population.
The influences of European designers was seen from the early part of 1940 as demonstrated below with LIFE magazine taking on the similar look and style the the French weekly VU Magazine. Other publications adopting this clean style later on.
BELOW from left to right:
VU Magazine - Nov. 11, 1931 - A French pictorial magazine created and directed by Lucien Vogel.
LIFE Magazine - May 27, 1940
LOOK Magazine - March 20, 1945
THE POSTER
How the poster transformed into such an important form of communication because of it's appeal to the masses.
"We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth" - JFK 10/23/63
"It is also revealed, the poster both as an art form as well as communications that went straight to the heart of the subject"
- Mildred Constantine, passed Curator at the Museum of Modern Art 2003
The poster has to pass it's message to the viewer within seconds. With the use of less text and more graphic visuals, the designers are able to convey their message.
War departments used posters as the means of getting their message out. Below are several from the collection.
Link for poster gallery page: click
Right to left: Atherton's "Careless word", Matter's " America Calling", Broder's "United Nations"
Dr. SEUSS and isolationism
Theodor Seuss Geisel and his political thoughts - these will be YouTube videos - conversation and artifacts.
THE JEEP STORY
The Jeep has become synonymous to WWII. Rough and Tough! Ready to jump in there and do whatever is needed.
The Jeep story starts with the US government sending out a request to 135 automakers in the late 30's for the ultimate scout vehicle. Their list of requirements and an aggressive time line narrowed the field down to only American Bantam Car Company and the Willys-Overland who responded.
Bantams bid was out of shear desperation since the company was so financially strapped, it had to hire a freelancer, Karl Probst to come up with a plan for this all-terrain vehicle who worked without pay. Probst, initially was only to modify the then existing Bantam Blitz Buggy, but the governments list or requirements made revamping impossible. Time was running out for Probst to solve this problem and there was no time to re-engineer parts, he used "off the shelf parts". One crucial deal was with Spicer to modify the axle used in the 65hp Studebaker Champion to four-wheel drive.
Bantam won the contract mainly because Willy-Overland could not commit to the time line. The Bantam buggy was put through testing with positive results. Willys-Overland and Ford were allowed to submit prototypes passed on the Bantam buggy. Fining that the weight restrictions were to difficult to achieve, the government OKed the heavy versions, which ultimately favored the Willy's-Overland version. The Bantam company was running into further financial difficulties, which was another signal to the US government that if Bantam was given the contract, they would not financially be able to meet production needs.
The rest is history - Willy's-Overland won the contract for the new Army Scout vehicle. Bantam was given a contract for trailers. Later Wilys-Overland would share the specs with Ford so the two companies could share the manufacturing burden.
1940 - US Government sends final specs to create Amy Scout Vehicle
1943 - Trademark application
1944 - Bantam is developed into the army workhorse CJ-1
1945 - Jeep is trademarked by Willy's Overland
ABOVE: Three adds taken from Fortune July 1942 (Flag cover issue)
The Jeep emulates strength and energy. The greatest "Can Do" spirit.
ABOVE: Metal Jeep toy from the collection.
The tires are obviously new along with a new paint job, but the toy appears to be either home made or made at a small work shop. Made of stamped out metal. Since this is made of metal, this is something that would not have been made by a leading toy maker since there were no manufacturing of metal toys during the war. I am not sure of the year but the word WILLYS is stamped in in several areas. This also has a trailer to go along with it.
ABOVE: (left) A "Big Little" book - no year listed - is a Eugene the Jeep story
(right) The Jeep Board Game - this is a clever, pocket size game that folds out and sits snuggle on our leg with multiple games.
NAMING OF THE JEEP
With all my research, I couldn't really find the origins of the word JEEP. However, the word became a nick-name for anything that was perky, energetic, willing to help.
Eugene the Jeep - One of the most common explanations has to do with American's favorite cartoon of the spinish-gobbling sailor, Popeye. The E.C. Segar's Thimble Theatre comic features a magical dog/cat pet called Eugene the Jeep. He is known for his ability to "go anywhere and do anything"... which is coincidentally Jeep's motto.
There are other theories out there... The military slang - before the premier of the Willy's MB in '41, soldiers were using the term "jeep". as early as WWI, untested vehicles and newly enlisted soldiers were nicknamed jeeps. When they were testing the Army Scout, the soldiers were already calling it a Jeep - the term stuck. Additionally, one of the first recorded instances of the name Jeep (in reference to the vehicle) appeared in The Washington Daily News in June 1941. This was after Hausmann crawled up the Capitol steps in a prototype vehicle. The headline read: JEEP CREEPS UP CAPITOL STEPS
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Europe - 1939 Sept. 1 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The Battle of Westerplatte is often described as the first battle of WWII -
NY World's Fair Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens 1939. When WWII began six months into the fair, many exhibits were affected, especially those on display in the pavilions of countries under Axis occupation. New technologies were on display that would later be unitized for war time advancements. -
Geopolitical Despite the news from Europe, Americans still found Hitler's posturing gaintly ridiculous, a theme echoed by the entertainment and media industry. The idea of isolationism was argued by all sides -
Isolationism Theodor Seuss "Ted" Geisel - Dr. Seuss, political cartoonist for New York newspaper "PM". From the collection of book "Dr. Seuss Goes to War" you learn that the artist is very much against isolationism. Many readers didn’t know that "The Sneetches" was inspired by Seuss’s opposition to antisemitism, that "Horton Hears a Who!" was a political statement about democracy and isolationism -
UK Rationing In 1939 the UK started rationing to deal with extreme shortages the Ministry of Food instituted a system of rationing. -
RCA First electron microscope demonstrated in NJ. Developed by Radio Corp of America - first constructed at the University of Toronto by Eli Franklin Burton and students. -
Germany April 1940 - Germans and Soviets sign trade agreement. Germans start building Auschwitz concentration camp (Poland) -
Norway surrenders June 1940 -
Italy: June 1940 - Declares war on Britain and France -
Battle of Britain: July 1940 -
U-Boat July 1940 - Beginning of U-Boat "Happy Time" in the Atlantic. -
Roosevelt: July 1040 - Signs Two-Ocean Navy Expansion Act. -
Eagle Day Aug. 1940 - In the Battle of Britain: Luftwaffe bombs British fighter airfields. RAF retaliates by bombing Berlin. 8/40 -
War of Pin-badges The so called Spengelskrich begins in occupied Luxembourg as civilians wear patriotic lapel badges prominently in defiance of Nazi attempts to "Germanized" the territory. -
Selective Training and Service Act Passed Sept. 1940 - Created U. S.'s first peace-time draft and established the Selective Service System as an independent federal agency. -
Tripartite Pact Germany, Italy and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact in Berlin, a defensive military alliance. Then in March, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia joins Germany, Italy and Japan in the Axis Tripartite Pact. Bulgaria and Yugoslavia as well as by the German client state of Slovakia. Yugoslavia's accession provoked a coup d'etat in Belgrade two days later, and Germany, Italy and Hungary responded by invading Yugoslavia, with Bulgarian and Romanian assistance, and partitioning the country. The resulting Ital o-German client state, known as the Independent State of Croatia, joined the pact. -
Lend-Lease Act Jan. 1941 - US passes the Len-Lease Act to give much needed aid to US Allies. Then in Sept. US extended assistance to the Soviet Union through its Lend-Lease Act. -
"V" Jan. 1941 -First use of "V for Victory" by Victor deLaveleye on the BBC's Belgian Service, Radio Belgigue Then in June, the “V” sign displayed most notably by Churchill, is unofficially adopted as the Allied signal, along with the motif of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. -
US Citizen's Defense Corps Later to be renamed to the Civil Defense opens. -
Extermination Camps March 1941 - Nazi extermination camps in full operation. -
OPA April 1941 - Office of Price Administration opens in an effort to control money(price control) and rents. Then in May - Roosevelt revived the Advisory Commission to WWII Council on National Defense to include Price Stabilization and Consumer Protection Divisions. Both later merged into Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply (OPACS) -
Saving Bonds April 1941 - US Savings Bonds and Stamps go on sale. May 1941 - First Defense Bonds go on the market - later called War Bonds. -
Soviet/Japan April 1941 - Soviet / Japan Neutrality Pact signed. -
Assets Frozen June 1941 Roosevelt orders all German and Italian assets frozen. Then in July, he freezes Japanese assets -
Operation Barbarossa June 1941 - British Operation Barbarossa fails to relieve the Siege of Tobruk and is heavily defeated at Halfaya Pass – “Hell-fire pass” -
US AAF June 1941 - US Dept of War moves personal from US Army Air Corps to US Army Air Forces. -
Draft July 1941 - All American men over 21 are required to register for the draft. -
Atlantic Charter Aug. 1941 - Roosevelt and Churchill sign Atlantic Charter - the origins of the United Nations. -
Moscow Conference Sept. 1941 - Conference in Moscow Molotov (Soviet Union), Harriman (US), Lord Beavebrook (UK)., -
German U-Boat Sept. 1941 - USS Greer becomes the first US warship fired upon by a German -Boat even though the US is a neutral power. -
Odessa Massacre Oct. 1941 -... Begins and continues for two days. -
USS Reuben James Oct. 1941 - The destroyer is torpedoed by German U-boats, killing more than 100 Navy sailors. This was the first loss of an U.S. "neutral warship". -
Roosevelt Nov. 1941 - It is announced that the US Coast Guard will go under the direction of the US Navy - a transition of authority usually reserved only for wartime. -
Japanese cable Nov. 1941 -Joseph Grew, the US ambassador to Japan, cables the State Dept. that Japan had plans to launch an attack against Pearl Harbor, Hawaii - his cable is ignored. -
Roosevelt Dec. 4th, 1941 - Japan launches an attack on Pearl Harbor, declares war on the US and the UK and also invades Thailand and British Malaya and launches aerial attacks against Guam, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Shanghai, Singapore and Wake Island. Canada and Australia declares war on Japan. The Us, UK the Netherlands and New Zealand declare war on Japan.
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