This week, instead of choosing one poster, I wanted to try to trace patterns through several posters produced by the same company or organization to see if there were any similarities or interesting developments. One company that I noticed produced several of the posters in the McFarlin collection was the United War Work Campaign, which comprised of seven organizations (Young Men’s Christian Association, Young Women’s Christian Association, American Library Association, War Camp Community Service, national Catholic War Council (or Knights of Columbus), Jewish Welfare Board, and Salvation Army). Evidently, this group combined diverse religious, gendered, and community groups and individuals for the united goal of raising money for the war.

As an aside, while looking up information about the UWWC, I found a very interesting transcript of a “telephone brigade” associated with the organization that seems to be using familiar propaganda tactics in trying to get citizens to “do a little bit more” and not be “slackers” which is an interesting parallel to the prints we are looking at today. http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/tp/id/52867

As far as the posters, though, it looks like there are four that were produced by the United War Work Council, though I want to look at and compare two of them in this post, both incorporating the same title of “The Spirit of War Camp Community Service”. In the first, the theme is “home hospitality” while in the second, it is “Invitations to Home and Entertainments”. Both of these posters contain groups of people who are a mix of civilians and soldiers (both army and navy respectively) and both offer some sort of sentiment of the comforts and perhaps normality of the domestic or non-military life.

In the first, we see a family sitting, eating, and conversing at the dinner table, with women, parents, and young men who all seem to be in uniform. I wonder if the family depicted is that of the soldiers, or if the soldiers are being treated by an American family merely trying to help serve them by showing “home hospitality” (or perhaps both). The emphasis here certainly seems to rest on what the family (non-soldier Americans) can do for the soldiers. Perhaps by contributing money to the UWWC families can feel like they are giving soldiers in the war camps the kind of hospitality that is depicted here? In the next “Spirit of War Camp Community Service” poster, there is another group of people, seemingly comprised of navy and army soldiers, and a well-dressed woman who is helping the soldiers receive their “Invitations to Home and Entertainments”. Again, the focus seems to be on the woman, who is helping the soldiers, rather than the soldiers themselves. The soldiers are looking on, but the woman is engaging with the soldiers in a way that seems very active for a fixed poster art setting.

Thinking about the organization(s) behind these posters, there is a lot in them to unite the viewer. Every person, no matter what their gender or religion, can find comfort in a “home cooked meal” or appreciate the normalcy, safety and comfort of a domestic or family community. There is nothing particularly divisive or controversial about them, but rather these posters seem to appeal to a particular type of moment and feeling that the public might imagine the soldiers long for while they are away from home and from these types of moments. (Perhaps this particular type of perspective, i.e. imagining what the soldiers want beyond basic material elements, also centers the propaganda on the organization or community rather than the soldiers themselves). The posters seem to be arguing that even though the soldiers are not at home, we can do our part to help them to experience these moments of home once more through community efforts. The community (and all of the diverse organization that make it up) matters and can make a difference for American soldiers.