Topic: Potent Pictures: Propaganda Posters
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Posters were one of the most prevalent means of communicating propaganda messages to American citizens during World War II. Because they were inexpensive to design and print, posters could reach a wide audience with specific messages. Government posters—typically printed in the millions—were by far the most common; they often featured the designs of established and well-known artists (including Norman Rockwell, whose Four Freedoms images quickly became four million war posters). However, corporations and private institutions also produced posters during the war. Whatever their source, many thousands of these posters have survived in archival repositories, leaving a colorful record of what one propagandist called the “war within a war.”

Keep an Eye Open for Suspicious Acts
Title: Keep an Eye Open for Suspicious Acts
Year: unknown
Artist: unknown
Published: OCASC Intelligence Section

Guard the Supply Lines
Title: Guard the Supply Lines
Year: unknown
Artist: Adolph Treidler
Published: Association of American Railroads

Appreciate America
Title: Appreciate America
Year: 1941
Artist: unknown
Published: Appreciate America, Inc

Want Action?
Title: Want Action?
Year: 1942
Artist: James Montgomery Flagg
Published: US Marine Corps

I Want You
Title: I Want You
Year: 1941 [orig. 1916]
Artist: James Montgomery Flagg
Published: US Army

Woman’s Place in War
Title: Woman’s Place in War
Year: 1944
Artist: Michael Ramus
Published: US Army

Be a Marine
Title: Be a Marine
Year: 1943
Artist: unknown
Published: US Marine Corps, Office of War Information