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PRODUCE FOR VICTORY: POSTER ON THE AMERICAN HOME FRONT - 1941-1945 Smithsonian Exhibit |
All exhibits are free and open to the public Tuesday - Friday from noon to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to
1 p.m. at the Lincoln Art Center, 126 E. Lincoln Ave., Lincoln, Kansas 67455. For more information
call (785) 524-3241.
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“Produce for Victory:
Posters on the American Home Front, 1941-1945”
It’s been more than 60 years since the BIG war-World War II. Three generations have now lived through it and its aftermath. People, worldwide, joined together as never before to defeat those who would have taken away our freedoms and lives.
As the years pass we tend to forget the reasons for our sacrifices. This exhibition is a reminder of the need to be ever watchful, to cherish our freedoms and to remember or to learn the lessons of history.
While our young men were off to foreign lands to fight for our sovereignty, American citizens united as never before. Women went to work in the factories and raised Victory Gardens to help feed their families. Farm produce went to feed our boys in the service. Common items were recycled—grease was saved to be used in the manufacture of munitions; metals and newspapers were collected to be used in the war effort. Buttons replaced elastic, as rubber was needed for war machines, legs were bare because nylon was manufactured into parachutes and we collected lard with a yellow dye to give it the appearance of butter. We bought war bonds, attended rallies to keep our spirits high and endured rationing. In the schools we made posters to display in cities and towns urging the defeat of the axis powers. Life would never be the same again. Many Home Front Heroes in Lincoln County were doing their best to support the war effort and they are honored in this exhibition.
The colorful government posters exhibited here were a visual call-to-arms, mobilizing Americans to unite as a citizen army—to serve and make sacrifices in the name of patriotism. Were they art or advertising? Well-regarded artists of the era combined the power of art with the power of advertising to encourage the home front folks to do their part. The exhibits, programs and displays in and about Lincoln will show some of the ways in which the folks on the home front managed their lives while doing their part to win the war.
pvBattleStations.jpg
Battle Station Poster:
(Fisher Body Division, General Motors Corporation)
Hollywood style posters engaged workers and encouraged them to take the role of “production soldiers” vital to America’s success in war. Credit: Terry McCrea, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
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