America Wants You!

   When nations go to war, they have a big problem: how do they convince their own citizens to place their bodies in front of the guns of the enemy? A great propaganda effort is needed to persuade people to sign up because it's patriotic, it's adventuresome and it's just the "manly" (and "womanly") thing to do.

The James Montgomery Flagg Classic

Don't Forget the Ladies

The Ultimate Guilt Trip

We weren't afraid to use the "Crusader" word back then!

When Civilization calls, will you be there to answer?

Another "Crusader" Analogy

Some of the most effective posters were those that de-humanized the enemy using vile, racist stereotypes.

The Ultimate Appeal

Prohibiting Pleasure

U.S. drug officials are discovering that it's not easy to prohibit something the public enjoys doing. Before we consider pouring more and more resources into a seemingly endless "War on Drugs", we should consider America's last attempt to legislate morality.

Prohibition Postcard

Prohibition Ad

Prohibition Headline

Internal Revenue agent officially closes an illegal drinking establishment (1925)

Internal Revenue agent pours beer down a sewer while NYC police commissioner John Leach watches 1921.

Dumping Alcohol in Detroit

Smugglers developed many ways to transport their alcohol.

Like medical marijuana users today, people could get legal prescriptions from sympathetic doctors for consuming alcohol.

Woman taking a flask from her Russian boot 1925.

Repeal Campaign Truck

Celebrating Repeal

Red Scare Redux

Young people today have no idea just how paranoid Americans were in the years following World War II. The Capitalist economic system could not tolerate any competition to its plan to dominate the world so it instituted a 60 year propaganda campaign to scare Americans about the evils of the Communist system. Here are some excellent examples of Cold war hysteria.

America's First Recycling Campaign

Young people today think that the attempt to get people to recycle is a fairly new phenomenon. In fact, however, this is our country's second attempt to get people to use their resources wisely. During World War II, the public was asked to make sacrifices (unlike today's wars) by conserving, recycling and re-using things. This was accomplished by a government PR campaign which mainly used posters as the way to get the message across.