Savile Lumley, 1915.
Although very different in purpose and intention, these two poster images are linked through many factors- aesthetically, historically, and socially- though, perhaps most importantly, depicting individual values of nationalism and patriotic pride.
The first illustration, by Savile Lumley (1915), shows a smartly- dressed and educated- looking British family. The Father sitting in his armchair, embellished with patterns of royal symbolism, the red rose curtains drawn in the background, whilst his educated young daughter sits upon his lap, reading a book, and his son plays with British toy soldiers at his feet- a symbol that, (as understood by the language of the past tense) that the War, though over, will never be forgotten, as Britain stands victorious.
It is clear that this picture has been created to emphasise quintessential Britishness, a "stiff upper lip" traditionally, with it's focus during the period of the country's history of the first World War (1914-1918). Combined with the sophisticated italics of the typeface at the bottom of the illustration, the scene is created as one of power, happiness and prosperity. However, the daughter's words spoken to her Father, in the aforementioned typography, set a very contrasting tone- "Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War?", the illustration thus acting as a "flash forward" to the future, directly aimed at young men of service age, as the Father figure in the illustration would have been.
From the illustration it is clear to see that the Father has a "far-away" and guilt-ridden look upon his face as his daughter asks him this question, and, of course, that is the advertisement's intention- a method to encourage young men to sign up to fight for King and country. The Father's gaze looks straight to the viewer, with the 'YOU' (also aesthetically linking this to Kitchner's "your country needs you" images) both in uppercase and underlined, drawing in attention, and, as they hoped, developing a deeper and more profound effect as young men would imagine themselves in this scene.
As I have previously mentioned, although the second image does indeed hold a resemblance in the style of it's illustration, the advertising and publication purposes really couldn't be any more different. The 'Uncle Sam Range' advertising poster (created in 1876), almost remarkably, was created to promote ovens- although promoted in a very different way to the much more direct and bold style that the last century has provided in graphic design.
This illustration is bursting with symbolism and messages that, during this time, were sentimental and were particularly patriotic towards the country. The bold, Western-like typography is clear and direct- helping to inform and communicate it's product and, of course, the company name. Perhaps most obviously, is the red, white and blue star theme throughout the room- representative of the American flag-standing for unity and strength, lavishly applied among many other desireable and enviable items, as "Uncle Sam" sits in upper-class grandeur. He sits relaxed at a time when African-Carribean slaves were commonplace, and, of course, gender equality was not even a consideration, as the woman presents a meal to him.
The clock in the toward reads two dates between it, the first, July 4th 1776, the second, a hundred years later on 1876 (when this illustration was published), celebrating one hundred years of indepencdence, again, along with so many other symbolisms (the American Bald Eagle that sits upon his shoulder being another example!), this advertisement is based upon the ideal, which would, of course, sell the product. In this scenario, the "American Dream" is portrayed, and in this context, it makes it appear that if you own one of their products, that "American Dream" will be yours also.
Upon analysing the two images, it is clear that the intentions are complete oposites, yet, unsually, they both aspire to create a vision of ideals and perfection, whether it be in America or Britain, with a message that reads "this could all be yours".
'The Uncle Sam Range' (1876)
by Schumacher and Ettlinger, New York.
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