JCMA Founders Hall Installation
Food Conservation Posters from WW I
Clean Your Plate!
Opens May 1, 2002
Founders Hall Corridor
The modern poster began more than two hundred years ago with the development of lithography.This economical printing method allowed for the mass production of inexpensive posters. Their low cost and wide distribution made posters one of the most effective forms of communication in the early twentieth century. Through bold designs and clear messages posters communicated commercial and cultural material to the general public. During the First World War (1914-1918), the poster also became a successful tool in the war effort.
Political posters were used during World War I by many of the countries involved in the conflict, particularly the United States. After declaring war in 1917, the American government created posters to promote the war effort and to unite the nation. Posters were made to generate enthusiasm, raise morale, and involve those at home with the boys at the front. Government sponsored posters urged the public to purchase war bonds, send warm clothes to the troops, ration and save food, and encourage women to work in the factories.
To do their part, artists contributed designs for such posters. In April of 1917, artist Charles Dana Gibson organized a group of illustrators to form the Division of Pictorial Publicity (DPP). This division was part of the Committee on Public Information (CPI), which was charged with the task of distributing information concerning the war. These artists donated their time, materials, and skills to create posters for the United States government. During its nineteen-month life span, the DPP produced approximately seven-hundred poster designs for more than fifty different government and civilian agencies. The posters in this exhibit were all commissioned by the United States Food Administration and appealed to the public to conserve food. This exhibition was organized and curated by Erin Pohronezny, a 2002 graduate of the Juniata College Museum Studies Program.