Second World War Posters Learning Resources

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Why Not Wear Something White Instead? The blackout caused an increase in road traffic accidents and personal injuries. Fougasse was the pen name of Cyril Kenneth Bird, a cartoonist for Punch and illustrator for London Underground before and after the Second World War. He offered his services to the Ministry of Information free of charge, believing his brand of humour could unite British people in collective action. © IWM (Art.IWM PST 3751)

Go Through Your Wardrobe – Make-Do And Mend Clothes rationing was introduced in June The Make Do and Mend campaign was launched by the Board of Trade in This poster was illustrated by Donia Nachsen. Originally from Russian Poland, Nachsen whose style derived from Art Deco. Alongside her poster designs for the Board of Trade and General Post Office she continued to illustrate books in wartime, and illustrated many works of Russian literature and poetry. © IWM (Art.IWM PST 4773)

Plan And Grow For Winter In 1939 Britain was reliant on cheap imports of food from overseas, and only 30 per cent of food was home- produced. The introduction of rationing by the Ministry of Food was therefore inevitable in January By 1943 there were over 1.4 million allotments, producing over a million tons of vegetables that year. © IWM (Art.IWM PST 16992)

A Clear Plate Means a Clear Conscience – Don’t Take More Thank You Can Eat James Fitton illustrated several posters for the Ministry of Food from 1942 onwards. Like many other British wartime posters Fitton’s designs give austerity positive characteristics and are decorative as well as being persuasive. These devices were not appreciated by all in the design community, with artists like J.B. Nicholson and Henry Moore noting the absence of any realism capturing the reality of wartime Europe, with millions of refugees and effects of nightly air raids. © IWM (Art.IWM PST 2814)

Milk – The Backbone Of Young Britain Illustrated by James Fitton for the Ministry of Food, c Increasing calcium intake amongst vulnerable sections of British society was a priority for the Ministry of Food. Milk rations were increased for pregnant women and children. The initiative’s legacy would be the provision of free milk to schoolchildren from 1946 until © IWM (Art.IWM PST 4944)

Grow Your Own Food Abram Games was a freelance poster artist before the war. In 1941 he was conscripted into the army and then worked in the War Office Public Relations Department. He was appointed Official War Office Poster Artist, and given almost free hand. He created some of the most outstanding and, at times, controversial posters of the war. © IWM (Art.IWM PST 2893)

In A Raid – Open Your Door To Passers-By Before the Second World War Tom Purvis designed iconic 1930s posters advertising the railway for London and North Eastern Railways (LNER). During the war Purvis designed posters for the Ministry of Supply and for National Savings. This poster was designed to act as a handy reminder to stick on the inside of a door. After the war he withdrew from commercial poster design to pursue portraiture and religious painting. © IWM (Art.IWM PST 13874)

Don’t Do It, Mother – Leave The Children Where They Are This poster from 1939 shows the Mother’s doubt about leaving her children evacuated. Hitler appears as a ghostly figure, trying to get her to take her children home. When this poster was made, heavy bombing of the urban areas of Britain was predicted. The first wave of evacuation began on 1 st September and lasted three days with 1.5 million children leaving, most in school groups. However, as no bombing happened, during the period known as the Phoney War, almost half of the evacuees had returned home by January © IWM (Art.IWM PST 8235)

Look What’s Happening To Our Salvage – Join The ‘COGS’ Children were encouraged to help the war effort by collecting metal, paper and rags for recycling. On this poster, soap cartons have been used in the manufacture of artillery shells. Children could earn the red Junior Salvage Steward cog badge. The “Cogs” had their own song which began “There’ll Always be a Dustbin” sung to the tune of “There’ll Always be an England”. Another campaign involving children was “Saucepans for Spitfires”. © IWM (Art.IWM PST 14738)

Wanted For Sabotage The Squanderbug first appeared in newspaper adverts. Children’s illustrator, Dr Seuss, adapted the image to promote War Bonds in the USA. The Squanderbug tempted people to be wasteful, which sabotaged Britain’s war effort. Artist Phillip Boydell designed the creature he originally called a Money Grub for British National Savings Committee campaigns. They wanted to persuade people to buy savings certificates to finance the war. © IWM (Art.IWM PST 3406)

Bones Are Still Needed Recycling was very important during the Second World War. Relentless attacks on British and Allied shipping meant that Britain had to be self-sufficient. The Czech artist Dorrit Dekk was a printmaker, illustrator and designer. She moved to London from Austria after the 1938 Anschluss and designed many posters, including some for London Transport. © IWM (Art.IWM PST 14686)

Still More Rags Wanted For Salvage The artist John Gilroy came from an advertising background, creating the famous 1930’s Guinness adverts featuring animals from the zoo. The dustman, wearing the distinctive dustman’s hat from the period, features in four posters by Gilroy for the Ministry of Supply’s salvage drive. Here he is leading a figure made of rags for recycling. This poster was designed in © IWM (Art.IWM PST 14752)

Save Waste for War Weapons The theme of this poster is salvage. Here the cartoons of British civilians on the Home Front are linked to black and white ones of war images. Paper is repulped to make ammunition, metal is remelted to make tanks and guns and rags are rewoven for uniforms. Everyone on the Home Front had an important role to play in winning the war. © IWM (Art.IWM PST 14688)

Salvage Is Vital In Conserving Our Shipping This is one of a series of posters linked to salvage saving shipping space. In 1942 over 5 million tonnes of Allied shipping was sunk, much of it by U-boats. A merchant vessel is seen sinking beneath stylised orange waves and a pile of waste metal objects, including saucepans and tin cans, can be seen in the middle. The salvage drive included removing iron railings and gates from parks and homes. This poster by Abram Games shows the importance of salvage, something that everyone on the Home Front could do. © IWM (Art.IWM PST 2868)

Second World War Posters Learning Resources