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"Keep 'em Smiling"
"Keep 'em Smiling"
This poster is an example of propaganda around America during the First World War. The poster was printed in 1918 by the United War Work Campaign and created by the artist M. Leone Bracker. This poster was created towards the end of the war, considering America didn’t even join until almost the end of the war in 1917. This is not a form of government propaganda to get people into the war, but rather advertisement for an organization that supported the soldiers. The goal of this advertisement was to convince those at home to help the War Camp Community Service to boost morale by supporting the war and the soldiers.
Throughout most of the Great War, morale was one of the biggest fights that everyone was fighting. Every country, every member of the military was questioning what they were doing and why. Because of this, militaries struggled to find excitement or eagerness within their soldiers. For the first time there was a question of if what they were fighting for was worth it. It was unpleasant to be a soldier in WWI. There was mud, sickness, and death all around, with no hope in sight. Propaganda like this was created to help those at home give our soldiers that extra bit of hope they needed to get through the war.
This poster is probably close to 18 inches by 24 inches in size. With a poster this size it was not just a bulletin board flyer, it had to be a full display on a wall or in a window somewhere. The poster contains three men, all smiling with their arms around one another.
The men appear to each be wearing a hat to represent different ranks, or branches of the military. The one (on left) appears to be in a normal soldier’s hat, the one in the center is wearing a marine hat, and the third man (on right) is in a sailor’s hat. Using the three different people the poster is giving the idea that all of the men in the war, no matter the rank or the branch were in need of high morale and that they were happy and supportive of this war. The men appear in dark blue, which we can assume is to create a patriotic look within the poster, without going overboard.
All of the text on this poster also appears in dark blue. The text is also mostly lower case, with the exception of the names of the organizations on the poster. By keeping all of the text in lower case, the poster creates a sense of calm, and doesn’t make it seem as though they are yelling at you to join their organization. The words “morale is winning the war” is quoted at the bottom of the poster, with “keep ‘em smiling!” in large text in the middle of the poster under the picture of the three soldiers. The only other text on the poster is the logo for the United War Work Campaign and text that reads “help War Camp Community Service.”
The limited text on the poster helps the reader be able to quickly view the poster and get a sense of what the United War Work Campaign is wanting the viewer to do. By saying “keep ‘em smiling” the United War Work Campaign is indicating that by keeping the soldiers happy, the United States will have a better chance at winning the war, and to help keep the soldiers happy, you just have to join or donate to the War Camp Community Service. By saying “keep ‘em smiling,” the poster is putting the emotional state of the soldiers in the hands of the citizens at home. This poster as well as any other propaganda from the war gives us insight as to what was most important to people and what people thought or did during the time of World War I.
This poster was created for the United War Work Campaign. On the bottom left-hand side of the poster is the logo of the United War Work Campaign, which consists of a red circle, with a blue circle enclosed, with the logo and name of the organization around the rim of the circle. The United War Work Campaign was a joint effort compiled of multiple voluntary organizations during WWI. The goal of this organization was to raise money and boost morale of soldiers. They hosted balls, and other events when the soldiers were home, so they would leave in good spirits. The main goal of this propaganda was to get citizens at home to join an organization that wanted to boost morale of soldiers. In order to do this, the United War Work Campaign printed this poster to get people to join their cause as part of War Camp Community Service. War Camp Community Service was also created to boost morale, as well as to create a unity between soldiers and citizens.
The WVRHC archive is a wonderful piece of history right here at our university. Getting a firsthand perspective on what WWI was like for people right here in West Virginia is such a mind opening experience. Every year in history class you hear about World War I as well as other major events in history and you never consider what these things were like for the people here at home. While the poster I analyzed was a great perspective on what the people around this area were seeing and being exposed to, the other pieces in the archive were so interesting to read and get inside the heads of the people from West Virginia in this time period. I am a psychology student, so being able to see what the propaganda, the lifestyles, and the mindsets of those from right here in West Virginia. Having access to these archives is such an important thing not only for students, but for the historians who are still researching these time periods in different places across the globe. It is so important that we continue to learn more and more about our history, and more and more things are added to the archives all the time. As more things are added to these archives, historians can change and correct our history. History is ever changing, and these archives and new information is what makes that change possible.
Bibliography
Roth, Miriam, Jonathan Tilden, Sam Stout, and Ian Bussan. “The 1918 United War Work Campaign.” For the Boys Over There, 2015. http://unitedwarwork.com/.
Sipe, Lucy A. “World War I Posters.” Collection: World War I Posters | West Virginia University Archivesspace, December 2014. https://archives.lib.wvu.edu/repositories/2/resources/5677.
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