Jan 23rd, 2019: Don't Buy Poster

Something different...
I was looking at a bunch of WW II posters, some organizations but mostly governments.
In one bunch filed together, each poster was labeled US or UK and no other sources.
When I found this one labeled US I couldn't believe it.



The US government had been prompting war materiel suppliers to ramp up to supply the UK and Russia for a couple years.
Then after Pearl Harbor they quickly shut down or limited production of consumer goods, converting them to war production.
Most industries didn't suffer too much as the were paid well for these contracts. But people weren't happy about suddenly there
were plenty of jobs, they were finally making money after a long depression, and not much to buy.
Rationing wasn't even and some times blatantly unfair with the rich and connected vs the working guy/gal. But they coped,
tightened their belts, and did their part. That poster would have chafed... a lot.

The corporate guys knew the government largess would stop quickly at wars end, and were planning their post war strategy.
Planning product lines, improving old designs, and planning new products, as the war effort produced new materials and methods.
They were counting on pent up demand to jump start them and certainly didn't want that idea germinating in customers minds.
I'm sure they would have objected to the poster... strongly.

Mystery solved.



It's Canadian.