Propaganda from Downtown Brown Books, ABAA

New York: General Cable Corporation, 1945. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. A survey of the propaganda and motivational posters designed and published by the General Cable Corporation during the Second World War. The posters are documented with 33 high quality full-page reproductions printed with spot colors (rather than four-color CMYK separations). On the page facing each poster is… Read more about this item

[Washington, DC]: United States Office of Price Administration, 1943. Ephemera. Very good. During the Second World War, posters like this one hung in most of the grocery stores in the United States, but few of them have survived. A key homefront concern of the federal government was runaway inflation, which had posed a significant economic problem during World… Read more about this item

Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1943. Ephemera. Near fine. A Second World War homefront poster encouraging Americans to participate in the federal efforts to ration scarce foodstuffs and goods. The text is presented in fields of red, white, and blue. 22 by 28 inches. O.P.A. Poster 1943-O-518863. A near fine copy, folded as issued. Minor splits at… Read more about this item

[Washington, DC]: Distributed by O.W.I. [Office of War Information] for the Office of Economic Stabilization, 1944. Ephemera. Very good. A rather fierce-looking poster encouraging women to participate in the federal efforts to control inflation driven by shortages during the Second World War. An illustration of a woman wearing an apron, her teeth and fist clenched dominate the poster.… Read more about this item

Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1945. Ephemera. Near fine. A 12-by-18-inch "window emblem" poster from the federal effort during the Second World War to keep inflation in check. Text reads, "We charge only ceiling prices or less / We post ceiling price lists prominently / We welcome questions about our prices." This poster was intended for… Read more about this item

(N.-pl.): Sponsored by Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company in Cooperation with the U.S. Government, 1944. Ephemera. Near fine. A World War Two-era homefront poster from private industry urging compliance with federal energy conservation goals through the purchase of consumer products (i.e., storm windows). Compared to official government posters, business propaganda posters are rather scarce. This private poster, compared… Read more about this item

[Washington, DC]: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1944. Ephemera. Near fine. A poster to encourage the quick unloading of freight trains by railroad employees. The text on the back (verso) says, "It is designed for posting in freight yards, on shipping platforms, and around all other points of freight car loading and unloading operations." The poster, produced for… Read more about this item

Washington, DC: Lumber and Timber Products War Committee, 1942. Poster. Near Fine. A terrific and dramatic home front propaganda poster encouraging lumber production published by a lobbying group of the National Lumber Manufacturers Association (now the National Forest Products Association). The poster depicts Uncle Sam, illustrated in a wood-cut style, holding an ax and pointing toward forested mountains.… Read more about this item

1940. A fifth-grader's "army reports and pictures" documenting German military victories and leaders. Young Ms. Wolter was (apparently) assigned to collect newspaper articles about Adolf Hitler and military victories, which she pasted neatly into a blank school lesson book. The collection begins with a newspaper photograph of Josef Goebbels congratulating the U-boat commander Günther Prien for sinking the HMS… Read more about this item

1944. Ephemera. Near Fine. An American propaganda leaflet enumerating the quantity of bombs being dropped on Germany. The front (recto) is a picture of bombed out buildings; the back (verso) is German text only, translated in part, "During the first three months of 1944, 80,000 tons of bombs were dropped on German industry. 8 by 5-1/2 inches.… Read more about this item

1943. Ephemera. Fine. A British propaganda leaflet aimed at Italians living in Tripoly, Libya, in 1943. This leaflet from the Second World War includes an image of a boot with a swastika crushing a building with text on the back warning citizens of Tripoli that the Germans will destroy the city when they retreat. Text in Italian.… Read more about this item