The Uncle Sam Range (1876) - Image 1
Poster by Savile Lumley (1915) - Image 2
I have been asked to compare two image which on the surface may appear to have many differences but in reality share several similarities even taking into account their message, time of production and nationality.
Both use traditional illustrative methods to put across the desired message. This gave the artist and designers complete creative control over composition and content matter. These were the days when photography would have been expensive and people could still relate more to a piece of hand rendered advertising or promotional material. Images like the 'Uncle Sam Range' which depict fantasy and symbolism suit this method for obvious reasons.
We can see how the choice of lettering and font colour have been pondered upon in order to further back up their desired message. The slab woodblock style text in image 1 is generally associated with the wild west and the frontier, american prestige. It symbolises in many ways the land of the brave, the west and everything that brought with it. Freedom, opportunity and of course gold which therefore is an obvious choice for the text colour. It's big, unashamedly bold and undisputedly american. Compare this to image 2 and it's a very different affair. The tone is homely and subtle leaving the impression you are being asked the question. It's curls and even the choice to make it italic make it seem far more innocent than the subject matter actually is.
The subject matter in both images is thrown at you in every sense of the piece and both play heavily on symbolism and patriotism. The national symbols are thrust upon you in almost sickening measures within image 1 as opposed to image 2 where they are designed to be a little bit subtler.
Looking deeper into the meaning of the images however we see they portray very different messages. Image 1 is designed to appeal to american males in an era of fruition and national pride. 100 years on from the american revolution and uncle sam has the world over for dinner cooking them their favourite foods (or slightly offensive racial stereotypes of what their favourite foods were) all on the pinacle of culinary cremation, the all american and therefore all superior uncle sam range cooker. Every drop of patriotism is squeezed out here, bald eagles clash with the gluttonous use of stars and stripes draped from floor to ceiling as uncle sam and his young strapping boys (the east, the west and the south) are fed by the 'woman' and the negro slave, both signs of power and wealth.
On the other hand we have an image again aimed at males but for a much different cause. 1915 tells us that world war 1 had begun and this was a time before mandatory conscription meaning the army needed men and what better way then to guilt them into it? The scene depicts a father perched upon his armchair, children at his feet whilst his daughter poses the question, 'Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War? We already know that the war is long from over at this point so therefore the artist is playing on what is supposed to be a post-war contemplation as he gazes into the viewers eyes and ponders his cowardice and how he let not only his children but his country down. Obviously the viewer is supposed to relate to this gentleman and question his own morality, hopefully skipping down to the recruitment station to sign along the dotted line for a gun and an imposing expiry date. As I said earlier we also see national symbols peppered across the scenery but this time of a more british inclination. Red roses and royal fleur de les replace stars and stripes as we are given the sense that you are fighting for more than yourself but for country and queen and positively in-forces the fact that in the end, we will win.
On the other hand we have an image again aimed at males but for a much different cause. 1915 tells us that world war 1 had begun and this was a time before mandatory conscription meaning the army needed men and what better way then to guilt them into it? The scene depicts a father perched upon his armchair, children at his feet whilst his daughter poses the question, 'Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War? We already know that the war is long from over at this point so therefore the artist is playing on what is supposed to be a post-war contemplation as he gazes into the viewers eyes and ponders his cowardice and how he let not only his children but his country down. Obviously the viewer is supposed to relate to this gentleman and question his own morality, hopefully skipping down to the recruitment station to sign along the dotted line for a gun and an imposing expiry date. As I said earlier we also see national symbols peppered across the scenery but this time of a more british inclination. Red roses and royal fleur de les replace stars and stripes as we are given the sense that you are fighting for more than yourself but for country and queen and positively in-forces the fact that in the end, we will win.
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