More Propaganda (and Photos of the War)

Among the many pictures that caught my eye, there were three that stuck out in different, and yet similar ways.  Although that sentence may be a bit hard to swallow, if I looked at the pictures, it struck an odd cord in me.

                        

These first two pictures, are two classic war propaganda posters.  The one on the right, which has become a huge symbol of the U.S. shows the classic patriot, Uncle Sam, calling on the average American to join the war.  To show how huge of an icon it is and was, between 1917 and 1918 over four million copies were printed for World War I.  The one next to it, of Uncle Sam rolling up his sleeves with his hat knocked off, wielding his wrench to finish off the "Japs" is set to inspire Americans for the end of World War II, and asks them to help in ending it.  This was a good poster for the time, because, in running from 1941-1945, it started just after the Germans were starting to wind down with their surrender at Stalingrad in 1943 and ran until the Japanese surrendered in 1945.  There was that period between where we switched focuses and this poster does a great job of saying that we will defeat the Japanese like we did the Germans in finishing "the job."  "The Job" is a curious term as well because it implies that the war is just a job, or that we are working for something.  This could be effective because there are so many things that could go into what the job is trying to accomplish, that it can apply to many different people.

The final picture needs a little context before you can grasp what it means.  This store was owned by a Japanese-American and graduate of the University of California, and was closed (and sold (it looks like))due to Evacuation Orders (The Evacuation was when most if not all of the Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast were moved to camps, being forced to sell all of their things along the way: Houses, items).  In the window the owner put up the sign "I AM AN AMERICAN" signifying that even though he/she was taken away she wanted to make it known that he/she completely disagreed with what was going on and that he/she is still American.  This image is interesting because in commemorating the hardships of the Japanese-Americans, it almost contradicts the two Uncle Sam posters and what America is.  Although is does show some of the American Patriotism spirit in that is was an American who stood by who he/she was and even tried to change things/revolutionize what was going on. (Ironically, you would think that moving all of the Japanese-Americans and forcing them to go through such hardships, they would want to fight back more)

Quick Note:  While trying to search the "Finish the Job" poster, I saw one that had "Mr. Peanut Goes to War"  which I thought pretty weird, although interesting.