Friday 26 January 2024

Winning words 4/5





























This chunky paperback covers thirty-one national elections, from 1900, with about five hundred graphics. It's the pins I find most interesting. The other graphic material is printed and as nothing is captioned it's difficult to know if it's a huge poster or just a letterbox flyer, however, it's the slogans that are the reason for the book. Some of these are now part of the country's history, Hoover's 'A chicken in ever pot', Roosevelt's ' Happy days are here again', Johnson's 'All the way with LBJ' and Reagan's 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?'. Unintentional humor can creep in with Tom Dewey in 1944  'Well, Dewey or don't we' and 1948 'Dew it with Dewey'. 'I work for peanuts' maybe helped Jimmy Cater win in 1976.

Each election gets a few words (I found the book rather superficial in this regard) and some data about the winners and losers. The Electoral College numbers and the popular vote percentages are probably the most interesting items.

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UK

Monday 22 January 2024

Home front poster power 5/5

















Originally published in 1998 and now available quite cheaply on the net I thought this was an excellent collection of wartime poster art. The five chapters cover the various aspects of the art, from the factory floor to the housewife at home. The book goes a bit further than the war's end in 1945. Chapter five Postwar aims and private aspirations looks at the change from war production to domestic products and services. The one hundred and fifty posters are all in color in a well-designed landscape paperback

US
UK