Women in the WarWe Can't Win Without Them.
by War Manpower Commission
- Used
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Moray, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Washington D.C.: US Govt. Printing Office, 1942. Colour poster (28 x 40 in). Professionally mounted, glazed, and framed using archival materials. Original creases from folding, bright and fresh. Excellent condition. An important Second World War poster promoting women in the wartime workforce, produced in 1942 by the War Manpower Commission. At the time, "Women in the War" was one of the most widely distributed images of a woman laboring in war production, unlike the "We Can Do It" poster, which was produced only for Westinghouse plants during a few weeks in 1943 and did not become iconic until the 1980s. "Among the many agencies President Roosevelt had created during the war was the War Manpower Commission, formed in April 1942 to oversee war labor issues in the military, industrial, and civilian sectors. And in June 1942, the Office of War Information was formed to manage the flows of news and propaganda about the war to the public. By 1943, when the labor shortage was most acute, the two agencies worked together in concerted campaigns, targeting employers to hire women and women to become 'production soldiers'" (Yellin, Our Mothers' War, p. 44). Women labouring in factories, even in the service of the war effort, was controversial, with only 30 percent of husbands giving unqualified support to the idea of their wives performing such jobs. "Despite the tide of public opinion against working wives, War Manpower Commission director Paul McNutt had a strategy for quelling opposition: 'The money appeal will continue strong,' he said in 1943, but we'll concentrate on patriotism'. Sure enough, all across the country, the public was bombarded with spirited print and radio ads, magazine articles, and posters with slogans like 'Do the Job He Left Behind' or 'Women in the WarWe Can't Win Without Them' depicting noble, pretty but serious, female war workers on the job... The campaigns glamorized war work, always showing that women could maintain their femininity and still be useful" (Yellin, pp. 45-46). Examples of this important poster are held at numerous institutions, including the Library of Congress, Imperial War Museum, MOMA, and the Pritzker Military Museum. Copies in such beautiful, unused condition are uncommon in commerce.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Alembic Rare Books (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 338
- Title
- Women in the WarWe Can't Win Without Them.
- Author
- War Manpower Commission
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Publisher
- US Govt. Printing Office
- Place of Publication
- Washington D.C.
- Date Published
- 1942
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- Science|Technology|Engineering|Women in Science|Women's History|Women at Work|Military Science|Second World War
- Product_type
- Poster
Terms of Sale
Alembic Rare Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Alembic Rare Books
Biblio member since 2018
Moray
About Alembic Rare Books
We specialise in rare science books dating from the late Middle Ages to the 20th century, including first editions, signed copies, manuscripts, objects, and ephemera. We have particular expertise in natural history, genetics and evolution, anatomy, nuclear physics and the Manhattan Project, early computing, and women in science. We also carry books related to women's history and literature.