Finding Value In World War II Military
Posters (part2)
Across
the country at an outdoor flea market in Santa Monica, dealer Garrison
Dover has found WWII military posters to be a hot topic. "When
I get them (WWII posters), they tend to move fast," said Dover,
the owner of Pacific Posters International. "Sometimes a guy
will ask if any WWII posters. You show him two or three, and he buys
them all. Somebody who collects WWII posters will buy anything in
stock... under the right circumstances."
Price
might be one of those circumstances. "Wartime posters go for
$20 to $2,000," continued Dover with most posters going for around
$200. "Anything selling for more than $2,000 is a one of a kind."The
significant pricetag for those two Stetson hat posters also reflects
a general principle in collecting- the more unusual the item, the
higher the price. "Most posters were government issues, but there
are some from General Electric, General Motors, and other companies,"
noted Robert Chisholm. "They are more collectible because they
had a smaller circulation."
"We
are currently advertising posters printed in a series for the Kroger
Baking Company of Cincinnati, Ohio which they placed in their grocery
store windows during the war," said Meehan. "They are now
selling for several thousand dollars each. Privately printed posters
like these had very small print runs compared to government posters."Yet
some dealers consider it a mistake to confuse the initial print run
with the number of surviving copies.
"People
always want to know how many posters were printed, and you don't know,"
confessed Gail Chisholm. "The number printed has nothing to do
with the number surviving. It wasn't a successful (advertising) campaign
if it wasn't on the street." Location can also be a factor in
the perception of rarity and poster prices. Dover sells original vintage
posters at antique malls, flea markets, vintage poster shows, and
only opens his Santa Barbara gallery for private appointments. His
website, www.pacificposters.com also leads to some sales and mostly
carries turn-of-the-century European commercial posters.
Sometimes
rarity and historical importance, however, are not the most critical
factors. Sometimes even relatively rare posters can be bough for under
$250 - especially if the image is something that few people would
want to look at in their home. A somber 1942 poster of a dead sailor
in the surf above the words "A Careless Word ... A Needless Loss"
is listed for $235 in the Meehan Military Posters catalog #36.
The
few posters that have become celebrated American icons such as James
Montgomery Flagg's 1941 version of Uncle Sam pointing with caption
"I Want You for the U.S. Army" consistently sells for well
over $1,000. The Meehan Catalog lists the price as $1500. This classic
WWII poster, based on the infamous World War I poster, deliberately
evokes the patriotic imagery from the "war to end all wars."
Most
WWII posters, however, look quite different from WWI propaganda posters.
"WWI posters were primarily designed by illustrators who volunteered
their efforts," said Sarah Stocking, the president of the Independent
Vintage Poster Dealers Association and owner of Sarah Stocking
Fine Vintage Posters. "They mostly appeal to patriotism."
Stocking specializes in commercial European posters from the 1920s
and 1930s.
Gail
Chisholm made a related point. "World War I posters are from
a more innocent and naive society," said Chisholm. "Obviously,
it's called the Great War. It was enough to have a pretty woman with
a furling flag" to convince young men to enlist and risk their
lives.
"Perhaps
more importantly," concluded Stocking, "WWI posters are
not brutal." Stocking carries posters on WWI, WWII, the Spanish
Civil War, and propaganda. Stocking "prefers" WWI posters
because there is less text.
By
contrast, American posters from WWII were often realistic, intense,
and evocative of both positive and negative emotions.
"WWII
posters were often made about fear and the enemy," continued
Stocking. "The world had really changed in 20 years, and had
gotten smaller because the government was worried about spying."
Radio broadcasts, airplanes, and increased tourism brought Europe
"closer" to the United States. "World War II posters
are much more aggressive," concurred Gail Chisholm. The widely
distributed poster showing a bomb, labeled war production, targeted
at the Rising Sun and Nazi swastika is an example. "Some also
have ugly caricatures of Japanese, Germans - but especially Japanese."
Institutional collectors tend to be the major purchasers of the more
controversial and/or foreign posters. American propaganda posters,
however, appear politically correct in comparison to the vicious images
in Axis propaganda posters. "I have a phenomenal Italian one
- even from out of the perspective of the war," continued Gail
Chisholm. "It has an ugly, leering black American soldier pulling
down a Venus De Milo sculpture." The harsh image, designed to
inflame Italian fears about an American invasion (liberation) emphasizes
racial hatreds. Chisholm said, "Some patrons have gotten very
upset by the image." She considers the disturbing poster "a
peek into history."The controversial Italian poster, designed
by Gino Boccasile in 1944, brings up another aspect of collecting
historical posters. "Taking things out of context changes your
perception," observed Gail Chisholm. "You can have different
interpretations. At the time, everybody understood a poster's context,
but now it is less clear."
A
few American posters, among the most sought after by institutional
collectors, attempted to build relations between racial groups in
the United States. A widely distributed poster, "United We Win",
shows steelworkers, a black man and a white man, working together
under a giant American flag. "Those posters tend to be quite
valuable," said Gail Chisholm.
The
art produced during the two different wars attracts different customers.
Serious collectors also tend to specialize. "WW I collectors
want WWI posters," said Dover. "World War II collectors
want WWII posters. I've found few people who collect both WWI and
WW II posters." Stocking agreed. "I sell a lot of WWI posters
to attorneys because the 'call to victory' makes sense... I often
sell WW II war bond posters to bankers, financial consultants, and
mortgage brokers."Patriotic imagery, however, also pervades many
WWII posters and draw upon the nation's rich heritage of patriotic
symbols. Illustrator Thomas Woodburn created a recruitment poster,
in 1940, for the United States Army that linked colonial soldiers
to contemporary soldiers. An allegorical female figure, holding a
laurel wreath against the U.S. flag, stands above marching soldiers
whose uniforms represent different historical periods. The rare poster's
caption read: The United States Army: then - now - forever often sells
for $300-$500. "Americans Will Always Fight For Freedom",
by George Perlin, shows "America's well equipped infantry troops
of 1943 passing in review in front of the ragged Continental troops
of Valley Forge who also fought for freedom during the bleak and desperate
winter of 1777-1778 some 166 yrs. earlier," explained Meehan.
Price? $385. "Perhaps what made the American posters of World
War II unique was that they equated patriotism with democracy,"
wrote scholar G.H. Gregory, editor and compiler of the book, Posters
of World War II. "They rallied the nation's pride by recalling
the marvel of the country's institutions and its great tradition of
freedom and democracy - its flag, its enduring documents, its national
monuments, its political heroes, its historic heritage of fighting
for liberty."
Gregory's
coffee table book includes over 100 color WWII posters from the National
Archives collection.The condition of vintage posters, like most
collectibles, also helps determine value. Almost WWII posters were
sent by mail. "Sometimes people are too fussy," said Gail
Chisholm. "WWII posters have folds. It goes with the territory.
Small irregularities are expected. A missing corner doesn't really
matter, but a hand missing is more problematic."
continue
with article...
Back
to top
