Weapons of Mass Communication

“In the 21st century we have become accustomed to mass communication developing to unbelievably sophisticated levels, yet a new exhibition at the Imperial War Museum shows how for a large part of the 20th century, the humble poster was the key means of influencing public opinion.

The exhibition explores this phenomenon by presenting hundreds of the most eye-catching and iconic posters used to sell war and attendant ideologies from WWI to the present day.

Running until March 31 2008 Weapons of Mass Communication mines the museums’ vast poster archive to present a snapshot of the ideas that have been used to both promote and oppose conflicts and political ideas. “

Read full entry. The accompanying book: “War Posters: Weapons of Mass Communication” by James Aulich is beautifully produced, and some information remains online.

Harold Forster

Forster was responsible for pre-war Black Magic chocolate illustrations, and the famous ‘Keep Mum, She’s Not So Dumb’ poster. He designed full-colour lithographic posters, and was personally commissioned to do work for the MOI by Edwin Embleton.

Information collated from: Anonymous, ‘Salute the Soldier Posters “Best Yet”‘, Advertiser’s Weekly, Vol. 123, No. 1,599, January 13 1944, p.53; Anonymous, ‘”Olga” is Mascot in Anti-Rumour Campaign for Services’, Advertiser’s Weekly, Vol. 112, No. 1,462, May 29 1941, p.146; Anonymous, Image with caption, Advertiser’s Weekly, Vol. 116, No. 1,518, June 25 1942, p.286; Questionnaire submitted by Royall, K. to Embleton, E., Royall, K., ‘Posters of the Second World War: The Fourth Arm of British Defence’, Unpublished M.A., University of Westminster, 1991, p.123