US careless talk poster of a Nazi ringed hand with an Iron Cross
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 26.000 inches (66.04 cm) | Width: 20.000 inches (50.8 cm)
Creator(s)
- United States Office of War Information (Distributor)
- United States Government Printing Office (Printer)
- Stevan Dohanos (Artist)
Biographical History
Stevan Dohanos (1907-1994) was a Connecticut-based commercial artist well known for designing magazine covers, murals, posters, and stamps. He was born to Hungarian immigrants in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio. As a young man, Stevan took a correspondence course in art, and later received a scholarship to the Cleveland School of Art. In the mid-1930’s, Stevan moved to New York City to work for an advertising agency. He also worked for a U.S. Treasury Department art project to create murals on public buildings. In the early 1940’s, Stevan moved to an artist colony in Westport, Connecticut, and sold his first cover to the Saturday Evening Post. During World War II, he painted murals and recruitment and propaganda posters to support the war effort. During the 1940’s and 1950’s, he sold more than 125 covers to the Post. Stevan also designed more than forty stamps for the federal government, spending the latter part of his career focusing on stamp designs and film art.
The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was created on June 13, 1942, to centralize and control the content and production of government information and propaganda about the war. It coordinated the release of war news for domestic use, and using posters along with radio broadcasts, worked to promote patriotism, warn about foreign spies, and recruit women into war work. The office also established an overseas branch, which launched a large-scale information and propaganda campaign abroad. The government appealed to the public through popular culture and more than a quarter of a billion dollars' worth of advertising was donated during the first three years of the National Defense Savings Program. Victory in Europe was declared on May 8, 1945, and in Japan on September 2, 1945. The OWI ceased operation in September.
Archival History
The poster was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1988 by David and Zelda Silberman.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of David and Zelda Silberman
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
US careless talk poster featuring a hand with a swastika ring completing a jigsaw puzzle that with words: Convoy sails for England tonight, to illustrate how the enemy can gather small details and get important information. The careless talk series of US propaganda posters was an Army Services project, distributed by the Office of War Information. This office was set up in June 1942 to manage the war on the Home Front by disseminating ideas, propaganda, and information about the war effort, such as the dangers of enemy spies. The OWI controlled the design and distribution of war information to the American public in posters, photographs, radio shows, and films. The careless talk series originated in 1940 in Great Britain. It highlighted the many ways that careless talk could leak sensitive information that our enemies would use to kill soldiers, sink ships, and undermine the war effort.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Offset color lithographic poster depicting a realistic, large, hairy hand with a signet ring with a black Nazi Swastika in a red circle with the 3 center fingers placed upon a German Iron Cross medal and black and white striped ribbon, which was awarded for bravery. The slogan is in black uppercase text above and below the image. On the back is printed postal information and a paragraph about the artist.
People
- Dohanos, Stevan, 1907-1994.
Subjects
- United States--Social life and customs--1918-1945--Posters--Specimens.
- War posters, American--Specimens.
- Espionage--United States--Prevention--Posters--Specimens.
- World War, 1939-1945--Social aspects--Posters--Specimens.
- World War, 1939-1945--Posters--Specimens.
- World War, 1939-1945--United States--Posters.
- National security--United States--Posters--Specimens.
- World War, 1939-1945--Covert operations--Posters--Specimens.
- Propaganda, American--Posters--Specimens.
Genre
- Posters
- Object