Study task 3: 500 word comparative analysis

The two images we have been given to compare and contrast are: ‘The Uncle Sam Range (1876) Advertising Image by Schumacher & Ettlinger, New York’ and a Propaganda ‘Poster by Savile Lumley (1915). Both Propaganda images/posters are (beneath all hidden meanings and connotations) advertising in some form or shape, although they are distinctive in their own manner both posters seem to have similarities and differences, which I intend to discuss and decipherer in this comparative analysis.

The first image ‘The Uncle Sam Range’ seems to be targeted at an American middle/upper-class audience as its ultimate purpose is to promote and advertise the ‘Uncle Sam’ range of cookers (even though the awareness of this is subtle due to the cooker being composed to the far left of the image/poster), which in essence only the wealthy beings within the social hierarchy can afford to fund. In Lumley’s poster (1915) the target audience also seems to be middle class folks, however in this instance British middle class rather than American middle class, the similarity in terms of the target audience seems to be evident through this idea of wealth along with being apart of the upper sector of societies social hierarchy at the time. We can justify this idea of wealth firstly through the use of a western golden coloured typeface on the ‘Uncle Sam’ poster along with the clean cut and expensive material of clothing the people are wearing in both images.

The furniture in both images also seems to be fairly grande, the application of blue, white and red stripes and stars on the ‘Uncle Sam’ poster proudly connotes America as a country, this proud connotation through the use of colour almost depicts an ongoing celebration of America’s independence from Britain in 1776, as we can see this celebration continued through to 1876 (a hundred years after the independence). In Lumley’s poster we can also see that Britain is proud of its nation as there seems to be red-rose print pattern on the curtains behind the little girl, the boy is also shown playing with some figurines of toy soldiers this is representative of the soldier’s within the Great War (ww1) during the time (1915), however Lumley has portrayed this very much more subtly than the Schumacher & Ettlinger.

Although these two posters have many similarities this idea of patriotisms is represented differently on each poster. In terms of the Schumacher and Ettlingers poster this idea of a patriotic society is direct and evident, the use of ‘Uncle Sam’ who is the personification of a typical American male on the poster, along with this element there is also a female figure in the background of the poster who seems to be serving food and being depicted as the traditional inferior “housewife’ during this period of time. In Lumley’s poster this idea of patriotisms is indirect and not obvious to the audience immediately, however the traits that reflect the idea are conveyed through rhetorical question ‘Daddy what did YOU do in the Great War’? As we can see the little girl is looking at the book, which seems to highlight the Great War and asking her father (the male dominant figure) what his masculine contribution was during the war. As this poster was created during the war and projecting into the future it almost guilt trips middle class males into joining the armed forces.