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Poster - Be a Victory Farm Volunteer
  • Be a Victory Farm Volunteer
    United States Department of Agriculture
  • Enlarge image

Be a Victory Farm Volunteer

  • Object:

    Poster

  • Place of origin:

    United States (made)

  • Date:

    1943 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    United States Department of Agriculture (issued by)
    United States Government Printing Office (printers)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Photolithograph

  • Credit Line:

    Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko

  • Museum number:

    E.847-2004

  • Gallery location:

    Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C, case Y, shelf 65, box E

During World War II, the USA experienced a workforce deficit in the agricultural sector. The OWI (Office of War Information) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture saw the need for the recruitment of auxiliary support assembled from the Victory Farm Volunteers. The largest group employed in the emergency labour force, the VFV, known as the Crop Corps, was made up of high-school students, and training usually began at school. Once they were posted, groups of students were often supervised by a member of the Women's Land Army. Here the two healthy and happy young people symbolise the valuable, positive work undertaken by the volunteers. The inclusion of a boy and a girl shows that this sort of work was open to all. Illustrated below are the kinds of activities that they could expect to be engaged in, demonstrating the rich yield of American agriculture.

Physical description

'Be a Victory Farm Volunteer', World War II poster, appealing for volunteers for the US Crop Corps. In the foreground is a scene featuring people working on the land, harvesting potatoes. The landscape and workers are depicted photographically, in monochrome green. Above this, against a blue sky is the face of a young man, pictured frontally, and, behind him, a young woman, in three-quarter face; both are smiling. Above, at the top of the poster, is the slogan 'Be a Victory Farm Volunteer in the U.S. Crop Corps', in large yellow letters, and at the bottom of the poster 'See Your Principal'.

Place of Origin

United States (made)

Date

1943 (made)

Artist/maker

United States Department of Agriculture (issued by)
United States Government Printing Office (printers)

Materials and Techniques

Photolithograph

Marks and inscriptions

'Be a VICTORY FARM VOLUNTEER / IN THE U.S. CROP CORPS'
At the top of the poster, running slightly diagonally, partially obscuring the man's hair, in large yellow letters

'SEE YOUR PRINCIPAL'
At the bottom of the poster, running slightly diagonally, superimposed over the farming scene, in large yellow letters

Black outline of a star, 'U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943-O-517942'
Lower left corner, running along bottom edge of the poster in the margin, black on white

'U.S. Department of Agriculture'
Lower right corner, running along bottom edge of the poster in the margin, black on white

Dimensions

Height: 56 cm, Width: 35.5 cm

Descriptive line

'Be a Victory Farm Volunteer', World War II poster, appealing for volunteers for the US Crop Corps, U.S. Department of Agriculture, United States, 1943

Materials

Paper; Ink

Techniques

Photolithography

Subjects depicted

Workers; Faces; Horses; Barrels; Volunteers; War; Potatoes; Ploughs; Women; Farming; Farms; Baskets; Men

Categories

Prints; Politics; Posters

Collection

Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection

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