Save your Cans
Artist
McClelland Barclay
1891 - 1943
Datec. 1942
Dimensions33 x 24 1/2 in. (83.8 x 62.2 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LineGift of Peter A. Blatz
Object numberPH.210
DescriptionThis poster, issued by the Salvage Division of the War Production Board, urges American civilians to save cans to support the war effort. It was one of many posters, pamphlets, and other printed materials that formed part of the government’s Salvage for Victory campaign, launched just a month after Pearl Harbor on January 10, 1942. The board was responsible for ensuring that city and town mayors arranged for the collection of household materials so they could be sent to factories for repurposing as military weapons and supplies. Like many wartime posters appealing to civilians, a direct link is made here between the efforts of people at home and those of combatants on distant battlefields. Here, a woman’s manicured hand feeds empty cans of tomatoes, apparently extending beyond the image, into the ammunition magazine of a machine gun operated by American soldiers in a desert trench. During the 1920’s and 30’s, McClelland Barclay’s illustrations appeared in such popular national periodicals as Collier's, Redbook, LIFE, and The Ladies’ Home Journal, as well as several movie magazines. In 1930, Barclay’s Fisher Body Girl was selected by General Motors for a series of advertisements, and she soon became as familiar as the Gibson Girl and the Christy Girl. Barclay also illustrated posters for the Hollywood movie studios, and was one of the first artists to depict Betty Grable, the famous World War II pin-up girl. After he enlisted, his posters and camouflage designs for the armed forces earned him a Naval commission, indicated after his signature here by the letters U.S.N.R. (United States Naval Reserve). He died on active duty in 1943 when his naval vessel was torpedoed by the Japanese.On View
Not on view
