Serve in Silence
Artist
Designer Unknown
Printer
Art Project WPA San Francisco
Date1944
Dimensions21 3/4 x 17 in. (55.2 x 43.2 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.547
DescriptionIssued by the San Francisco Junior Chamber of Commerce under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), this poster is more illustrational and less polished than those put out by the OWI. The image reflects the widespread anti-Japanese sentiment of the war years, presenting a menacing Japanese caricature using a variety of devices to spy on those around him, his pockets overflowing with notes. Given that San Francisco was home to thousands of Japanese immigrants, most of whom had been forced into internment camps starting in 1942, it also has broader implications. Propaganda is meant to provoke passionate responses. Here, the racially-charged stereotype of a Japanese figure has inspired a viewer to add their own vitriol to the poster, defacing the area around the man’s head and inserting a racial slur inside his shoes. On View
Not on view
