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Fighting on the Home Front—Propaganda Posters of Word War II

The newest exhibit at Heroes Hall will focus not on the battlefield, but on stateside messages of persuasion, the propaganda posters of World War II.

Some 28 posters are featured in the Fighting on the Home Front: Propaganda Posters of World War II exhibition that is on loan from the Detroit Historical Museum through May 3, 2020. An opening reception will take place at Heroes Hall on Oct. 5 from 3 to 5 p.m.

To augment the traveling display, the OC Fair & Event Center team added videos of propaganda cartoons produced by Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. to the exhibition as well as WWII newsreels.

Another addition to the exhibit is a Victory Garden planted with fruits, vegetables and herbs. Created in collaboration with Centennial Farm, the garden illustrates how people grew their own food to help the war effort.

The themes of the exhibition are conservation, recruitment, patriotism and security, highlighting how persuasion was used to encourage those on the home front to do their part to help win the war.

Messages of the posters include “Can All You Can,” “Uncle Sam Needs Nurses” and “The Battle-Wise Infantryman is Careful About What He Says or Writes – How About You?”

Americans at home were urged to travel less to save gas and tires, take summer jobs on farms, work safely to prevent accidents, help keep prices down and to ration food and other goods.

Fighting on the Home Front explains why posters were so effective in conveying messages from the government. From the exhibit: “In an era before television, posters were an efficient way to grab someone’s visual attention. The U.S. Government leveraged the graphic arts to pass information to civilians and soldiers. Several different U.S. departments enlisted the help of the nation’s most talented artists to create these posters which often contained emotion-evoking scenes and succinct phrases to deliver messages in a mere glance.”

While the word “propaganda” may carry a negative connotation today, the term is used here to describe posters that were specifically created to persuade people to alter their behavior in support of the troops overseas.

These posters were created by government agencies such as Office of War Information, War Production Board, Office of Price Administration, Office of Defense Transportation, Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services, War Manpower Commission and War Food Administration.

Fighting on the Home Front can be viewed during regular Heroes Hall hours, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday; closed Mondays and Tuesdays.



Victory From Within: The American Prisoner of War Experience

Freedom does not come free. No one knows better what it is like to have their freedom stripped from them than those who became prisoners of war while serving their country. Victory From Within: The American Prisoner of War Experience is a traveling exhibit created by the National Park Service. It explores the lives of POWs (Prisoners of War) and features four key themes: capture, prison life, those who wait, and freedom.

 

Visitors will hear stories of POWs from throughout American history from the Civil War to the Iraq War.  They will also experience the tragic yet inspirational stories of former POWs from Orange County who experienced starvation, deprivation and isolation in camps in Germany, Korea and Vietnam.



Voices: Veterans Story Telling Project

The voices of veterans come alive at Heroes Hall at  OC Fair & Event Center as former military men and women share their very personal and poignant stories of service.

VOICES is the culmination of a six-week veterans’ storytelling workshop

Location:

Heroes Hall at OC Fair & Event Center
88 Fair Drive
Costa Mesa, CA  92626

Admission: FREE
Date: Friday, October 20, 2017
Time: 6:30 p.m.
RSVP:  ocfair.com/heroeshall

Due to the nature of the content, this program is suitable for adults and mature youth. The event is held outdoors, please dress accordingly. For more information, call (714) 708-1613

 

 



OC Heroes Hall Dedication Ceremony—Nov. 11, 2016

Please join us on Veterans Day November 11, 2016, for the much anticipated dedication of Heroes Hall, the new veterans museum building at the OC Fair & Event Center. The only Orange County museum dedicated to the stories and sacrifices of those that served in our military, the new Heroes Hall veterans museum will be housed in a 1942 cadet barracks that is being renovated for rotating exhibitions.

Details regarding this special Veterans Day celebration will be announced shortly.

 

Click here for photos of the renovation in action.