This page presents a gallery of Canadian “War” posters, used for awareness, recruiting and fund raising during World Wars I and II.
The Purpose of the Posters
Picture this: you’re strolling through a quiet Canadian town in the early 1940s when a splash of color grabs your attention. It’s a poster, bold and urgent, warning that German spies are skulking around, hungry for scraps of info about the war effort—details they could twist into sabotage. Back then, as the Allies squared off against Nazi Germany, these posters weren’t just eye candy. They popped up everywhere, nudging young guys to sign up, pushing folks to buy victory bonds, or, like this one, sounding the alarm about enemies hiding in plain sight.
That poster wasn’t just about scaring you—it was a pep talk, too. You’d feel a little swell of pride, maybe even a spark of determination, realizing you could help beat the bad guys just by keeping your mouth shut. In Canada, the folks behind these messages were the Wartime Information Board, a government crew with a big job: make the war feel like a golden ticket to a better tomorrow, not just for the country, but for you personally. And those posters? They were their secret weapon, packing a punch that stuck with you long after you’d passed by.
The Concept
The poster didn’t need a novel’s worth of words—sometimes less than 15 did the trick. The real magic was in how it looked. The colors, the way the figures were laid out, even the style of the letters—all of it told a story without you even noticing. Warm, cozy hues might wrap around the Allied soldiers, making them feel like buddies you’d trust with your life. Then there’s Hitler, all sneering and blue-tinted, looming like a creepy shadow. It’s no accident you’d root for the good guys and feel a patriotic itch to pitch in.
Poster Gallery
