Mad for Mid-Century: Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides

Showing posts with label Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides. Show all posts

Happy (Mid-Century) 4th Everyone

Happy 4th everyone. Don't forget to be a good citizen over the holiday.

Mid-Century Artist: George Keller

I'm still a little obsessed with the Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides. One of my favorites is poster number 2, Courage.

The artist is George J. Keller. He was the chairman of the fine arts department at Bloomsburg University, which makes sense since most of the Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides where designed by teachers.

But George Keller's life got a little more interesting after he stopped teaching. He became a wild animal trainer.

Keller had a big cat show at Disneyland called, "Feline Fantastics," which was rebranded as "Jungle Killers" after poor attendance. The new name didn't help and the act was eventually canceled.

Source

George then took his act on the road performing at Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey's Circus, and other touring circuses.

It makes his Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides poster all the more interesting. The animal is actually the one showing courage in the poster and clearly Keller had a love of animals. And a good amount of courage himself.

Visual Aid Number 26

Visual Aid 26 - There's no place like home

There's one additional poster that I felt should be included in my series on the Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides, Visual Aid number 26. It's commonly mistaken for Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 26, which is understandable because the Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 26 is pretty hard to track down and both poster series are made by the T.G. Nichols Company. With the amazing illustration and cute little lesson attached, I can see why it's mistaken.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 36

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 36 - Cooperate

It's been a long run, but this is the last in the Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides series. And what better way to end than a bird in glasses?

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 35

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 35 - I have a little tooth brush

The poster reads in full:

I have a little tooth brush,
I use it every day,
To keep my teeth all clean and white
And save them from decay.

I have a soap and flannel,
I use them, you can tell;
My mother says that cleanliness
Will help to keep me well.

Another original, unsigned poem from the Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 34

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 34 - Honor thy father and thy mother

1930s schools were definitely different than today. Some of these posters wouldn't be able to be hung now; this one, probably the Easter and Santa ones and the couple that have depictions of nakedness on them. I can only imagine the graffiti that would invite these days.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 33

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 33 - Use baskets

It took me a little to figure it out, because I've never trash cans referred to as baskets, but I think this is a "don't litter" lesson.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 32

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 32 - Crusade against dirt

Another cleanliness message, though this one is the most heroic of the lot.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 31

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 31 - Keep your city clean

I think this is my favorite poster in the entire series. I love the colors, the outfits and the random banana.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 30

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 30 - Protect the birds

Again, a bit of an odd message. But the graphic is amazing.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 29

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 29 - Easter

I love the typography on some of these posters. There's a mix of art nouveau, mid-century cleanliness and hand-drawn uniqueness.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 28

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 28 - Bathe for clean-ness

Bathing a keeping clean seems to be a big motif with these posters.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 27

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 27 - Smile

This is one of the two Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides that I own, and definitely one of the creepiest of the whole line.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 26

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 26 - Keep hat and shoes clean

Besides #12 (which I'm still not sure I've see the real one of), #26 seems to be the hardest Character-Culture-Citizenship poster to track down. I'm not sure why they used a winter hat for a March poster.

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 25

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 25 - Nature says wash

The individual boxes read: Rain washes the fruit, Birds like to bathe, Dog washing puppies, Pussy washes her paws, Bathing's fun!

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides Number 24

Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides 24 - "I have grown grey, and now find myself going blind"

This seems like an odd Washington quote to use for a poster. First off, it's a misquote. The actual quote is, "Gentleman, you must pardon me. I have grown gray in your service and now find myself growing blind." Secondly, out of context, it doesn't really have any meaning.

So let me add some context. From the Library of Congress:

March 13, Washington addresses mutinous Continental officers at Newburgh, New York. Their pay long in arrears, the officers fear that their pensions will also be unpaid. In December 1782, representative officers from each state's Continental line had sent a petition to Congress insisting on immediate payment and suggesting the substitution of lump sums for pensions. The officers, most of whom are at the army's headquarters at Newburgh, learn that Congress has rejected the petition. Washington calls a meeting of representative officers and staff and delivers a speech and reads an extract from Congress. Referring to the glasses he must wear to read the extract, he says, "Gentleman, you must pardon me. I have grown gray in your service and now find myself growing blind." Washington's gesture defuses the crisis. After he retires from the scene the officers adopt resolutions affirming their loyalty to Congress. March 18, Washington writes Congress an account of the proceedings of the previous days and argues on behalf of the officers' grievances.

Essentially, Washington quelled a mutiny over payment and pensions by showing his humility, loyalty and years of service to ones country. I'm guessing the lesson plan for this poster was about humility, or possibly service and loyalty. Either way, it's a long road to get there from this quote.

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