DESIGNER UNKNOWN DEAR GOD, KEEP THEM SAFE! / BUY WAR BONDS AND STAMPS. 1942. 35 3/4x47 inches, 90 3/4x119 1/2 cm. Condition B+: minor repaired tears at edges; creases, abrasions and restoration in margins and image; vertical fold; repaired pin holes in corners. During the Second World War, private companies issued propaganda posters to express their patriotism and involvement with the war effort. These private promotions were printed in much smaller numbers than the posters issued by the U.S. Government, making surviving examples extremely rare. Perhaps the most famous non-government poster of the Second World War is the iconic female war worker "Rosie the Riveter," printed by the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. Certainly the next most famous is this chilling, almost surreal image published by Kroger. The grim tableau, almost guaranteed to terrify parents of school-age children, was likely very effective in getting citizens to invest more money in the war effort. This is one in a series of posters published by the grocery chain, each one a startling photographic composition of a nightmarish, what-if scenario. Design for Victory p. 89.
