I’ve been experimenting with the method of network analysis using Twitter data to understand how Second World War slogans are being used by people in conversations. I’m focusing on those slogans created or made popular by the Ministry of Information,…
Recently we’ve seen a bit of a craze for infographics: they are appearing in dedicated coffee table books on every subject, you now find them frequently in newspapers, magazines and online articles and all over social media. It is likely that social media has had some influence on this, since infographics make it easier for complex and often dull information to be shared within an eye-catching 140 characters with just a couple of clicks. Additionally it is now much easier to produce infographics with the availability of easy-to-use free software.
However, people have always wanted to share information with the public and visual images have always been a successful method of attracting attention. While that word ‘infographic’ only began to appear in the second half of the 20th century, they have existed in media under other names as soon as printing technology allowed them to.
One period when these kinds of images came into their own was during the Second World War, when graphic design techniques were flourishing and information needed to be controlled and disseminated quickly and successfully.
The spread of rumour and gossip has always been a topic of concern for governments in need of public cohesion and obedience. At the outbreak of the Second World War, the British government displayed exactly this concern and took action…
Posters provide striking and familiar visuals that illustrate, decorate and inform the public about the Second World War. The Imperial War Museum displays these posters in some of its exhibits as you might expect, but they also appear as reproductions…
Does this image look familiar to you? If you’re in the UK you have probably seen it, or images like it, hundreds of times before, particularly last year. And it’s likely that this simple silhouette instantly leads your mind to…
The reason I love the Tower of London so much is that there’s always something new to see and learn. Last time I went I made the most of the free audio guide, but this time I opted to just…
I visited the Churchill War Rooms many years ago and since my memories of it were hazy, I thought I’d check it out and see how it had changed. I remembered looking in on the old rooms and had a…
On 11 December 1941, the USA declared war on Germany and Italy on the same day that Hitler declared war on the USA. The first American servicemen arrived in Britain on 26 January 1942 and to prepare them for the…
Everything Stops for Tea is a song written by Maurice Sigler with lyrics by Al Goodheart and American Al Hoffman, for the 1935 musical Come Out Of The Pantry. It is about tea being England’s favourite drink, however both the composer and the musical were…
This is a well-known wartime song Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive, written by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was originally recorded by Mercer with The Pied Pipers and Paul Weston’s orchestra, on 4th October 1944. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on January 4, 1945 and lasted 13 weeks…