As spring arrives, many of us begin to plant our vegetable gardens. Our cold weather crops–peas, spinach, and carrots–are already in the ground and we’re dreaming of ripe tomatoes.

During World War I, many citizens planted Victory Gardens, vegetable, fruit and herb gardens, at homes and parks. These were designed to reduce the pressure on the food supply while boosting morale. The National War Garden Commission, organized in 1917, launched this war garden movement as well as a poster campaign encouraging the planting of these gardens.

The Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection is fortunate to own a number of posters promoting Victory Gardens.

“War Gardens Over the Top” shows a young boy with a hoe chasing fleeing ripe vegetables. The drawing is by Maginel Wright Barney, a children’s book illustrator and younger sister of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

The image in “The Seeds of Victory” was used in a number of posters. The illustrator, James Montgomery Flagg, is best known for his political posters, particularly his World War I recruiting poster featuring Uncle Sam pointing at the viewer with the caption “I want YOU for the U.S. Army”

“Food: Don’t Waste It” features sentiments that are familiar to us today. How often do we hear that we should shop carefully, cook certain ways, use less meat, buy locally, and eat less?

By: c u r i o
Via: Feedbin Starred Entries
Source: http://library.brown.edu/dps/curio/plant-your-victory-gardens/