The Ready Ones:
American Children, World War II, and Propaganda

The Ready Ones:
American Children, World War II, and Propaganda

January 26 - May 15, 2015

January 26 - May 15, 2015

Propagandists made the war a battle between good and evil, democracy and fascism. They also asked children to share in the war effort.

In response, many children took on more responsibilities. Ruthie Kallandar explains that boys and girls felt "if that's what it was going to take" to win they "were willing to do it." Stories from people who were children during World War II and the objects in this exhibit animate the past and inform us of a time when war took over daily life. The memories of the people in this exhibit and their wartime actions show the power of propaganda's messages and its lasting affect on their lives. Propaganda posters, children's books, and classroom assignments demonstrate how propagandists reached children and involved them in the national war effort.

The exhibit tells the history of World War II and the lasting affect of propaganda on children through objects from the past and the memories of participants like Don Kallander. "As a twelve or thirteen-year old kid it seemed like you were really doing something, [even though] sometimes it did not feel like very much," remembers Don. Thousands of children like Don did their patriotic duty by collecting scrap metal, saving their dimes to buy war bonds, and doing whatever was "necessary" for the war effort.

Motivated by propaganda, boys and girls also contributed thousands of hours and tons of material for ammunition, bombs, and military vehicles. "There wasn't a question at that time about the fact that it was necessary, whatever that was," says Ruthie Kallander. Propaganda flickered across movie screens and hummed over the radio. Schools adopted its values and taught their students that good citizens did whatever they could for the war effort. Parents read books that told their sons and daughters to buy war bonds and hate the enemy. Children absorbed it, but remained unaware of its influence. "Any child who went through that period it is a part of their personality," says Barbara Wright Reed, "the hard work, the chores, and feeling part of a larger thing; a part of the country." Children's memories and their wartime actions show the power of propaganda's messages and its affect on their lives.

Propagandists

Two days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan, Italy, and Hitler. President Roosevelt determined that he needed to "win the war" and "win the peace" (full speech here).

To fulfill his goals, he personalized propaganda and told Americans it was their duty to fight for world peace and that victory would bring a better life for all. Six months after his speech, President Roosevelt created the Office of War Information (OWI). The OWI produced or regulated the majority of propaganda with its own goals and strategies. It believed that propaganda should follow a "strategy of truth," which delivered a simple messages based on "facts." Roosevelt "hindered the development" of the OWI (Winkler 20), however, by creating other government organizations like the Office of Facts and Figures (OFF). The OFF censored calculations given to the OWI. When the public discovered this it almost ruined the OWI. To recover its reputation, the OWI redirected its goals towards home to programs "aimed at generating support for the war" (Winkler 54). Its new approach advocated the sale of war bonds, encouraged participation, and sustained morale.

Even though President Roosevelt and the OWI had different goals the dual approach succeeded because many Americans supported the war. Children especially approved of it because they did not question it. "I thought that everything they told us was the truth," says Barbara Wright Reed. "I did not realize until much later it was not."

Duty Calls

An Inescapable Reality

In the morning, boys and girls ate sugarless cereal and margarine on their toast. In the afternoon, their schools taught them to be democratic citizens. In the evening, children like Jim Blount dug trenches with friends and played war. At night, some sat around the radio to hear where "Killroy" was on the map. "It affected every part of your life," confirms Jim. He saw propaganda posters for gas rationing that made him question, "is that necessary?" for every car that passed. The war dominated life; few could escape its influence.

Parents
Some surviving children believe that propaganda did not influence them. They think their parents motivated them, but what motivated their parents? The propaganda industry used parents to repeat its messages to children. Books such as The War-Time Handbook for Young Americans (1942) explained that good citizens were patriotic. That meant helping the war effort by growing victory gardens, collecting scrap metal and rubber, eating all of their dinner, and behaving well for their parents. Parents tried to involve their sons and daughters in the same ways. Propagandists recognized parents' important role and used that relationship to involve both parent and child.

An Obligation to the Effort
By making children "a partner" in the war, President Roosevelt obligated them to the cause (full speech here). Jim Blount's grandfather worked up to seven days a week as a molder in Hamilton, Ohio. When he came home after an 8 or 11-hour day he worked his .25-mile victory garden in an old canal bed. Jim's grandfather "felt like anything he did for the war wasn't enough." Jim followed his grandfather's example and gave whatever he could.

Jim acted much like the children on the Office of Education's Schools at War Program poster, We Are Ready: What About You? Join the Schools at War Program (1942), which shows "correct demonstrations" of "good citizenry." The Office of Education's poster displays several idealistic children participating in the three major fronts: scrap metal collecting, war bond sales, and patriotic support. Jim gathered paper, collected tin foil for school scrap drives, and saved his mother's cooking grease for bullets and homemade soap. He also took all the left over produce from the Victory Garden and "gave it to anyone who passed by" all behaviors of an ideal child and citizen.

Propaganda such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Be a Victory Farm Volunteer in the U.S. Crop Corps See Your Principal (1943) poster shows "real children" taking adult roles by actively picking crops to help short-handed American farms. Some schools displayed posters and added shop classes. In those classes students built model airplanes for factories and taught them the necessary skills for war jobs. Don and Dean Kallander took on adult jobs and responsibilities during the war. Sixteen-year-old Don felt a "sense of duty" to work at a screen door factory in Tacoma, Washington after school and on weekends. Dean volunteered as an assistant air raid warden. While Dean was in charge during an air raid, all six of his houses had their lights off and their black out shades down. Dean explains that, "when you realize that most of the seventeen and eighteen year olds were going to war, the thirteen and fourteen year olds has to pick up the slack"

War Bonds

"I would sit up at night and just worry about how I was going to get another dime," recalls Mary Sue Kallandar.

She and her friends were avid gum chewers and penny candy eaters. They vowed to stop spending their dimes on it and used them for bonds. When someone caved and bought gum they scraped the tin off the wrappers and turn it in for scrap.

Many boys and girls felt bound to the war effort and sacrificed beyond their means. Mary Sue's school in Murray, Kentucky, insisted its students buy more war bonds. It encouraged children to buy more through the "Buy a Jeep" program. She and her classmates loved jeeps because only soldiers used the exciting vehicles. The first civilian model was not available until after the war in 1945. Mary Sue's school raised over a thousand dollars for the Jeep. As a reward, she and other members of the student council rode in the rare automobile.

Fear

Shaken by the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, children feared the Japanese would bomb their homes or attack them.

Jackie Blount was just three years old at the war's start but the attack on Pearl Harbor gave her nightmares that lasted years after. "At night, swinging in the corner of my room, I would see a tiny Japanese man with a large palm leaf." Terrified, she pulled the covers over her head and pleaded for him to go away. "I would not put my arm out or leg out because I was afraid that if I did he would cut it off with his sword."

Other children watched the skies for the enemy. When a plane passed Barbara Wright Reed's house in Oxford, she immediately ran inside to hide in her closet. "My biggest fear was that the Japanese would bomb Oxford," she says. Children rarely saw planes because many commercial airlines temporarily stopped domestic flights for the war. The OWI produced plane-spotting books for children and adults to help them identify enemy and friendly planes. The government also conducted air raid drills to prepare civilians for an enemy attack. Plane spotting books and air raid drills tried to help Americans plan for bombings, but air raid drills created more panic than a sense of being prepared.

Education of Hate

The American public justified racism and hatred towards the Japanese because Pearl Harbor "was personal."

Propagandists confirmed many Americans' hatred of the Japanese and created a sense of "otherness" because they did not look like the average American at that time. Japanese became sharp-toothed, cockeyed monsters who preyed on the innocent.

World War II propagandists did not create the same type of propaganda against Germans they classified "good Germans" as innocent victims and "bad Nazis" as products of Hitler's brainwashing. Many Americans already blamed Germans for the First World War. During World War I, The Committee on Public Information (CPI) attempted to create a similar caricature, the "German Hun." It did not to convince Americans, because they discovered the CPI made up stories about the "barbarism" of the Hun. It also failed because many Americans were of German descent, which complicated relationships with German-Americans. "There were no Japanese people around us so we could hate all of them," says Mary Sue.

For children on the West Coast, hatred of Japanese did not come as easily. Dean Kallander lived in Tacoma, Washington during the war. "There were rumors about the Japanese," says Dean. A large population of Japanese lived in Seattle and the surrounding valleys. He and his father bought vegetables from them. "My father observed that the internment of the Japanese had nothing to do with disloyalty. It was just a land grab for their productive farms." After President Roosevelt interned them, their farms ruined and never recovered from their absence.

Many surviving children now recognize that the negative representations were wrong and no longer hate Japanese people. For some, lingering tensions towards the nation of Japan remain. Some traveled the world, yet "have no desire" to visit Japan. Others admit they cannot bring themselves to buy Japanese cars.

Conclusion

"Retrospect is very interesting," says Ruthie Kallander. "At the time I don't recall any of the information we got as being propaganda. There wasn't a question about the fact that it was necessary whatever that was."

Children's recollections and their war-related participation show the power of propaganda's messages and its affect on them. When asked why they participated almost all said they felt like they could never do enough for the war effort. Dean explains, "It was not something [we] needed to do, it was something [we] had to do." Propagandists obligated children to the cause by constantly asking them to "be ready" and to do whatever was "necessary" for it.

Children became an integral part of the war effort, but it also became an important part of their identity. "[Propaganda] has a permanent effect," says Mary Sue Kallander, "you can't deny it." For many children what they did for the war determined their self worth. Barbara Wright Reed says war-related activities "made them feel a part of something bigger than themselves, a part of the country." Children's labor filled the desperate need for ammunition, bombs, and military vehicles. They volunteered thousands of hours and collected tons of material. Their pains and endurances embodied the belief that victory required their involvement. "We were not perfect," says Barbara, "we were all victims of propaganda."

This exhibit is a part of Katherine Wills-Wright's masters' thesis. She conducted all of the interviews from surviving children in the Oxford, Hamilton, and Tacoma area. The participation of community members and the cooperation of several other organizations were integral to this project. Special thanks belongs to:

• The Walter Havighurst Special Collections for its staff, archives, support, and exhibit space
• The Butler County Historical Society for its loan of several artifacts and posters
• The Smith Library of Regional History for its loan of several artifacts and poster
• Lee Hendley at the Tacoma Washington Historical Society for his efforts to scan and send photographs of the Kallander brothers
• The participants of this thesis project, thank you for sharing your memories and your personal items for this special project