Monday, November 1, 2010

Patriotism Gone-A-Fowl

Here's a patriotic booklet from 1917.


This looks pretty serious. So, what do you suppose the booklet urges you to do to help the war effort? The back cover provides a clue.


That's right, we're going to load up that cannon and pelt the enemy with chicken eggs. We'll win for sure! But there's more to it than that. You have to read all of the important instructions provided by Pratt Food Co, which did not believe in short slogans or cut-to-the-chase marketing approaches.

I am going to post all of them for you chicken lovers. Other folks may want to go watch TV now.






 


7 comments:

  1. Is Pratt Food actually using WWI to bootstrap its products? Reminds me of Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front". Troops receiving advertising circulars from department stores promoting trench mufflers, trench pens, and the like. (Trench pens, if my memory's okay, used tablets of dye that were to be dissolved in water.) Jack/Youngstown

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  2. Mama Mia, Din blogg är så speciell & I like it a lot!

    Agneta

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  3. That is an awful lot of text on chickens to wade thru, perhaps I can just absorb the info by having some eggs for breakfast and some legs for dinner...

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  4. This is awesome in a cringe-inducing way! Love to think that we've always responded to crisis by encouraging consumption.

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  5. Where would we be in wars without our Poultrymen!! You have to admit, they have a good point about cheap to raise and providing a bounty (chickens that is). Interesting piece of ephemera!

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  6. I was attracted by the covers.... If I ever decide to raise chickens, I will come back to your blog and read the rest of the booklet. I have to say, I like the illustrations.

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  7. I'm guessing they would have attributed the Japanese Bantams to the 'Foul Nations' in the WWII version of this pamphlet...

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