German Print Advertising, 1933-1945...

[SteyrAUG]

I know many here are history buffs and like me have a special interest in WWII. I just finished got a rather remarkable book that provides an amazing insight into Germany during that war.

German Print Advertising, 1933-1945 by Josephine & Ray Cowdery

Now most of us are familiar with Nazi propaganda posters such as this one:



In fact it is usually the first thing that come to mind. But even before the SS, the SA stormtroopers could be found in early print ads promoting...cigarettes.



Some of the ads promoting firearms will be of interest. Here are some pre war ads from JP Sauer and Walther.





Others you will recognize the name, if not associate with the product such as this 1939 advertisement from Steyr. Austria by this time was part of Germany.



This Mercedes Benz ad from 1939 wasn't nearly as ominous at the time as it it today.



We of course had our wartime advertisements that promoted our industries that helped fight the war. But you may never look at your Mercedes the same way again with this 1940 advertisement in mind.



By 1943 there was no doubt about things.



What will surprise many are things like this advertisement from Ford Motors (Ford in Germany that is) from 1940.



Ford was a longtime supporter of Hitler and converted his German factory to wartime production while still resisting the same request from the US government. He was one of the few "civilians" to be awarded the Iron Cross.

But what is most interesting, are the more mundane advertisements that you don't think about. Certainly we had advertisements in Life magazine for cigarettes, shoes, fishing poles and the like during the war but you just don't really think about the fact that the Germans did also.

An example are these 1942 lingerie ads.



And even by Christmas of 1944 they were still running full page cologne advertisements.



This is just a sampling. There are of course dozens and dozens of war related advertisements for uniforms, boots, daggers and the like. Enough to make any collector of militaria by the book on that basis alone.

But if you want a glimpse into everyday life of pre and post war Germany from the inside, then you may find this one fascinating.

[Whiskey_Bravo]

Thanks for posting. Especially the Henry Ford bit, I had no idea. A little Googlfoo led to some interesting reading about Ford.

[Belmont31R]

Thanks for posting. Especially the Henry Ford bit, I had no idea. A little Googlfoo led to some interesting reading about Ford.

The founder of Planned Parenthood was a racist and traveled to Nazi Germany. She was the biggest proponent of birth control at the time, and opened clinics in black neighborhoods to promote BC so blacks would not reproduce as much. Margret Sanger...look it up.


The ad's are interesting but I would not put much thought into them as regards to modern day stuff. Just like SW and Ruger are not the same companies as they were when they cooperated with Clinton and Bill Ruger not selling 'high capacity mags'. BMW used to make Nazi war stuff, too, and nowadays German's won't even mention Hitler or Nazi's.

[SteyrAUG]

The founder of Planned Parenthood was a racist and traveled to Nazi Germany. She was the biggest proponent of birth control at the time, and opened clinics in black neighborhoods to promote BC so blacks would not reproduce as much. Margret Sanger...look it up.


The ad's are interesting but I would not put much thought into them as regards to modern day stuff. Just like SW and Ruger are not the same companies as they were when they cooperated with Clinton and Bill Ruger not selling 'high capacity mags'. BMW used to make Nazi war stuff, too, and nowadays German's won't even mention Hitler or Nazi's.

It's not my intention to suggest that any of those companies still promote the values of Nazi Germany any more than Boston Massachusetts is still a hot bed of radical promoters of liberty and freedom.

It's just when most people think of Mercedes Benz or Mitsubishi they typically don't think of 109s or A6Ms. And there are plenty of BMW ads in the book as well.

[newyork]

That Margaret Sanger was the devil. The direction of Pp has been morphed into something ppl think is a helper and do gooder but its all started from extreme racism, lack of responsibility, lack if respect for human life and greed.

[SteyrAUG]

That Margaret Sanger was the devil. The direction of Pp has been morphed into something ppl think is a helper and do gooder but its all started from extreme racism, lack of responsibility, lack if respect for human life and greed.

She was also a driving force in the US "eugenics" movement of the 1930s. Despite being a racist, she was supported by the NAACP and praised by MLK.

Personally I support any effort to prevent a bunch of people who can't take care of themselves from having children. I just don't think PP accomplishes any of those goals.

[Moose-Knuckle]

Thanks for posting. Especially the Henry Ford bit, I had no idea. A little Googlfoo led to some interesting reading about Ford.

Hah, wait till you find out who was bank rolling the Third Reich and where they were getting their petrol from.

[Iraqgunz]

I have all kinds of NAZI posters in my man room. Along with an SS uniform keep hidden.

[Caeser25]

Hah, wait till you find out who was bank rolling the Third Reich and where they were getting their petrol from.

Gotta love history.

[RMiller]

I have all kinds of NAZI posters in my man room. Along with an SS uniform keep hidden.

Living History/Reenactor or Collector?