Proper Propaganda

We had a visitor from Chicago last week & we dutifully trotted her around the tourist sights of London...Picadilly Circus, Soho, The Tower, we made it to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and (having never seen it before ourselves), we were struck by the pomp & splendor of the spectacle and by the huge crowd of visitors who had come to see it...proper propaganda indeed! 
This wasn't the london we know...but it got us to thinking about English scarf designers Jacqmar of London, they produced propaganda scarves from 1940 - 1945 to help with the war effort. This was a fascinating period when poster design, propaganda & fashion combined. The chief designer was Arnold Lever who continued working for the company even after he had joined the RAF. The scarves fall into three main thematic groups of the armed forces, allies and home front. They usually have the Jacqmar name on the scarf.

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In rationed silk overprinted with various illustrations of Winston Churchill and famous extracts from his inspirational wartime speeches. 

Blush-coloured & printed all over with colourful British regimental badges, around the edges the printed slogan 'INTO BATTLE' is repeated.

Printed rayon depicting envelopes addressed to soldiers at the front.

'Red star' propaganda scarf with a bold design affirming and celebrating the Allied alliance with the soviet union.

The holy grail of wearable propaganda, this Jacqmar, 'London Wall' scarf was produced in both silk and rayon and likely printed by liberty.

'Salvage your Rubber', with illustration and other well known Home Front slogans encouraging the conservation and recycling of materials.