About this record

This is a black-and-white poster from the Second World War encouraging readers to serve Australian lamb, bacon, apples and pears, dairy produce and wine at their dinner tables to support the war effort. The poster was issued by the Department of Commerce. The main illustration shows a middle-class white Australian family at meal time. Underneath are 6 illustrations in a comic-book style, with accompanying text, which give suggestions for using the specified products at meal times and throughout the day.

Educational value

• Is an example of the use of a poster to deliver war-related messages from the Australian Government to its citizens during the Second World War (1939-45) – Australia joined the Second World War in 1939, declaring war on Germany; in 1941 it declared war on Japan.
• Urges Australians to keep Australia 'in business' during the war by buying the foods that could not be exported due to shipping restrictions – during the war, shipping was controlled by the Australian Government, and ships were needed to carry troops, supplies and ammunition to the war front.
• Indicates that there was a plentiful supply of certain foods at the time, and depicts the consumption of foods that would have been beyond the means of ordinary Australians – it is likely that this poster was produced early in 1942, before austerity campaigns and food rationing were introduced and people were asked to give up luxuries and consume less.
• Refers to the government's regulation of the export of meat during this period, under which lamb was not to be exported overseas – to meet the requirements of the United Kingdom, as well as of Australia and the allied services, responsibility for the Meat Export Control Act 1935–46, which allowed the export of meat under licence, was taken over by National Security Regulations.
• Refers to the need to support the domestic apple and pear industry – as half of the apples and pears produced were exported, the government financed an apple and pear acquisition scheme during the war; under the scheme, many of the apples and pears produced were turned into dried fruit for export to the United Kingdom.
• Depicts a family consuming alcohol throughout the day, so as to encourage Australians to support domestic winemakers – the wine industry was seriously affected by the loss of export trade; at the same time, there was a domestic shortage of beer, as production was reduced by one third.
• Shows the intrusion of the war effort into everyday life – the Australian Government sought to regulate and control most aspects of daily life during this period, including people's choice of food.
• Depicts a stereotypical nuclear family – in this idealised image of an Australian family, all characters shown are middle-class and well-dressed white Australians.
• Depicts women in a domestic role preparing and serving food for the family – in reality, by this time many women had already joined the labour force or groups supporting the war effort such as the Women's Army, and were juggling these roles and their domestic duties.
• Refers to the Australian population as comprising 7 million people – in 1940 Australia's population was officially recorded as 7,039,500, which made Australia vulnerable to attack by Japan; it was also one of the reasons Australia embarked on a massive immigration campaign after the war.
• Uses a comic strip format to show different times of the day – this format is designed to make the subject matter more appealing to the reader and is a convenient way of presenting various scenes throughout the day.
• Is an example of the work of the Commonwealth Advertising Division – this was set up in 1941 within the Department of Information, primarily to advertise recruitment drives for men's and women's services, munitions work, war loans and national savings campaigns.