Keep ‘Em Flying: The Lake County Discovery Museum’s WWII Collection
The Lake County Discovery Museum received an $85,000 LSTA Grant to digitize its World War II collections. This project includes the scanning of the fronts and backs of nearly 12,000 postcards, dating from 1940 through 1945, printed by Curt Teich & Company of Chicago. About fifty of the production files used to create the postcards will be available with the original postcards. The production files include original photographs, artist design work, hand-colored proofs, and other items used to create the look of the postcard such as tile, wallpaper, carpet, or fabric.
Postcards were a cheap and efficient way of advertising. During WWII, guidelines and restrictions were set up to control advertising. Companies could continue to advertise if they were producing goods for the civilian market; informing consumers on how to conserve or repair goods; trying to keep their name before the public because they were selling their goods directly to the government; or if the message supported the war. The Teich Company printed advertising postcards that covered all these approved uses.
The postcards in the collection show the military life of men during the war, but there is also a significant collection of materials on women during WWII. The USO printed a large number of postcards for servicemen and women, and all six organizations that form the USO – the YMCA, YWCA, National Catholic Community Services (NCCS), Salvation Army, Jewish Welfare Board, and the National Travelers Aid Association – are represented.
The Lake County, Illinois materials from the Museum’s Fort Sheridan Collection provide a comprehensive view of life at the Fort and the role of a military installation during a major conflict. Fort Sheridan (1887-1993) was a U.S. Army Post established along the shores of Lake Michigan, north of Chicago. During WWII the Fort served as a recruit center, trained troops, and also assumed administrative control of the POW camps in Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Instructional pamphlets on rationing and Civil Defense, envelopes with war propaganda stickers, a German POW booklet, and sheet music with audio files are among the items that are now available on Digital Past.
The Museum will be mounting a temporary exhibition of these materials, which will run September 27, 2008 through January 4, 2009. In addition to displaying many of the archival materials digitized for this grant, the exhibit will include a Red Cross Nurse’s uniform and two wedding dresses – one of them made from the groom’s parachute. On October 11 and 12, the Museum will offer a weekend of special presentations. Visitors will meet authentically dressed WWII reenactors, and have the opportunity to see first-hand some of the vehicles and equipment used by both American and German soldiers. Presentations throughout the day will focus on different aspects of soldiers’ lives during the war.