A Careless Word A Needless Sinking

This poster was designed by Anton Otto Fischer (1882-1962) in 1942 for the Office of War Information, commonly known as OWI. The OWI was created in 1942 and was operative until 1945. President Roosevelt established the OWI during WWII to both meet the demands of the American public for news, as well as resolve American apathy towards the war and the Allied Nations. One of the main functions the OWI was war propaganda, and it created 430 posters for the home front from 1942 to 1945.

This poster from 1942 is one example of OWI's war propaganda. The image depicts a group of men, two of them badly injured, rowing away from the sinking ship in flames in the background. Fischer created a powerful and dramatic image with deep colors that reflects the potential impact of careless talk that could have been intercepted by the enemy and used against our troops.

Anton Otto Fischer was born in Germany, but arrived at the age of 15 to America. He worked as a sailor for a few years before becoming the assistant to artist Arthur Burdetter Frost. He traveled to Paris in 1906 to study painting and moved back to New York in 1908, where he opened his first studio. Anton Otto Fischer started working as a freelance illustrator for a few magazines and books such as Moby Dick and other classic works of sea literature. During WWII, he became artist laureate of the United States Coast Guard and Merchant Marine, being sworn in as a Lieutenant Commander in the Coast Guard. His works for the Government during the war were focused on the Costal Guard, trying mainly to emphasize the importance of maintaining secrecy surrounding the sailings of merchant vessels, as in this poster.

This is an Original Vintage Poster; it is not a reproduction. This poster is conservation mounted, linen backed, and in excellent condition. We guarantee the authenticity of all of our posters.