PLEASE NOTE: Subsections (B), (C), and (E) will be posted out of order, beginning on July 5th, because I began posting the series in reverse order from July 4th until I realized I wasn’t going to have enough time to include everything in order.
The images here start to depart markedly from the goals of the original project described in Subsection A in that it doesn’t seem likely they would ever have been created; and therefore they do not aspire to historical authenticity but are instead editorial in nature, i.e., I am commenting on the times or the subject matter in some way, as discussed in the description of each work.
Literature Section “07-04-D Hypothetical WW2 Images”—Accompanying Images: 1717, 1940-1941—Published 2025-06-10 to 06-12—©2025 The Remainderman. This is a work of fiction, not a book of suggestions. It’s filled with fantasies, idiots, and criminals. Don’t believe them or imitate them.
1717 07-04 The Viscountess Fensmere Reminds You to Kindly Keep Calm and Carry On—2025-06-10; Hellinore; motivational poster; compare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_Calm_and_Carry_On. The very-British, very understated upper-class stiff-upper-lip sterotype reflected by the original propaganda poster (which as noted in the linked article, was hardly used during the war because it was being withheld for use in the most-dire of circumstances, which were never deemed to have arrived) really made me think of a formal upper-crust event like a tea party where people could calmly discuss tea as bombs rained down around them. Or a Monty Python lampoon of the same.
1940 07-04 Wanted for Murder–of English with her smack talk—2025-06-11; Hellinore; motivational poster (Victor Keppler, 1944); compare https://goldenageposters.com/products/1944-wanted-for-murder-her-careless-talk-cost-lives-victor-keppler-wwii. The original was one of numerous posters produced by many combatants, warning their citizens to be careful not to reveal secrets with loose talk. I liked the idea of a wanted poster but frankly found the original a bit boring and lacking in context. I had taken Hellinore, an upper-class character, so far down the path of being loud, eccentric, and independent to the point of offensive, I wanted to take her further toward public enemy territory.
1941 07-04 Set Europe Ablaze!–Anarchy ‘n’ the UK—2025-06-12; Kadidia; motivational poster; compare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Operations_Executive#Wartime_commentaries_on_SOE. Churchill was said to have authorized the Special Operations Executive with a mission to “Set Europe Ablaze.” I did not find any reference to when its existence as an organization was made public, but suffice it to say, as a secret organization coordinating secret missions, it did not have any propaganda posters—at least, in its own name, or proclaiming its own purpose; although it may well have been involved in the distribution of propaganda materials without attribution. I chose Kadidia for this imaginary poster because other than 1782, which didn’t really showcase her personality or role, I didn’t find real WW2 posters with black women. In choosing her, I had in mind the SOE agent Noor Inayat Khan. I also like the spirited anarchic defiance of the message, which because it refers to Europe as a whole as the target area for operations, almost seemed to suggest an attack on the contintent’s culture and establishment as a whole by a radical outsider.