>ALL the official slogans Heartfield mentions were neither from the
>1930s or the 1970s but from the period 1939-45.
James Heartfield writes:
>Not so. Only 'dig for victory' was never used in the 1970s - all the
>others were current then, and 'save it' was introduced in the
>seventies.
>Stafford Cripps recipe for Nettle Pie comes from post-war
>rationing, not
>war-time. Holidays at Home I admit was Islington Council
>during the war.
>'Is your journey really necessary?' was used in the 1930s.
I respond:
On reflection, I think Heartfield may be right about "save it" -- I certainly (if dimly) recall its use.
But the fact that other slogans were *re-cycled* -- something Heartfield might object to in principle? ;-) -- in that period doesn't really answer my point, and possibly reinforces it.
The reduced consumption the authorities wanted in the 70s benefited only the ruling class -- e.g., electricity-saving to try and beat the early 70s miners' strikes. To add legitimacy to their appeals, they may indeed have attempted to link them with the sacrifices made in the war against Hitler.
For example, I well remember many appeals to the "Dunkirk spirit" (in connection with the absurd "I'm backing Britain" campaign, if memory serves).
The fact that the ruling class appeals to popularly-supported reductions in (physical) consumption to justify its own concerns doesn't conclusively prove (or disprove) the undesirability of any given proposal to cut a particular kind of consumption.
On the other instances quoted
(a) post-war rationing may have been unpopular, but people could see a case for it.
(b) if "Is your journey really necessary?" indeed originated before the Hitler war, I'd be interested to learn of the circumstances.
Julian