An old saying has found a new use. We suggest others.
From: cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com
Feel better? Apparently, it works. Several media and advertising executives have decorated their offices with a 1939 propaganda poster with that gentle, yet stern, directive.
For the rest of us, with what must be the toughest Thanksgiving in memory just two days away, and with the usual raft of governmental, criminal, social and antisocial shenanigans afoot, we ask: Why stop there? In this case, the King’s English loses some of its oomph when it crosses the big pond. Tell Big Pete in Sheepshead Bay to “carry on” and see how that works out. (“I got something for you to carry, pal. Right here.”)
“Use it up — Wear it out — Make it do!” Along the lines of conservation, this plea features a woman who seems to be sewing a patch onto a man’s pants bottoms even as he toils away in the yard. Try to get service like that at your tailor!
“Food is a weapon. Don’t waste it!” Especially timely this time of year, with all those leftovers being dumped in the garbage. This should hang in the kitchen of every apartment with small children; a much stronger admonition than “Clean your plate.” Observe the way that drumstick and those bones are picked clean — the plate doesn’t even need washing. More savings! And this poster is an opportunity for our mayor, who mandated that restaurants post caloric amounts and rebuke trans-fats. Food is a weapon! Cook carefully.
“She may look clean — BUT.” Prostitution: still illegal. And while the styles of the young woman pictured in what looks to be a gonorrhea-awareness campaign would be a little out of place among today’s members of the oldest profession, the message remains intact. “Good time” girls are bad news, and wars are apparently lost because of them.
“Have you REALLY tried to save gas by getting into a car club?” The mayor’s congestion-pricing plan didn’t work, but another way to keep cars out of Manhattan may be the return of the car club. Posters urging gasoline conservation abounded during World War II, but you never go wrong with the steely gaze of an irritated grunt.
