[ M1695 ] Original 1916 Dutch poster no 55

Description

Poster shows a caricature related to the Icarus myth of a winged young man wearing a business suit, looking toward the heavens sitting mid-air astride a toy size car with a dollar sign on its front grill. In the background below is convoy of steamships spewing steam across the water from a smoking battle field below. Caption title reads: "Auto-suggestie tot de be-ford-ering van den vrede" [Auto-suggestion for the transportation of peace] with a double pun on "auto-suggestion" and accentuating the word "Ford" in the Dutch word "Befordering" for "Transportation." Henry Ford, owner of the Ford Motor Company was well-known for his pacifism during the early years of the war. His hope was that consumer demand for automobiles would usher in a new age of peace and prosperity.