Source related work on prohibition

Both pictures were produced at the beginning of the 20th Century and were probably produced/intended as propaganda. The picture source C was published in the 1910 and was possibly produced by the Anti Saloon League or the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. These were pressure groups, which wanted to ban the use of alcohol due to the negative effects of alcohol. Source C is a double picture, a background picture and a foreground picture. It is a double picture to show the two sides of people who get affected by alcohol. The background picture is a saloon and the main characters stand out more than anyone on both pictures. The main characters are the barman and the customer. These are in the middle of the picture to emphasise it.

The expression on the barman’s face is pleased because he is making a large income whereas the customer’s expression looks as if he is inebriated. This shows he has already had a lot to drink and wants more alcohol. The customer is a paying a sack ofmoneyto the barman labelled ‘weeks wages’ to show many people like him are wasting all their money on booze. This is making him and hisfamilypoor. At the top of the picture is a sarcastic phrase ” The poor mans club” which is in big bold writing to stand out to readers. The phrase means that all the men in the club are gradually becoming poor when they go to the saloon bar time after time. The second part of the heading is ” The most expensive in the world to belong to. This is not as big and bold as the phrase but it still makes a very clear point about the saloon. This is that if you go to the saloon, you will be robbed of all your money.

The foreground picture is of a very poor women and her young child in a dirty room. She looks deprived and the child seems like he does not know what’s happening. The sentence above says ” The saloon is well named ‘The poor mans club’ It keeps its members and families always poor.” This is a very effective line, which means the saloons take all your money and keeps you r families poor. The main point of this picture is that drinking and buying alcohol is harming families and this is the emotional part of the picture. This picture is obviously for prohibition and most likely produced by pressure groups. This picture is detailed and aimed at the rich people.

Source D is a poster published in 1915. It is a single picture of two children, a girl and a younger boy standing outside a saloon. You can tell this by the swinging doors. At the top of the picture is a bold heading saying ” Daddy’s in there” showing that he has left his children to go in the saloon bar. This means that he spends most of his money on alcohol instead of on his family. Underneath the picture says ” And our shoes and stacking andfoodare in the saloon too, and they’ll never come out.” This means that the money spent in the saloon should be used to buy more important things like food and clothes. The girl is aware of what is happening, as she is older whereas the boy is too young to realise what is happening. Immediately from looking at the picture and reading the heading’s you can tell it is for prohibition.

The picture is bare compared to source C as this is aimed at the poor working people as this poster is more obvious than the other one. This is also an emotional picture but the image is to make you think. At that time the picture had to be basic as the poor people had noeducationand this poster was ideal for them. Both pictures/posters were published before the time of prohibition, which suggests that they only assume that the outcome would be successful. These posters are made by pressure groups making it more likely that they are biased as not every family where in this situation. Source D is a more realistic than C, but source C is very detailed and obvious whereas D is vague.