The Marketing of World War II in the US, 1939-1946, 1st ed. 2020 A Business History of the US Government and the Media and Entertainment Industries

From the late 1930s until December 7, 1941, isolationism and an antipathy toward war in Europe were strong political currents in the US. However, once the US entered World War II, the entire apparatus of the US government was mobilized to ?market? the war to Americans who were incredulous and horrified about the attack at Pearl Harbor. Americans wanted immediate and detailed information from the US government and the nation?s media and entertainment companies about the recent military disasters. This book analyzes the complex relationships between the US government and the entire media and entertainment industries between 1939 and 1946.

The US government realized in early 1942 that it needed to forge an alliance with the media and entertainment industries to create and maintain support for the war. The Office of War Information (OWI) was the US government agency acting as the liaison between Washington and the diverse media and entertainment industries; and all of them confronted a series of major issues and concerns to convince Americans to support the war effort. This book offers business historians an examination of the complex and sometimes tense relationships between the OWI and the radio, magazine, newspaper, and motion picture industries.

Introduction: The U.S. Government And American Society: 1939-1941.

1.      Isolationism in the U.S. 1939-1941:

·         the impact of major losses during World War I and the devastating impact of the Great Depression created a strong current of isolationism in the U.S.;

·         the outbreak of World War II on September 1, 1939 exacerbated the situation, especially in the U.S. Congress;

2.      Detailed analysis of the key U.S. Government departments and agencies (e.g., The War Department):

3.      Detailed analysis of key economic indices (e.g., the Gross Domestic Product; interest rates; unemployment rates; per capita income; U.S. government revenues and expenditures; etc.) as they approached the outbreak of war.

4.      Detailed analysis of the U.S. media and the entertainment industries (e.g., circulation and attendance at events; revenues and expenditures; etc. ) as they

approached the outbreak of war.

Chapter 1: After Pearl Harbor: The U.S. Government and the Media and Entertainment Industries: December 1941-to Mid-1942.

1.      The mission, activities, and goals of the Office of War Information (OWI; est. June 13, 1942; Executive Order 9182):

·         analysis of Executive Order 9182 and the mission-strategies and organizational structure of OWI: personnel; budget; outreach activities to the communications and entertainment industries;

·         analysis of the early activities of OWI (e.g., radio shows; Voice of America; “This Is Our Enemy;” etc.); OWI Bureau of Motion Pictures (liaison with the War Department; the Office of Strategic Services, OSS; etc.); newspapers and foreign war reporters; magazines and depiction of life during the war;

2.      The initial mission, activities, and goals of other U.S. Government departments and agencies

·         initial attempts to finance wartime spending and domestic borrowing

·         wage controls;

·         campaigns to generate support for price controls, rationing, mobilization, etc.;

·         the U.S. Government’s realization in early 1942 that they needed to forge an alliance with the media and entertainment industries to create and maintain support for the war.

Chapter 2: 1942-1945: The U.S. Government and Book Publishers Confront the War

1.      The state of the U.S. book publishing industry in 1942

·         new title output (statistical data from the R.R. Bowker Company; N.B.: paper was rationed during World War II):

1939: 10,640;

1940: 11,328;

1941: 11,112;

1942: 9,525;

1943: 8,325;

1944: 6,970;

1945: 6,548;

1946: 7,735;

1939: John Steinbeck. The Grapes of Wrath.

1940: Richard Llewellyn. How Green Was My Valley;

1941: A.J. Cronin. The Keys of the Kingdom;

1942: Franz Werfel. The Song of Bernadette;

1943: Lloyd C. Douglas. The Robe;

1944: Lillian Smith. Strange Fruit.

1945: Kathleen Winsor. Forever Amber;

1946: Daphne du Maurier. The King’s General.

·         revenues;

·         when books went to war:

U.S. book publishers gave away 122,951,031 books during World War II;  the army and the navy endorsed the program, and in July of 1943, began distributing these books to military personnel in Europe and the Pacific;

·         list of some of the major books in this innovative program,.

Chapter 3: 1942-1945: The U.S. Government Magazines Confont the War

1.     Analysis of the various magazine strategies and structures crafted to market the war;

2.      Detailed analysis of magazine revenues (in millions of dollars; in The Statistical Abstract of the United States, various years):

·         1939: total: $180; weeklies $88; women’s $49; monthlies $34; farm: $12.

3.      Circulation (i.e., circ) data before and during the war;

4.      The impact of magazine cover, articles, photographs, and art work (e.g., Norman Rockwell);

5.      Detailed evaluation of magazine industry’s successes, failings, and frustrations working with various U.S. Government agencies and departments during the war,  and the impact of censorship on magazine’s operations and coverage of the war (e.g., Time; Life; Look; The Saturday Evening Post; etc.).

Chapter 4: 1942-1945: The  U.S. Government and Newspapers Confront the War

1.     Analysis of the various strategies and structures crafted to market the war;

2.     War combat correspondents and information about the war (e.g., the intense demands for maps about war and combat zones);

3.     Detailed analysis of newspaper revenues (in millions of dollars; in The Statistical Abstract of the United States, various years):

·         1939: total $153; national $640; local $180.

4.      Circulation data before and during the war;

5.      Detailed evaluation of their successes, failings, and frustrations working with various U.S. Government agencies and departments during the war and the impact of censorship on operations and coverage of the war (e.g., The New York Times; The Wall Street Journal; news services; etc.).

Chapter 5: 1942-1945: The U.S. Government and Radio Confront the War.

1.      Analysis of the various strategies and structures crafted by the diverse advertising industries to market the war;

·         1945 advertising expenditures: total $2,975; national $1,775; local $1,099.

3.      Detailed information about radio advertising revenues (in millions of dollars; in The Statistical Abstract of the United States, various years);

·         1939: total $184; network $99; spot $35; local $50;

·         1945: total $424; network $198; spot $92 ; local $134.

4.      Local and national radio stations and networks battle with newspapers for revenues and impact:

·         key radio shows during the war (The “Golden Age” of Radio;” Jack Benny; etc.).

5.      Detailed evaluation of radio’s successes, failings, and frustrations working with various U.S. Government agencies and departments during the war; and the impact of censorship on radio’s operations and coverage of the war. 

Chapter 6: 1942-1945: The U.S. Government and the Entertainment Industries Confront the War

1.     Analysis of the various strategies and structures crafted to market and finance the war;

2.     U.S. motion picture box-office revenues during the war years:

·         1940: $740 million;

·        1941: $810 million;

·        1942: $1.02 billion;

·        1944: $1.34 billion;

·        1945: $1.45 billion.

3.      Hollywood, The Studio System, and the U.S. Government;

4.     Analysis of major war-themed or war-oriented feature films, documentaries, and news reels;

5.      The U.S.O.: at home and abroad;

6.      Entertainers and the War Bond campaigns (e.g., auctions and public relations tours);

7.      Detailed evaluation of their successes, failings, and frustrations working with various U.S. Government agencies and departments during the war and censorship.

Chapter 7: The Impact of Wartime Cooperative Relationship Between the U.S. Government and The Media and Entertainment Industries on American Society and Consumers

1.      Detailed analysis of the successes, failures, and strain between Washington and the media and entertainment industries: 1939-1946;

·         how important were the efforts of the diverse communications and entertainment industries in “marketing” and “winning the war?

2.      Planning for the post-war.

Provides a comprehensive scholarly analysis of US government’s marketing of World War II and collaboration with the media and entertainment industries

Evaluates the post-war implications of cooperative relationships between government and the media industries

Provides detailed statistics of media and entertainment industry revenues during 1939-1945