Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:
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- I scavenged most of these images from auction sites like this one. You can probably get hi-res versions by paying them a visit. Maybe bid on a motivational poster as well.
Blowhard, Esq.
Callowman
Sherbrooke
Eddie Pensier
Enzo Nakamura
Epaminondas
Fabrizio del Wrongo
Fenster
Brundle Guy
Glynn Marshes
Paleo Retiree
Atypical Neurotic
Question Lady
Sax von Stroheim
Sir Barken Hyena
The Mistaken
Uncouth Reflections 
I’m no artist, but the colour saturation was so beautiful and rich then. I go to the Old Paper Show in my city when I can, and have met many artists buying up old movie magazines, Ladies Worlds, Delineators, etc. just for the covers and wondering how they can reproduce the effects. (There was often a very loose brush on movie star paintings, but not in things like these posters, which manage to glow anyway.)
I’ve never seen posters at these events. My guess is that sellers don’t like the careful handling involved.
Despite the warmth and depth of colour, a few of those posters really give me a chill. This one in particular: “An old man will visit you one day and that man will be YOU.” Never mind the sex-change operation this would involve. It terrifies me.
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Much of what you’re noticing with respect to color derives from the way in which posters and such used to be printed. Prior to 1930, most were printed with techniques like stone lithography, which yielded intense and saturated color. Offset printing works with those little dots, which just doesn’t yield the same effects.
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Thank you!
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Wow!
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They don’t feel corny. I could believe them.
Do/did posters like this actually affect behavior? Or in the end are/were they expressions of culture hoping to create change but in the end succeeding mostly as expression?
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These posters affirm and reinforce the simple principles that people know are true, but which are opposed by “knowing” failures, smart writers and beautiful cynics. Each generation needs to be reminded of these reliable apothegms — if only to give them something to rebel against.
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It’s definitely interesting to compare the motivational messages of the ’20s with those of today.
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