OUGD401 // Image Analysis Exercise

The 1876 advertisement for "The Uncle Sam Range" cooker created by Schumacher & Ettlinger instantly showcases patriotic symbolism for the USA, portraying the 'American Dream' in all its glory. The wealthy are portrayed dining on their lavish food all cooked by their new state of the art cooker- making onlookers aspire to be "upper class" and have their lifestyle. This is emphasised by the extravagant home setting and garments of those present, especially the young girls titled as individual American states in the background. At a closer look, the clock dates are 1776 and 1876- marking 100 years since the Declaration of Independence, suggesting this advertisement and stove may be limited addition to mark the occasion. The use of the Western style typography, and "Feeding the world with the aid of.." shows unity within the empire; distilling the ideologies that the powerhouse US is not a force to be reckoned with, boasting about their progress within a mere 100 years. 

A racial undertone is apparent as the black figure serving their food is made to look slightly comical and inferior to the others, which is ironic seen as America is built on a healthy immigration system. 

Similar messages are cast in Adrian Allison's 'East African Transport Old Style' and 'East African Transport New Style' (1930-1931). It seems the intended narrative of the two images here is to show investors that the British Empire are making improvements to the world, and therefore we should put our trust (and funding) into the empire. This is suggested by the deliberately illustrated sad/angry faces to show the natives are not happy with their 'old' way of life, thus prompting the British to intervene and 'improve' quality of life overseas. However, I take a negotiated reading to this image and feel that the 'new' way of life is not the British empowering the Africans, but once again connoting the racial undertones (similar to the US). The white man is now in the focal point of the image, overlooking the once free. This is represented not only in a change of mood, but also in a change of attire. In the 'old' scene, they are wearing their own tribal regalia contrasting the uniformed white cloth sorts in the 'new' scene. This way of thinking may be because as a citizen of the 21st Century, we are aware of the history and cruelty that has taken place in the past which has tainted our view on images like these. This brings up more similarities with regards to empire as both Western 'powerhouses' are creating high quality propaganda to show off how fantastic they are, implying to the African onlookers (and the rest of the world) they would be nothing without the empire. In the 'new style' scenario by Allinson technology has been introduced by the west, making bridges and bringing large trucks. This image is also purely male, connoting to sub tones that women are inferior despite being the time of the suffragette movement was well underway. In conclusion, despite both images seeming different from the outset, their use of ‘The Empire’ as an underlying theme casts very clear similarities. The use of illustration and painted colours with a hand rendered distortion also ties them into a very similar genre artistically, whilst the undertone of ‘the man’ being in control ties them culturally.