{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O173815"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O173815/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O173815","accessionNumber":"E.378-1988","objectType":"Poster","titles":[{"title":"Empire Builders","type":""}],"summaryDescription":"The Empire Marketing Board (EMB) was established in 1926 to encourage the British public to buy Empire products instead of those from Britain’s emerging economic and industrial rivals after the First World War. The output served as propaganda for the British Empire in projecting an image of unity, peace, and prosperity for all who lived within it, also intended to galvanise support for the continuation of British imperialism in the 20th century. The Empire was at its largest size in the 1920s, controlling just under a quarter of the world’s population and land mass. \r\nA major part of the EMB’s seven years of activity were poster campaigns directed by Frank Pick who had overseen highly successful advertising schemes and brand development for the London Underground. Around 800 different designs were commissioned. The artists were paid very well and, in some cases, sent on trips to West Africa to sketch people and landscapes for the poster designs. Around 27,000 schools were on the mailing list to receive new posters as they were issued and at its peak, 1800 advertising hoardings were rented around the country for their display. The EMB folded in 1933 having spent most of its money on the poster campaigns, almost half a million pounds in total (around £23 million today), leading to questions over its value for money and efficacy overall. The Empire Marketing Board archives are held at the National Archives at Kew who note that: ‘The actual impact of the Empire Marketing Board posters was difficult to estimate even at the time, due to the very broad objectives of the Board and the lack of any systematic method of surveying the population.’\r\n","physicalDescription":"General Description: Empire Builders. Cook Pitt Hastings Raffles Durham Sturt Brooke Lawrence Gordon Livingstone Rhodes. Small version, re-printed for use in schools, of a poster first issued by the Empire Marketing Board in 1927, and reproduced as part of another set in 1930.\n\nSmall version of a poster: Cook Pitt Hastings Raffles Durham Sturt Brooke Lawrence Gordon Livingstone Rhodes.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Fred Taylor","id":"A16415"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paper","id":"AAT14109"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Colour lithograph","categories":[{"text":"Prints","id":"THES48903"},{"text":"Posters","id":"THES252963"},{"text":"Propaganda","id":"THES48902"},{"text":"Colonialism and empire","id":"THES253004"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLC (VA)","id":"THES49171"},"free":"","case":"Y","shelf":"74","box":"A"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"posters","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Great Britain","id":"x32019"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1930","earliest":"1930-01-01","latest":"1930-12-31"},"association":{"text":"printed","id":"x46159"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"49.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"size of sheet","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"75","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"size of sheet","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Size of sheet 49.6 x 75 cm.","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Small reprint of a poster by Fred Taylor, first issued by the Empire Marketing Board in 1930.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Stephen Constantine, Buy & Build: The Advertising Posters of the Empire Marketing Board, London, 1986, pl.52."}],"production":"Posters: British. Small version, re-printed for use in schools, of a Poster first issued by the Empire Marketing Board in 1927, and reproduced as part of another set in 1930.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["E.378-1988"],"accessionNumberNum":"378","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":1988,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-06-02","recordCreationDate":"2008-11-24","availableToBook":false}}