“Gone are the Days” (December 9, 1941)
by William “Bill” Crawford (1913-1982)
19 x 22 in., ink and crayon on Glarco Illustration Board
Coppola Collection

A frequent contributor to the sport’s page, Crawford’s editorial cartoons often mixed the effect of WWII on professional sports issues.

A reply by Crawford to Pearl Harbor: time to go on the Offense.

In the trash: Appeasement (in the form of Chamberlain’s umbrella), the dove of peace, neutrality, non-belligerence, and an interesting bottle, thrown away, with “bottleneck” hanging from it. This is quite nice.

RCA Victor started a worker incentive program in September 1941 called “Beat the Promise” (work above your quota). Large posters with an anthropomorphized wine bottle encouraging the reader to not be a bottleneck. A bottleneck is a person whose slow work effort reduces the production capacity of the entire chain or process in which they are involved.

The poster series was part of a larger campaign by RCA Victor to increase production for the war effort. The campaign included rallies with war bond drives that featured notable military figures and Victor record recording artists. The campaign was very successful; RCA Victor’s production in 1941 was 14 times greater than in 1939, and production through the first six months of 1942 was 49 times greater than the same period in 1939.

After Pearl Harbor, production had all the motivation it needed. No more bottlenecks.