The Blue Eagle edit
Background edit
The Blue Eagle was a symbol used in the United States by companies to show compliance with and support of the National Industrial Recovery Act. To mobilize political support for the NRA, Johnson launched the "NRA Blue Eagle" publicity campaign to boost his bargaining strength to negotiate the codes with business and labor.[1][2][3] President Roosevelt's goal was for people to only shop at stores that displayed the Blue Eagle, and to avoid stores that did not.[4] In doing this, Roosevelt hoped that those stores which did not comply with the policies of the NRA would change its stance, or they would risk experiencing "economic death" as a result.[4]
Design edit
Many sources credit advertising art director Charles T. Coiner with the design.[5][6][7][8] When the NRA was looking for someone to design its symbol, a governmental contract with N.W. Ayer led them to Coiner, who had gotten a job with Ayer in 1924, 9 years before the creation of the NRA.[9] According to a few sources, however, it was sketched by Johnson, based on an idea used by the War Industries Board during World War I.[10][3] The eagle holds a gear, symbolizing industry, in its right talon, and bolts of lightning in its left talon, symbolizing power.[11]
Symbolism to Citizens edit
All companies that accepted President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Re-employment Agreement or a special Code of Fair Competition were permitted to display a poster showing the Blue Eagle together with the announcement, "NRA Member. We Do Our Part."[10][2][3] When the Blue Eagle was first introduced, it arrived with a flurry of hope for businesses and individuals struggling as a result of the Great Depression. Shortly after the rules of the NRA were established, more than 10,000 businesses applied for the right to display the Blue Eagle in their store windows, by pledging their support to the program.[4] Johnson decided to put together a Blue Eagle drive to gain support for the movement; while it worked initially, support dwindled as time went on.[12] What started as mass support of the NRA and the Blue Eagle symbol that accompanied it turned into resentment and disapproval, especially from the businesses that were boycotted because they refused to display the symbol in their front windows.[4]
Other Uses edit
Other than posters in storefront windows, the Blue Eagle has been used in a variety of other ways. Quilts were made bearing the symbol, but there are only three such quilts that are in known existence today.[13] Like any other art, there is more meaning behind these quilts than being simply quilts; the NRA and Blue Eagle were a big enough impact for artists to incorporate it into their work. Other items that used the Blue Eagle symbol include buttons, picture frames, candy boxes and tape packaging.[14] The most famous use of the Blue Eagle is perhaps as an NFL team name, when the franchise from Philadelphia named their team the Eagles.[15] Bert Bell and Lud Wray purchased the team in 1933 and changed the name of the team in honor of the NRA.[16]
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References edit
- ^ Schlesinger
- ^ a b Johnson, Hugh S. The Blue Eagle From Egg to Earth. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1935.
- ^ a b c Himmelberg, Robert. The Origins of the National Recovery Administration. 2d paperback ed. New York: Fordham University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-8232-1541-5
- ^ a b c d Taylor, Jason (2007). "Buy Now! Buy Here! The Rise and Fall of the Patriotic Blue Eagle Emblem, 1933-1935". Essays in Economic & Business History. 25: 117–130. ISSN 0896-226X.
- ^ "Charles T. Coiner, 91, Ex-Art Chief at Ayer". The New York Times. August 16, 1989.
- ^ Julia Cass (August 14, 1989). "Charles T. Coiner, 91, Painter And Noted Advertising Designer". Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on May 21, 2015.
- ^ "Charles T. Coiner". James A. Michener Art Museum. Archived from the original on September 3, 2004. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
- ^ "Charles Coiner Papers". Syracuse University Library. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
- ^ "Charles T. Coiner, 91, Painter And Noted Advertising Designer - philly-archives". web.archive.org. 2015-05-21. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
- ^ a b Schlesinger, Jr., Arthur M. The Age of Roosevelt, Vol. 2: The Coming of the New Deal. Paperback ed. New York: Mariner Books, 2003. (Originally published 1958.) ISBN 0-618-34086-6
- ^ Krugner, Dorothy (January 15, 2009). "NRA buttons (from the National Button Society, USA)". Bead&Button. Kalmbach Publishing. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
- ^ Bledsoe, John (May 15, 1974). "Oregon and the Blue Eagle: a Study of the Response of Oregonians to the National Recovery Administration". Dissertations and Theses.
- ^ Wildemuth, Susan (2010). "NRA Blue Eagle Quilts". Blanket Statements: 7–8.
- ^ "Jewelrymakingmagazines.com". bnb.jewelrymakingmagazines.com. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
- ^ Onion, Rebecca (2013-05-22). "The Other NRA (Or How the Philadelphia Eagles Got Their Name)". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
- ^ "How NFL teams got their nicknames - CNN.com". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2022-05-01.