Children’s Propaganda Games of the Second World War

During the Second World War, hundreds of games were manufactured by the British, Germans and Americans aimed at children. Despite being cheaply made due to the wartime economy, the games were often fun to play and challenging to win. They also had considerable propaganda value helping to manipulate children into supporting the war. To get their attention, many of the games incorporated dramatic artwork and were based on real wartime events from the evacuation of children in 1939 to the dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945.

This book features a large selection of different games produced by the British, Germans and Americans and tells the stories behind their wartime propaganda. The Nazis in particular prided themselves on producing games which promoted and glamorized war, exploiting children's patriotism and pride in German conquests. Some of their most insidious games included Juden Raus! (Jews Out!) and Bomber über England (Bomber over England). However, the British and Americans also produced unethical games like Target for Tonight which promoted the carpet bombing of Germany and Atomic Bomb, a dexterity puzzle about the nuclear bombing of Japan.

The games featured in this book include roll and move games with a board and die, pinball and similar ‘shooting’ games, dexterity and other puzzles and card games. They were made out of paper, card, wood, rubber, bakelite plastic and initially metal. Remarkably despite wartime restrictions games were manufactured throughout the conflict to meet the demand from boys and girls as they closely followed the changing fortunes of the war. Today many of the games have become scarce so for collectors a guide to their value and rarity is included.