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Object Timeline

1976	Work on this object began.
1981	We acquired this object.
2013	We photographed this object.
2015	We exhibited this object. This was an Object of the Day.
2024	You found it!

Poster, Friend? Or Foe?

This is a Poster. It was designed by James Miho and Tomoko Miho and made for (as the client) National Air & Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. It is dated 1976 and we acquired it in 1981. Its medium is screenprint on metallic coated paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

During World War II, civilian and military spotters learned to distinguish enemy aircraft from allied planes. This poster shows the alphabet of silhouettes that spotters learned to recognize. A military emblem dominates the center.

This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled When Civilians Guarded the Skies.

It is credited Gift of Various Donors.

This vertical poster is filled with satellite photographs of Earth on a black background. The thirty-five images are arranged in five columns and seven rows, progressing through the day-night cycle from left to right and top to bottom. The top left image is a thin waxing crescent, with only the right curve illuminated and most of the Earth in darkness. The illuminated portion steadily increases to the middle row, with the fully-illuminated Earth at center: swirling white clouds over deep blue oceans and brown-green continents. From this point the illuminated portion decreases, with the bottom right image a thin waning crescent, just the left curve showing against deep black. Below each column is a short block of white text, too small to be read.

Poster, Satellite Photos of Earth
offset lithograph on paper.
Gift of James Miho.
1991-69-50

Poster, General Dynamics
offset lithograph on paper.
Gift of Arthur Cohen and Daryl Otte in memory of Bill Moggridge.
2013-42-12

Poster, Bayerische Staatsoper: Das Rheingold Richard Wagner

Poster, Bayerische Staatsoper: Das Rheingold Richard Wagner
photo-offset lithograph on paper.
Gift of Sara and Marc Benda.
2009-20-32

Our curators have highlighted 6 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

A horizontal black and white photomontage set on top of a vertical black background with a remaining third of negative black space. The fantastic scene depicted is of a gigantic dark glazed pork shank flying through the air from the perspective of the lower left-hand corner moving outwards to the upper right-hand corner. The ham fills most of the scene is flanked by nine Allied bombers set against a soft grayscale of clouds.. The planes behind the ham seem diminutive in the distance and grow in size as they appear closer to the same point as the ham. But the ham remains to be the largest flying vessel even compared to plane on the left moving the to the top left-hand corner. This is the only plane with visible text 'ARMY' and a white military star inside of a black circle on the underside of its right wing. Perspective lines shoot out from a distant point of origin, emphasizing the speed, impact, and patriotic urgency of the heroic ham and her military escort. In the upper left corner small black text “herbert bayer” is signed by hand.

Print, Photomontage with Planes and Flying Ham, ca. 1942
offset lithograph on glossy white paper, mounted on black paper with glassine....
Museum purchase with funding provided by the Buddy Taub Foundation, Dennis A.....
2016-54-8

Poster, Red Heart, Beige Circle
screenprint on off-white wove paper.
Gift of Marion S. Rand.
2002-11-30

Poster, Herman Miller, Summer Picnic, August 16, 1974

Poster, Herman Miller, Summer Picnic, August 16, 1974
screenprint, gloss ink on paper.
Gift of Various Donors.
1981-29-169

Its dimensions are

H x W: 91.6 × 61.1 cm (36 1/16 × 24 1/16 in.)

It is inscribed

Imprinted in black ink, lower left: National Air and Space Museum; center: Smithsonian Institution; lower right: Washington, D. C.

Cite this object as

Poster, Friend? Or Foe?; Designed by James Miho (American, b. 1933), Tomoko Miho (American, 1931–2012); Client: National Air & Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution; USA; screenprint on metallic coated paper; H x W: 91.6 × 61.1 cm (36 1/16 × 24 1/16 in.); Gift of Various Donors; 1981-29-153

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition How Posters Work.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2Dqic/
Accession Number 1981-29-153
Object ID 18617373