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Bringing Another Empire Alive? The Empire Marketing Board and the Construction of Dominion Identity, 1926–33

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 42; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/03086534.2013.826456

1743-9329

Felicity Barnes,

Travel Writing and Literature

AbstractIn 1926, the Empire Marketing Board (EMB) was established to foster empire trade without the use of tariffs. It was to simulate imperial preference by redirecting consumer choice away from 'foreign' goods and towards the produce of 'home and empire'. Using newspapers, pamphlets, film, exhibitions and poster displays, the EMB aimed to 'bring the empire alive' to British consumers. This paper analyses the presentation of three settler dominions—Australia, New Zealand and Canada—in the EMB's advertising campaigns. The EMB's large visual archive has been the subject of only limited study, most of which has focused on a homogeneous reading of empire. This article argues that the work of the EMB reveals the presence of a separate discourse of empire—a 'dominion discourse'—that has not been recognised in cultural histories of empire, which, with the recent exception of 'British world' studies, have been more interested in mapping and conceptualising the formation of identities in other colonial settings. The 'dominion discourse' emphasised the familiar, white and 'British' nature of the former colonies of settlement, attributes that are clearly displayed in the campaigns of the EMB, but can also be found in settler culture much more widely. In doing so, the white dominions stressed not only their difference from the dependent colonies, but their similarity to Britain. Though the inter-war period is often associated with the rise of distinctive national identities and the loosening of imperial bonds, the production of these attributes in an imperial and metropolitan context draws attention to both the transnational nature of identity formation and the continuing importance of Britain and empire in the construction of settler culture in this period. Notes[1] 'Highways of Empire', MacDonald Gill, CO 956/537, Public Records Office (hereafter PRO), The National Archives Kew (hereafter TNA). Sudan and mandated territories, rather than the dependencies, were given a different colour in reproductions at the request of the Dominions Office. Minutes of Poster Sub-Committee, 3 March 1927, 4, CO 760/26, PRO.[2] Tallents Papers, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, File 25, 4, quoted in Constantine, 'Bringing the Empire Alive', 200.[3] 'Map of the Empire', Dora Batty, CO 956/103, PRO.[4] 'Map of Canada and the Empire', Alfred E. Taylor, CO 956/74, PRO.[5] 'Map of the Shipping Lanes of Empire', F. Taylor, Mikan No. 2845194, National Archives of Canada (hereafter NAC), Ottawa.[6] Minutes of Poster Sub-Committee, 29 March 1928, 4, CO 760/26, PRO; Minutes of Poster Sub-Committee, 10 May 1928, 3, CO 760/26, PRO.[7] Ibid. In New Zealand's case, they did add a frame.[8] McIntyre, Dominion of New Zealand, 42.[9] Minutes of the 1907 Colonial Conference, Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1907, Vol. 1, A-5, 80.[10] Evening Post, 28 June 1907, 8.[11] McIntyre, Commonwealth of Nations, 189. It is not clear whether these were British or Dominion schools.[12] Ross, 'Reluctant Dominion or Dutiful Daughter?', 28–44.[13] Darwin, 'A Third British Empire?', 64–87.[14] Older studies include Dawson, Development of Dominion Status; Keith, Sovereignty of the British Dominions; McIntyre, Commonwealth of Nations, Mansergh, The Commonwealth Experience; Miller, Britain and the Old Dominions.[15] Dawson, Development of Dominion Status, 103. For an exception in New Zealand, see Kumarasingham, 'Independence and Identity Ignored?', 147–60; Barnes, '"Thinking From a Place Called London'".[16] For an example of missing dominions, see Hall and Rose, At Home with the Empire. For a summary, see Darian-Smith, Grimshaw and Macintyre, 'Introduction: Britishness Abroad', 4–5. For an exception, see Thompson, The Empire Strikes Back?.[17] Hopkins, 'Rethinking Decolonization', 214.[18] See Bridge and Fedorowich, The British World: Diaspora; Darian-Smith, Grimshaw and Macintyre, Britishness Abroad; for Australia, see Schreuder and Ward, Australia's Empire; for Canada, see Buckner, Canada and the British Empire and Canada and the End of Empire; Buckner and Francis, Canada and the British World. For New Zealand, see Belich, Paradise Reforged; Pickles, 'Colonisation, Empire, and Gender'.[19] Cain and Hopkins, British Imperialism, 1688–2000, 491.[20] Constantine, 'Bringing the Empire Alive', 198.[21] Ibid.[22] His design was rendered by W. Grimmond, CO 956/546-550A, PRO.[23] Canada was represented at Executive Board level from its inception in 1926 by W. A. Wilson.[24] Forsyth was also New Zealand's representative on the Imperial Economic Committee. See Hudson and Way, Letters from a 'Secret Service Agent', 235.[25] There is no complete record of the EMB's posters, so these figures remain approximate, although they are based on the EMB's annual reports, the minutes of the publicity committee and by reconstituting as many original poster series as possible by working between the three major collections at the Public Records Office (UK), the Manchester Gallery and Libraries and Archives Canada.[26] For the period 1925–31, exports from the dominions and India to the UK formed between 81 and 85 per cent of imperial exports to the UK. The remainder was taken up by colonies, and mandates and protectorates. See Table 96, Total Trade of the British Empire, in Board of Trade, Statistical Abstract for the British Empire, 91.[27] Britain featured in 19 poster sets. This does not include the series around the British Industries Fair, which had a different purpose from the other sequences.[28] Minutes of Poster Sub-Committee, 29 May 1930, 2, PRO.[29] Darwin, The Empire Project, 395.[30] Constantine, 'Anglo Canadian Relations', 379. For the place of imperial suspicion in the Canadian nationalist narrative, see Thompson, 'Canada and the Third British Empire', 90.[31] Australia's economic nationalism is debated. For a summary of older and 'neo-nationalist' interpretations of Australian policy in this period, see Attard, 'The Limits of Influence', 325–26. For the continued role of empire in this period, see Ward, 'Sentiment and Self-Interest', 91–108.[32] O'Brien, 'Empire Versus National Interests', 569.[33] Drummond, British Economic Policy and the Empire, 67.[34] Constantine, 'Bringing the Empire Alive', 220–24.[35] The Times, 2 June 1930, 15.[36] Empire Marketing Board Report, 17 Oct. 1930, Economic Affairs, Imperial Trade, EMB 1930–31, EA1 154/4/15 part 1, Archives New Zealand (hereafter ANZ), Wellington. Emphasis in original.[37] Constantine, Buy and Build, 17.[38] Minutes of Poster Sub-Committee 28 Aug. 1930.[39] Constantine, 'Bringing the Empire Alive', 217.[40] O'Connor, 'The King's Christmas Pudding', 127–55.[41] Ibid.,148.[42] Swann, British Documentary Film Movement, 34–35.[43] Cronin, 'Selling Irish Bacon', 136.[44] Mackenzie, Propaganda and Empire, 118. For the role of commodities generally in producing dominion identity in New Zealand, see Barnes, New Zealand's London.[45] 'Gathering Apricots for Canning', A. B. Webb, CO 956/193, PRO; 'A New Zealand Dairy Farm', Frank Newbould, CO 956/306, PRO.[46] 'Dog Teams in Canada's North', Mikan No. 2845104, NAC; 'The Wheat Harvest of Canada', F. C. Herrick, Mikan No. 2845214, NAC; 'Apples and Honey from Canadian Orchards', C. Pears, CO 956/133, PRO.[47] Belich, Replenishing the Earth, 208.[48] Cronin, 'Selling Irish Bacon', 132–43.[49] Minutes of Poster Sub-Committee, 22 Feb. 1930, PRO; Minutes of Poster Sub-Committee, 3 Feb. 1928, PRO. Austin Cooper, a Canadian, worked for the EMB but did not design any Canadian posters.[50] He trained at The Slade School of Art and the Royal College of Art. MacDonald Ross, 'New Zealand Prints 1900–1950', 79.[51] Ibid., 41.[52] Minutes of Poster Sub-Committee, 30 Aug. 1928, PRO.[53] 'An Empire Poster', The Times, 20 Aug.1927, 12.[54] For A. B. Webb's EMB work, see Gooding, Sunshine and Shadows, 20. The relevant series are CO 956/51–56, PRO; CO 956/193–98, PRO.[55] Minutes of Poster Sub-Committee, 25 July 1929, PRO.[56] Minutes of Poster Sub-Committee, 4 Oct. 1928, PRO.[57] A few examples: for nature, see Dunlapp, Nature and the English Diaspora; for indigenous elements in Australian identity, see White, Inventing Australia; for New Zealand, see Gibbons, 'Cultural Colonisation and National Identity'.[58] There may be a Maori dairy farmer included in 'The British Empire Dairy Factory', F.C. Herrick, CO 956/3, PRO.[59] Inspectors' Report on Retail Display Material, Retail Grocers Sub-committee, EMB, 8 Nov. 1928, 1, CO 760/26, PRO.[60] 'Buy South African Dried Fruit, Buy New Zealand Lamb', F. C. Herrick, CO 956/61, PRO.[61] The Times, 22 Dec. 1926, 9.[62] The Times, 14 Feb. 1927, 18.[63] 'Come Up Come In, From Eastward', CO 956/4; Dora Batty, 'The Wheat Harvest of Canada', CO 956/1; Dora Batty, 'The Dairies of New Zealand', CO 956/2; F. C. Herrick, 'Dairy Factory New Zealand', CO956/3, PRO; Norman Wilkinson, 'Ships in the Channel', Mikan No. 2834298; F. C. Herrick, 'Wheat Harvest of Canada', Mikan No. 2845214, NAC.[64] The Times, 10 Jan. 1927, 18.[65] 'Buy and Build', CO 956/72–77, PRO; 'Empire Buying Means Empire Building', CO 956/101–06, PRO; New Zealand, Mikan Nos. 2845340, 2845341, 2845001, 2852303, NAC.[66] 'March of Empire', CO 956/73, PRO; 'March of Empire', CO 956/102, PRO.[67] 'Map of Australia', MacDonald Gill, CO 956/521, PRO.[68] 'Map of New Zealand', MacDonald Gill, CO 956/302, PRO.[69] Darwin, 'A Third British Empire?', 86.[70] 'Empire Buying Makes Busy Factories', CO 956/175–80, CO 956/133–38, CO 956/145–49, CO 956/181–86, CO 956/187–92, CO 956/178, CO 956/179, CO956/180, PRO.[71] 'Empire Buying Makes Busy Factories', CO 956/133–38, PRO.[72] Minutes of Poster Sub-Committee, 29 Aug.1929, 1, CO 760/26, PRO.[73] 'Empire Buying Makes Busy Factories', CO 956/175–80, PRO. For industry see Tsokhas, Making a Nation State, 93–103.[74] Belich, Paradise Reforged, 29–31.[75] '1928 Export of Frozen Mutton and Lamb from NZ to UK', CO 956/146, PRO.[76] 'British Cloth in NZ', H.S. Williamson, CO 956/145, PRO; 'NZ Serves Our Tables', H.S. Williamson, CO 956/147, PRO.[77] 'Empire Buying Makes Busy Factories', Keith Henderson, CO 956/181–86, PRO.[78] The Empire's Highway to India', C. Pears, CO 956/688–93, PRO.[79] Australian jarrah appeared with Burmese teak and West African mahogany. CO 956/533–34, PRO. This early sequence also included an image of 'Home Reafforestation', Keith Henderson, CO 956/462A, PRO. Canadian and South African tobacco also appeared with India and Africa in one letterpress campaign. CO956/90–95, PRO.[80] 'Always Empire Butter', CO 956/290–94, PRO.[81] 'Buy From the Empire's Gardens', CO 956/269–73, PRO.[82] 'Apple Orchards of Empire', G. Sheringham, Mikan No. 2897676, NAC; 'South African Oranges', G. Sheringham, Mikan No. 2845353, NAC: 'An English Country Market', Fred Taylor, Mikan No. 2974157, NAC; 'Oranges from South Africa', Mikan No. 2845052, NAC.[83] A central poster of London was proposed for E. Knight Kauffer's sequence on Gold Coast produce, but this did not eventuate, its place taken instead by a statistical poster.[84] Pinkstone, Global Connections, 90–91.[85] Minutes of Poster Sub-Committee, 25 July 1929, 2, CO 760/26, PRO. No reason was given for the deletion. Queensland sugar did appear as part of a list in a letterpress poster.[86] Minutes of Poster Sub-Committee, 21 June 1928, 2, CO 760/26, PRO.[87] 'John Bull and Sons', Harold Williamson, CO 956/682–86, PRO.[88] 'Raise the Empire Line', Service Advertising Studio, also CO 956/25–29B, CO956/78–83; CO956/139–44, PRO.[89] 'Support the Empire and it Will Support You', Austin Cooper, CO956/235–40; 'A Happy New Year to the Empire', Austin Cooper, CO956/509–13, PRO.[90] 'Today Trade Builds the Empire', Fred Taylor, CO 956/529, 530, 481, 482, 483, PRO.[91] 'The Service of Empire', J Kerr Lawson, CO 956/296–301.[92] Meredith, 'Imperial Images', 33.[93] Most work on the EMB conflates dominion and dependent imagery. See Beinart and Hughes, Environment and Empire, 214. Meredith notes it is selective but 'considerably less stilted', 33.[94] 'Mutton, Lamb, Apples', Frank Newbould, CO 956/55, PRO.[95] See, for example, 'Niger Steamer Loading Groundnuts', G. Spencer Pryse, Mikan No 2845347, NAC; 'Cocoa', E. McKnight Kauffer, CO 956/499, PRO.[96] Constantine, 'Bringing the Empire Alive', 217.[97] 'Felling a Karri Tree', A. B. Webb, CO 956/53, PRO.[98] 'Felling Mahogany', G. Spencer Pryse, Mikan No. 2845025, NAC.[99] The Times, 7 Feb. 1927, 13.[100] The Times, 28 Aug. 1929, 8.[101] The Times, 24 June 1929, 13.[102] Barnes, New Zealand's London, 187.[103] Minutes of Poster Sub-Committee, 16 June 1927 and 28 April 1927, 2, CO 760/26, PRO.[104] For example, the Melbourne Argus ran pictures of 'Cattle Raising', Gregory Brown, 11 Jan. 1929, 7; 'The Empire Stands for Peace', 14 Dec. 1929, 12; 'Help Australia and Help Yourself', 20 Sept. 1930, 8.[105] Minutes of Poster Sub-Committee, 12 April 1928, 2, and 12 March 1931, 2, PRO.[106] Barnes, New Zealand's London, 188.[107] 'Empire Shopping Week', Sydney Morning Herald, 14 May 1929, 10; Melbourne Argus, 25 May 1929, 17.[108] 'Marketing within the Empire', The Times, 23 Aug. 1928, 7.[109] Barnes, New Zealand's London, 162–63.[110] Ibid., 174–75.[111] 'Advertising Australian Butter', Gippsland Times, 14 March 1927, 6.[112] For images, see 'Photographs of samples for Trade and Commerce Offices and Exhibits of Commercial Samples Empire Shopping Week', RG20, Vol. 52. File no. 19075 Vol. 4, NAC.[113] Boucher, Carey and Ellinghaus, Re-orienting Whiteness; Carey, '"Wanted! A Real White Australia'"; Lake and Reynolds, Drawing the Global Colour Line. For an older study see Price. The Great White Walls are Built.[114] Constantine, Buy and Build, 12–13.