This poster compares Canada's "Last Best West" to
the American New Eldorado. The poster shows images of farmlands, crops, and
homesteads that were available to prospective settlers. The images are surrounded
by a brief description of the good things about coming to western Canada and
decorated with strands of wheat and maple leaves (a tree that is not native to
western Canada). The associated texts attempt to get rid of potential fears of
a "wild" west.
In the 1910s and 1920s, the format and style of immigration
posters changed a lot. The earlier information-based posters were switched with
big colourful designs that combined familiar native images with views of
prosperity. This would give a sense of their home, but very prosperous because
of the golden grain on most of the posters. Rather than include information on
immigration in the poster itself, the new posters were designed simply to excite
the viewer's interest. A contact name was listed on the poster for those
wanting further information.
The Canadian government did their best in trying to get
people over to live in western Canada. They made it look like the best place to
live. They only put things that appealed to the viewer’s eye and not any type
of warning. On this poster the border and wheat and maple leaves are all the colour gold. This makes the reader think about riches and the gold they can make
from selling their wheat. At the top of the poster it says “Western Canada, the
new Eldorado”. This slogan is comparing western Canada to the American
Eldorado. They are saying though advertising, that Canada is better than the
American Eldorado. Everything just looks so fancy in the west.
There are three pictures on this poster. They all show a land
flowing with milk and honey. I think it kind of looks like a comic strip. One
picture shows a man on a road with a horse drawn buggy. This shows someone
coming to the west. The next picture shows a piece of land with a nice house
and trees. This shows that the settler has settled into his new western home.
In the third picture it shows a huge field with tons of piles of harvested
wheat. This is the last picture in the comic strip and shows the big harvest
that you will get when coming to western Canada. On the bottom of the poster is
a box with the information of the person they need to get in contact with if
they want to immigrate. There is one image that is not like the rest. It is
dark blue and says “free 160 acres Western Canada farm lands”. This is one of
the things that attracted my eye right away because it stood out. It would have
attracted the eye of the settlers because of the huge give-away of land.
There are many texts on this poster. They are meant to get
rid of the thoughts of western Canada being an uncivilized place or dangerous
or something. The saying “homes for everybody” says to viewers that there is
plenty of space to live in. the text “easy to reach” comforts the people that
the journey out west will not be a difficult one. The texts “nothing to fear”
and “protected by the government” give a sense of peace to the settlers because
they are reminded that they have people looking over them and will not be
living in the wilderness with no one else. On the right side of the poster are
texts that relate to farming. It says “wheat land”, “rich virgin soil”, “land
for mixed farming”, and “land for cattle raising”. The Canadian government is
saying that the land can be used for basically anything. There is never been
used before soil and its good soil so it can be used for wheat or other crops. It
also says that the land is good for cattle raising. On the bottom is says “This
is your opportunity why not embrace it?” this is pretty much a challenge to
make them come to western Canada. The texts are telling the people that the
west is a good place to move to because of all the benefits.
The images, texts, slogans and colour are a symbol of great
wealth and prosperity. The gold colour is a symbol of great wealth. The images
are a symbol of great excitement to have/be made. The pictures symbol good
weather and farming.
The Canadian government did a good job in bringing people to
western Canada through the use of posters. But was it all the truth? Much of
today’s advertising has fake/false stuff in it. They only have the stuff people
want to see and what is interesting. They, for the most part, do not put the
precautions and things down. I mean, who would? You want people to buy your
stuff. The thing is, if something bad happens to your company and someone sues
it for something that happened to them while using your product, it could ruin your
business. You want to put precautions down to tell the truth and to protect
your business.
