The first cartoon, entitled “Volunteer Vic’s Big Idea,” depicted an AEF soldier named Vic fastening a drain pipe to his steel helmet to keep the incessant rain from running down his jacket. Short syndicated cartoon strips, or funnies, debuted in the first issue of Stars and Stripes. Humor ↑Īlongside didactic material, sports, and entertainment news, humor was another important tool that editors and contributors used to bolster the morale of soldiers. Published in the 28 June 1918 issue of Stars and Stripes, the article described parallels between the French and American experience eating poor victuals, dubbed “monkey meat,” and also reminded American readers that the term “monkey meat” was borrowed from French slang. To help Americans understand their purpose in France, the “America in France” articles stressed the cultural significance of these sites for the French people.Īnother article, “Canned Monkey Meat Doesn’t Suit Yanks,” showed how the newspaper stressed commonalities between allies.
#STARSAND STRIPES SERIES#
The paper ran an “America in France” series in 1918, teaching American soldiers the history of Chateau-Thierry, Picardy, Cantigny, and Toul, among other French cities and provinces. Stars and Stripes editors hired writers for educational stories that reinforced fraternal bonds between Americans and their French allies. Although the paper’s content was closely monitored and culled, the editorial board and Board of Control tirelessly cultivated the image that Stars and Stripes was under the complete discretion of its enlisted staff. Watson, the second officer-in-charge of the Board of Control, bucked at GHQ’s attempt to clean up slang and censor cartoons. Throughout the war, the editorial board engaged with the Board of Control and GHQ in a three-way tug-of-war over appropriate content. Brilliant journalists, including Harold Wallace Ross (1892–1951) of The New Yorker, chaired the paper’s editorial board. The paper’s Board of Control operated in Paris and was staffed by officers, including Viskniskki, who assiduously removed any content thought to encourage discontent among soldiers. Pershing (1860–1948), and others, Stars and Stripes constituted a form of internal propaganda. Issues of censorship arose after the paper’s initial conception. The paper, by providing stylistically consistent news to soldiers scattered from Neufchâteau to Lorraine to Bordeaux, would help create a more homogenous Army culture and bolster the men’s sense of belonging to the AEF.
Further, the paper would remedy AEF General Headquarters’ (GHQ) concern that the heterogeneous nature of its armed forces in France impinged on morale. These goals included providing the latest news from home, keeping soldiers abreast of AEF news, and publishing cartoons and humorous writing. Thus, Viskniskki outlined several objectives of the paper that remained throughout World War I. Viskniskki (1876–1949) founded the paper after learning that American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) soldiers desired, more than anything, accurate news from home. Stars and Stripes began as a modest, eight-page weekly.
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