Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
Scope and Approach xv
1. Children Meet Propaganda 1
World War I and After: The Beginning of Modern Propaganda 2
World War II: Propaganda Made Disreputable 6
Post-war America: Power of Propaganda in Question 11
Notes 15
2. How War Can Make Better Children 17
Militarization of Childhood: Death and Its Denial 21
War and Manly Values 27
Hiding the Hideous 32
War as a Way of Childhood 34
Patriotism to Build the Ideal Child 39
Healthy, Fit, and Ready to Fight 43
The Virtue of Sacrifice 45
War Work and Military Drill: Viable Alternatives to School? 47
How Children Can Make Better War 53
Notes 58
3. Education and Public Policy 63
Child Labor and School Attendance during World War 63
War and Juvenile Delinquency 69
American Education Faces Total War 72
Reaching the Homes: The Child as a Government Agent 78
Teaching and the Taint of Disloyalty 83
The Libraries 89
Fitness for War 92
The Virtue of Military Drills 100
Notes 106
4. Mobilizing Kids for the Home Front 113
Bringing in the Sheaves: Children and Wartime Food Production 114
Everything under One Roof: The High School Victory Corps 130
Scrapping for Uncle Sam 137
Pitching War Bonds—and Spying for Uncle Sam 143
Notes 153
5. Youth Groups and Business 159
Boy Scouts: A Battle for Martial Values 160
Red Cross Work 174
Contributions from Country Kids 178
God and Children Face War 180
Commercialism in War: Jobs for Juveniles and Toys for Tots 187
Advertising the War to Children 197
Notes 207
6. Militarizing Children's Magazines 215
American Militarism: A Children's Debate 219
Explaining War to Children 224
Duty and Duties 230
War Makes the Better Boy 241
The Enchanted World of War 247
Notes 249
7. War and the Mind of a Child 253
What Did the Children Think? 253
The Wake of World War: Savagery, Sacrifice, and Children 264
Children Become Warriors: Militarization and Brutalization 270
The Militarized Generation 275
Notes 279
Bibliography of Works Cited 283
Index 289