In a contemporary magazine article, Arthur L. Mayer, who was also Assistant Coordinator of the War Activities Committee - Motion Picture Industry, discusses the role of “Private Snafu” in documentaries.  The “Private Snafu” films were usually exhibited along with magazines as part of the military service’s entertainment package known as “G.I. movies.”

Mayer’s discussion reveals that the “Private Snafu” series acted as effective propaganda with an agenda to advocate and instruct its targeted audience, the soldiers, and was also embedded as entertainment.  The incorporation and exhibition of the “Private Snafu” series vis-à-vis other forms of media, such as mainstream film and magazines, and exclusively for soldiers demonstrates that branding propaganda as entertainment enhanced its effectiveness.

This article came out in Time magazine on Mar. 23, 1936. It says that trouble between numerous retailers and the Guild of Fashion Designer of America had been developing for years. Retailers complained that the Guild was misusing its position. The Guild’s chairman at the time was dress- maker Maurice Retner, of Polish origin. The article describes an incident when a member from the Guild apparently behaved in an off- hand manner. At Philadelphia department store, Strawbridge and Clothiers, she walked in and demanded that a certain dress which looked like an imitation be taken off the shop floor. She wanted to know the manufacturer’s name but the managers refused to tell her as they knew it was up to their discretion to decide which dresses were copies and which ones weren’t. Two days after this incident all Guild members (Strawbridge and Clothiers were Guild members) were sent out pink notices saying that the department store had refused to cooperate and as a penalty orders from the department store were no longer going to be filed. Similar incidents happened in New York’s Bloomingdales and other stores. By the middle of February 1936 twenty stores had been red-carded by the Guild. The article goes onto state that the National Retail 'Dry Goods Association along with the Associated Merchandising Corp. believed that the Guild’s method of functioning was not in accordance with anti trust laws. Filene department store in Boston complained that the Guild was interfering with the store’s Spring showings and this issue finally developed into a case that went to court which happened when Filene filed for an application for an injunction.

This source is important for my paper as it shows how this practice of imitating began many years ago and is still prevalent. An interesting aspect of this article that I will further discuss in my paper is the concept of the Guild and its significance. Would modern copyright law mimic this institutions practices in any way?