Ersatzmittel-Ausstellung, Wien, 1918 (Exhibition of Substitute Materials, Vienna, 1918)
A chemist rises from a smoke cloud above a factory island ringed by warships, holding a test tube over a flame, inside a sunburst and a halo-like arch that carries the exhibition title. The radiant staging attaches the aura of a revelation to substitute goods; the poster does not show what any substitute is.
- Date
- 1918
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- Ersatzmittel-Ausstellung, Vienna (organisers not named on the poster); artist Alfred Offner; printed by J. Weiner, Vienna
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- Austria Hungary
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- Austria Hungary
- Leader
- Karl I
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- Home front, Science and technology, Economy and finance
- Event
- World War I
- Techniques
- Transfer
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Library of Congress, retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain in the U.S. (published before 1931)
Offner, Alfred, artist; Rehse Archiv für Zeitgeschichte und Publizistik, DLC, former owner. 1918. Library of Congress, LC-USZC4-11957.
Text on the object
Ersatzmittel-Ausstellung Geöffnet von 10 Uhr vormit. - 7 Uhr abends. Wien, 1918 Prater, Kaisergarten Mai-August. Eintrittspreis 60 Heller. Alf. Offner [artist's name, bottom left] K.u.K. Hofl. J. Weiner, Wien [printer, bottom right]
Substitute Materials Exhibition Open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Vienna, 1918 Prater, Kaisergarten May-August. Admission 60 Heller. Alf. Offner [artist's name, bottom left] Imperial and Royal Court Supplier J. Weiner, Vienna [printer, bottom right]
The exhibition title is set in blackletter along the arch; the small-print imprints at the foot are read from the LOC scan. Translation is a machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader.
