Category: World War I

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Alfred Everitt Orr designed and painted this poster.  He uses patriotic red, white, and blue to emphasize the scene in the poster.  The poster appealed to prospective viewers’ patriotism and love of home and country.  The happy family that the poster depicts is of a battle-worn soldier returning home to his son and wife.  The proud wife is feeling his distinguished service medal.  This depiction was the hope that all families had for their returning fathers and husbands.

The Treasury Department expected these emotions would be enough to sell thousands of bonds throughout the United States. These bond posters were printed and sent for display throughout the U.S. to schools, government buildings, community buildings, stores, and libraries The poster is filled with patriotic imagery for the Victory Liberty Loan campaign of 1918.  In 1917 and 1918, to bring in money for the country’s war efforts, the Treasury of the United States released four separate Liberty bonds.  The bonds would yield three to four percent interest after a ten-year maturity to encourage people to buy them. As a campaign to sell the Bonds, Treasury Secretary, William McAdoo, recruited movie stars, artists, and Boy Scouts to support the effort.   The propaganda campaign created a range of information and propaganda, such as this poster.

View an Original at Maine Military Museum and Learning Center

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This poster illustrated the war as a fight between good and evil.  It embodied the German enemy as a savage killing machine.  Calling them “Huns” was a derogatory word for the Germans from 4th and 6th-century tribes known for their barbarism.  

This poster was produced by the U.S. during World War I to promote support for the war.  This poster shows an inhuman and enormous German soldier, his head and shoulders on the horizon over a war-stricken landscape.  He holds a gun with a bloody smeared bayonet in his right hand and his left hand resting on a ruined structure with bloody fingers.  The caption, “Beat Back the HUN with LIBERTY BONDS,” took advantage of the fear of Americans and urged them to buy liberty bonds to finance the war.

View an Original at Maine Military Museum and Learning Center

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Bernice Smith was an enthusiastic 20-year-old woman who stopped by a  California recruiting office and was interested in signing up with the Navy.  When she saw all of the young men enlisting, Bernice uttered the words, “Gee I wish I were a man; I’d join the Navy.”  With these words, Bernice Smith immortalized herself in American history.

Bernice did not realize that one of America’s most famous illustrators, Howard Chandler Christy was present at the recruiting station.  Captivated by what Bernice had said, Christy asked her to pose for a Navy recruitment poster.  Bernice gladly accepted.  Christy drew her dressed up in a sailor’s outfit, and he used her quote as the central message of the poster.

This poster was the first time sex appeal was used in a recruiting poster, encouraging men to join the Navy.  Surprisingly, ten days after posing for the poster, Smith returned to the recruiting office and successfully enlisted in the Navy, becoming the first California woman to do so.  She had a successful three years in the Navy and rose to the rank of Chief Yeoman.  During World War II, Smith served another tour of duty with the Army.

Further Reading – They Said She Couldn’t So She Did – by Kendra Blevins Ford 

View an Original at Maine Military Museum and Learning Center

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