Recruitment, Conservation and Liberty Bonds: Posters and the War to End All Wars

An American doughboy makes an appeal for ammunition in this 1918 poster for Liberty Bonds by Vincent Lynel, published in Philadelphia by the Ketterlinus Lithographic Manufacturing Co.
Pennsylvania State Archives/MG-272

The Pennsylvania State Archives holds a large and significant collection of World War I posters – 460 in all – that were hung throughout the Keystone State and around the country during the Great War. Many of these posters were produced on a national scale, although some were created specifically in Pennsylvania. The posters provide a fascinating glimpse at the means by which valued American symbols and ideals were used to mobilize the country for war.

With America’s entry into World War I in early 1917, colorful posters began to appear in public places all over the United States. Millions were printed and displayed. Designed by some of the most renowned commercial artists of the time, the posters stressed the necessity of volunteerism for both recruitment in the military and support on the home front. The messages were intended to stimulate a patriotic spirit among citizens and facilitate the transition of the country’s position from isolationism to military partnership with the Allied forces in Europe. In an age before television, at a time when public radio stations were ordered to shut down or were taken over by the government, posters were an inexpensive and effective means of communicating patriotic messages to the masses.

In this U.S. Navy recruiting poster created by artist James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960) in 1917, a heroic sailor guides a civilian male to action, gesturing in front of steam-powered naval ships at sea and a winged Lady Liberty carrying American flag and sword.
Pennsylvania State Archives/MG-200

One of the most iconic posters of the first half of the 20th century, I Want You for U.S. Army by James Montgomery Flagg was originally published as a cover for the July 6, 1916, issue of Leslie’s Weekly. More than 4 million copies were published in 1917-18. Because of its popularity and effectiveness, it was reissued during World War II. Pennsylvania State Archives/MG-200

The Great War began in Europe in July 1914, shortly after Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist on June 28. Initially the United States remained neutral as the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Turkey and Bulgaria) fought against the Allies (France, Great Britain, Russia and Italy). President Woodrow Wilson was adamantly against American entry into the war, refusing even to consider conscription as an answer to increasing the size of the country’s military forces. He was re-elected in 1916 on his promise to keep America out of the war; however, on April 6, 1917, Congress declared war on Germany. The impetus, according to Wilson, was Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

Shortly after America entered the war, President Wilson organized the Committee on Public Information. It was charged with managing all official advertising and propaganda for the wartime government. George Creel (1876–1953) was chosen as the chairman of this organization. He devoted most of his time in this post to encouraging complete public support for the United States war effort. His office was involved in all facets of media production, including posters, paintings, cartoons and films. Shortly thereafter, Charles Dana Gibson (1867–1944), one of the best known and highest paid illustrators in America, volunteered his talents for the war effort. Creel soon put Gibson to work as the head of the Division of Pictorial Publicity, coordinating the efforts of numerous American artists creating poster art for the war effort.

In 1918 Philadelphia artist Joseph Pennell (1857-1926) created this dystopian vision of a war-torn New York City in flames—complete with a decapitated Statue of Liberty—implying that this would be the result of Americans not fully supporting the war effort by purchasing Liberty Bonds. Pennsylvania State Archives/MG-272

Created by artist and illustrator Sidney H. Riesenberg (1885-1971), this sensational poster of a battle scene to sell Liberty Bonds was published in 1918 by the Ketterlinus Lithographic Manufacturing Co. of Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania State Archives/MG-272

Gibson and Creel put into motion a plan to make war sacrifices more palatable to the nation by employing artists who were nationally recognized. Artists known throughout America for their artistic styles in advertising, popular magazines and children’s books were signed up for this mission, including Howard Chandler Christy, James Montgomery Flagg, Joseph Christian Leydendecker and Herbert Paus. Many of the posters were printed by federal agencies such as the Federal Recruitment Office and the National War Garden Commission.

Posters were a key tool in the government’s drive to mobilize the nation for war. Enticing Americans to commit to the war effort was not an easy task, but the poster graphics proved to be an effective way to convey a lot of compelling information in a small amount of space. The three most common themes of American World War I posters were recruitment of volunteer enlistees into the Armed Forces, conservation of food and other resources, and Liberty Bond sales to fund the war effort.

At the start of America’s involvement in the conflict, the U.S. Army was undermanned. The regular army numbered only about 120,000, with National Guard units totaling only about 80,000 men. Before the Selective Service Act of 1917, which was passed on May 18, 1917, many of the early recruiting posters emphasized Americans’ patriotism and their natural inclination for adventure. Recruiting continued to be a major theme of World War I posters, even after the draft was instituted. Many of these recruitment posters portrayed handsome, brave and adventurous “doughboys” fighting for freedom and glory across Europe. Eventually, more than 4 million Americans served in the United States’ American Expeditionary Forces. More than 100,000 American service members lost their lives during the war.

Created by W.N. Wilson, a British poster artist, and published by the Liberty Loan Committee of Philadelphia in 1917 to sell Liberty Bonds, this poster depicts the crucifixion of a Canadian soldier at the hands of savage Germans. This story using imagery of Christian martyrdom was actually fictitious and was spread widely at the time.
Pennsylvania State Archives/MG-200

Some later recruitment posters emphasized the inhumane nature of the enemy, particularly Germans, and encouraged recruitment as a way to keep the horrors of war and German militarism from reaching America’s shores. Others depicted German soldiers as being less than human, many portraying them as murderous monsters or apes.

Numerous posters were directed at women in roles such as mothers, gardeners, shoppers and seamstresses. Mothers were encouraged to send their sons off to war, create victory gardens, conserve food, and sew and knit clothing for their families and the troops overseas. Unlike World War II posters, these rarely depicted women as part of the manufacturing team for the war effort. There were exceptions, however.

Created by Charles Edward Chambers (1883-1941), this 1917 poster encourages recent immigrants to conserve wheat for the war effort. Pennsylvania State Archives/MG-272

Adolph Treidler designed this poster in 1918 for the United War Work Campaign through the YWCA, which supported women working in American factories to produce the equipment, ammunition and ordnance needed to fight in Europe. Pennsylvania State Archives/MG-200

Posters also helped to persuade Americans of the need to conserve food and supplies on the home front in order to assist the war effort in Europe. Numerous posters encouraged Americans at home to consume less fats, meat, sugar and wheat, as these items were needed in large quantities to support overseas troops. Corn, oats and rye were advertised as the preferred alternatives to the use of wheat during the war.

Broadsides were also produced to encourage the purchase of Liberty Bonds during the four Liberty Loan Acts and the Victory Loan to help finance the United States’ war efforts. The loan drives were embraced all across the United States, from the smallest hamlets to the largest cities. They were extremely successful, helping to raise over 20.5 billion dollars to support the war effort.

Another prevalent theme was the need for relief donations for battle-scarred Europe. Charity organizations like YMCA, YWCA, Red Cross and Salvation Army used posters to raise money and supplies for Allied soldiers and civilians, before and after U.S. military action in the Great War.

American World War I posters had a propensity to glorify war. The men and women depicted in them were invariably handsome and beautiful, even in times of distress. It was thought that portraying the brutality of war too realistically would distract from the posters’ mission to sell war bonds, increase recruitment, or to encourage people to conserve vital resources. More posters focused on the home front and its issues, rather than directly on the battlefront.

John Scott Williams (1877–1976), a muralist and illustrator who was born in England but lived for many years in Gettysburg, Adams County, portrayed Lady Liberty with the American flag draped on her shoulders and carrying a sword and shield in this poster for Liberty Bonds.
Pennsylvania State Archives/MG-272

Actual physical violence is rarely depicted, although it is implied and insinuated in several significant posters. The word “war,” was not often used on posters; in fact, “Liberty” took the place of “war” in the official name for war bonds.

Immigrants were a target audience for some posters. It is estimated that one-third of the United States population in the first two decades of the 20th century were first generation immigrants. Posters appealed to immigrants to buy Liberty Bonds and to donate supplies by reminding them of their former countrymen who were suffering from the war in Europe. Other posters appealed to these new Americans to show patriotism for their new home in America by enlisting to fight for their new country.

Posters were also used to encourage businesses on the home front to support veterans of the war when they returned home from the battlefields. Whether they had been severely wounded or not while fighting for their country, they all needed jobs when they returned to civilian life.

Several posters were produced in Pennsylvania. In Philadelphia, a number of colorful Liberty Bond posters were printed by Ketterlinus Lithographic Manufacturing Co. Patriotic businessmen in Philadelphia, in conjunction with the Liberty Loan Committee of Philadelphia, produced several dramatic posters depicting horrific scenes of dead bodies floating by a sinking ship and even the crucifixion of a soldier at the hands of German brutes. Pennsylvania artists were also involved in poster designs including Alonzo Earl Foringer, Joseph Pennell, John Scott Williams and N.C. Wyeth.

Victor Clyde Forsythe (1885-1962), an illustrator and cartoonist, created this depiction of a wounded American soldier carrying three German pickelhauben (helmets). It was published in Philadelphia by the Ketterlinus Lithographic Manufacturing Co. in conjunction with the 1919 Victory Liberty Loan. This was the final Liberty Loan drive of World War I and occurred after the cessation of hostilities in Europe.
Pennsylvania State Archives/MG-272

A group of three 28th Division soldiers rest beside a barracks building in France in early 1919. The poster And They Thought We Couldn’t Fight is tacked to the wall above and behind the three doughboys in the photo. Such posters made in the United States were also used overseas to increase morale of the troops in the field.
Pennsylvania State Archives/MG-156

Approximately 2,500 poster designs were created during World War I. It is believed that more than 15 million individual copies of posters were produced just for the five loan drives held in the United States.

The intervention of the United States in World War I led to victory for the Allied Forces and the end of the war on November 11, 1918. Wartime posters have been credited with playing a key role in that effort by helping to mobilize American manpower and encouraging support at home for food conservation and investment in Liberty Bonds.

For More Information

Other informative sources on posters in World War I include Walton Rawls, Wake Up America! World War I and the American Poster (Abbeville, 2001) and George L. Vogt, “When Posters Went to War: How America’s Best Commercial Artists Helped Win World War I,” Wisconsin Magazine of History 84, No. 2 (Winter 2000-01), 38-47. For a general history of posters and their impact throughout the world, see Max Gallo, The Poster in History (W.W. Norton, 2000). To view digital versions of all 460 World War I posters in the State Archives collection go to Pennsylvania State Archives: World War I Posters.

This article highlights Pennsylvania at War, a multiyear initiative of the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I and the 75th anniversary of World War II. As part of this program, the exhibition Pennsylvania at War: World War I Posters from the Pennsylvania State Archives will open on April 2, 2017, at The State Museum of Pennsylvania.

Richard C. Saylor is an archivist for the Pennsylvania State Archives and author of the award-winning book Soldiers to Governors.