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World War I: Liberty Bond Posters
First Liberty Loan [1917] and General Liberty Loan Posters [1917-1918]
Louis Raemaekers.
After
a Zeppelin raid in London : "But Mother Had Done Nothing Wrong, Had She,
Daddy?" Prevent this in New York : Invest in Liberty Bonds. 19"
x 12"
[Depicted: Grieving man in a chair
by the bed of a deceased patient with a girl standing next to him; a nurse
and a physician are in the background]
F. Strothmann.
Beat back
the Hun with Liberty Bonds. 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Purple German soldier
(possessing a spiked helmet, bloody fingers and green eyes) looming on
the horizon over smoking ruins; the sky is yellow-orange]
Button! Button! Who's got the
Liberty Button? 10" x 30"
[Depicted: Text in blue and red
bordered (above and below) in red, white and blue]
Buy Liberty Bonds : "That Government
of the People, by the People, for the People Shall Not Perish from the
Earth" : A. Lincoln [stylized signature]. 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Pseudo-bronze plaque
with text above and below a bust of Lincoln]
Walter Whitehead.
Come On!
Buy More Liberty Bonds. [1918]. 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Allied soldier standing over a dead German soldier whose
helmet has fallen off; the background is predominantly yellow]
J. Allen St. John.
The Hun–His Mark : Blot it Out with Liberty
Bonds. [1917]. 42 1/4" x 27"
[Depicted: Bloody handprint above text]
[Henry Patrick] Raleigh.
Hun or Home? Buy More Liberty Bonds. 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Woman, with infant, looking behind her at a soldier (in
a spiked helmet and with bloody hands) looming up from the landscape]
Invest! Invest! 4" x 24"
[Depicted: White text on a field of red]
Porter.
"It's awful lonesome round our house since Daddy's
gone away–Please help bring him back to us" : Liberty Bonds Will Do it!
: Buy Bonds to your Utmost : Ask your Foreman. 17 5/8" x 11 3/4"
[Depicted: Young boy (in military garb with toy gun) and girl by a
window displaying a small flag [signifying that a member of the household
is in the armed forces?]
John Norton.
Keep These Off the U.S.A. : Buy More Liberty Bonds.
[1918] 40 1/4" x 30 1/4"
[Depicted: German eagles on pants legs above blood-stained boots]
Lend! 27 5/8" x 19 7/8"
[Depicted: White text on a field of red]
Lend! 17" x 42"
[Depicted: White text on a field of red bordered by two white stripes]
Sarka.[image copyright by
Leslie's]
"Lend him
a hand" : Buy Liberty bonds. [1918]. 19" x 12"
[Depicted: Allied soldier scaling the wall of a trench]
E.M. Ashe.
Lend the way they fight : Buy Bonds to your utmost.
41" x 27"
[Depicted: Allied soldier, standing above an occupied trench, about
to lob a grenade]
Lend–the way they fight : Buy Liberty bonds to your utmost.
[Depicted: Text]
Let Uncle Sam take this–and he will pay back this–All he asks you
to do is keep your bond : Buy Liberty bonds and keep them : Ask your foreman.
[1918]. 17 5/8" x 11 3/4"
[Depicted: Text interrupted by illustrations in two circles: One with
a bare arm giving a bag marked 5000 to two arms in a jacket (with stars)
and the other with an arm in a jacket (with stars) placing a bag marked
5000 and 4 1/4% interest into two hands]
Liberty Bonds are fighting bonds : Buy them! 20 7/8" x 13 7/8"
[Depicted: Text in orange (or red?) and blue].
Make your dollars end the war : Your liberty your forefathers died
for is at stake : If you can't fight your money can : Buy a Liberty Bond
and Uncle Sam will do the rest. 1917. 38 1/8" x 24"
[Depicted: Text in red and blue ink]
Henry Patrick Raleigh.
Must children die and mothers plead
in vain? Buy more Liberty bonds. 40" x 30 1/4"
[Depicted: Woman, with two small children, pointing off toward the
unseen]
Pro-Prussian or pro-Pershing : Buy Liberty bonds. 10" x 30"
[Depicted: Text in blue and red bordered (above and below) in red,
white and blue]
Joseph Pennell.
Provide the sinews of war : Buy Liberty Bonds. [1918]. 20" x 21"
[Depicted: Two docked battleships on either side of a busy pier (containing
a train, various cranes, people, etc.)]
Louis Raemaekers.[image copyright 1917 by Brown, Robertson Co.]
Will you be ready to-morrow to make munitions for Germany? If not :
invest in Liberty bonds to-day. [1917?] 19" x 12"
[Depicted: German officers detaining a bearded man at gunpoint]
G.R. Macauley.
You buy a Liberty bond lest I perish. 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Stylized Statue of Liberty (torch in left hand) pointing
at the viewer; there are circular Liberty Loan emblems (including text)
in the lower corners]
Second Liberty Loan Posters [1917]
Eugenie DeLand.
Before sunset : Buy a U.S. government bond
of the 2nd Liberty Loan of 1917. 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Text in the water in front of the Statue of Liberty (face
slightly downcast) against a blue and (chiefly) red sky which resembles
a U.S. flag]
By the President of the United States of America : A proclamation
: The second Liberty Loan gives the people of the United States an opportunity
to lend their funds to the government to sustain our country at war [.
. .] Now, therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States
of America, do appoint Wednesday, the 24th of October, as Liberty Day [.
. . .] 24 1/8" x 18"
[Depicted: Text in blue and red with a red, "white" and blue border;
part of the text overlays a drawing (in red) of the Statue of Liberty]
Lend your money to the government : Buy a United States Government
Bond : Second Liberty Loan of 1917 : U.S. Treasury will pay you interest
every six months. 36 1/4" x 48"
[Depicted: People strolling near the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington,
D.C.]
Dewey. Our daddy is fighting at the front for You. Back him
up–Buy a United States gov't bond of the 2nd Liberty Loan of 1917.
29 7/8" x 20"
[Depicted: Young boy (in sailor suit) and girl; boy holds a U.S. flag]
Remember your first thrill of American Liberty : Your duty–Buy United
States government bonds : 2nd Liberty Loan of 1917. 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Immigrants and luggage on the deck of a ship (on its way
to Ellis Island) near the Statue of Liberty]
Ring it again : Buy a United States government bond of the second
Liberty Loan of 1917 : Help your country and yourself. 30" x
19 7/8"
[Depicted: Text above and below the Liberty Bell]
Dan Sayre Groesbeck.
"Shall we be more tender with our
dollars than with the lives of our sons" WG McAdoo. [stylized signature]
Secretary of the Treasury : Buy a United States government bond of the
2nd Liberty Loan of 1917. 29 5/8" x 20"
[Depicted: Uncle Sam (his left hand formed into a fist and his right
arm outstretched toward the viewer) in front of massed troops in formation
(from which a U.S. flag protrudes) beyond which are ships in New York harbor
(around the Statue of Liberty); cruciform airplanes are in the sky]
Frances Adams Halsted.
She does not ask for contributions :
She asks you to invest your money at 4% in U.S. government bonds.
21" x 14"
[Depicted: Woman in a white flowing robe, sandals and a Liberty cap
holding aloft a torch (in her left hand) and carrying a Liberty Loan document
(in her right hand); she stands atop a sphere, flanked by U.S. flags, in
front of which is a bald eagle]
"The time has come to conquer or submit [. . . .]"–President Wilson.
/ Buy a bond of the 2nd Liberty Loan and help win the war : A Liberty Bond
is a United States government bond. [1917]. 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Pseudo-bronze plaque framing text below patriotic symbols
(at the sides) and a portrait of Wilson]
The United States 4% government bond is in the army : Do you want
to save this way? Bonds may be bought at all bureaus in camp and may be
left in safe deposit here. 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Blue and red text within a red, white and blue border]
R.H. Porteous.
Women! Help America's sons win the war : Buy
U.S. government bonds: 2nd Liberty Loan of 1917. 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Light-haired woman with outstretched arms beneath a patriotic
banner (based on the U.S. flag) pulled back at the sides to reveal war
scenes at sea (left) and on land (right)]
Third Liberty Loan Posters [1918]
Stern.
Are you 100% American? Prove it! Buy U.S. government
bonds: Third Liberty Loan : U.S. Treasury will pay interest every six months.
30" x 20"
[Depicted: Text with eagle, flanked by bunting and smoking guns, at
the top; bunting (incorporating the interest statement) is also present
at the bottom]
Don't forget that the government does not ask you to give anything
. . . You are asked to LEND your money to the government. You receive a
Liberty bond for your money. A Liberty bond is Uncle Sam's promise to pay
that money back to you and to pay you interest for the use of it. Ask your
foreman about the 3rd Liberty loan. 17 ½" x 11 5/8"
[Depicted: Text in black (?) on a field of orange (outlined in blue
and white) surrounded by a field of blue (with stars in the upper left
and lower right corners).
Howard Chandler Christy.
Fight or buy bonds : Third Liberty
Loan. 40" x 30"
[Depicted: Young woman (Columbia?) with flowing hair (and a flag in
her raised arm) in front of massed troops]
Lawrence S. Harris.
"Good bye, Dad, I'm off to fight for Old
Glory, You buy U.S. gov't bonds" : Third Liberty Loan. 29 7/8"
x 20"
[Depicted: Soldier in uniform (at right) shaking hands with a white-haired
man (with a beard and moustache) wearing a vest and bow tie; in the background
are several farm fields and associated buildings]
Raleigh.
Halt the Hun! Buy U.S. government bonds : Third Liberty
Loan. 29 1/4" x 20"
[Depicted: Allied soldier (right hand holding a white sword) with his
left arm at the throat of a bent-over German soldier (in a spiked helmet
and with a black gun and red hands) who is menacing a woman and her infant.]
How long and how well could you work without this (arrow &
drawing labeled "food")
or this (drawing labeled "pay")
or
these (drawing labeled "tools")
or this (drawing labeled
"warm and dry clothing") :
Remember that the money you invest
in Liberty bonds is used to buy food – clothing – fighting tools for our
soldiers and to fill their pay envelopes : Ask your foreman about the 3rd
Liberty Loan. 17 5/8" x 11 5/8"
[Depicted: Four line drawings (each with white text) within orange
circles (outlined in black) on a white sheet printed in black ink]
My daddy bought me a government bond of the third Liberty Loan :
Did yours? 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Smiling young girl, with ribbon in her hair, who is clutching
a government bond]
H.H. Green.
My soldier : Now I lay me down to sleep / [. .
.] / God bless my brother gone to war / Across the seas, in France, so
far. / [. . . .] / Buy United States government bonds : Third Liberty Loan.
41 3/4" x 28"
[Depicted: Text above and below a circular image depicting a child
praying in front of a woman who supports the child's arms; in the view
a picture of a uniformed soldier (the brother) is on the wall; the background
consists of a field of blue at the top (with two airplanes) above alternating
red and white columns]
Victor Perard.
One two three : Now, all together! Third Liberty
Loan. ["Supplement to Electrical World, March 30, 1918"]. 11
7/8" x 8 3/4"
[Depicted: Uncle Sam coaching people (workers, a sailor, a nurse, etc.)
pulling on a rope attached (across open water) to a tilting statue of a
German military man (the Kaiser?) which is under dark clouds and in front
of a burning land; the rope system actually uses pulleys and part of it
is anchored to the base of the Statue of Liberty (facing across the sea),
behind which is a bright sky from the rising sun]
Sidney H. Riesenberg.
Over the top for you : Buy U.S. gov't
Bonds : Third Liberty Loan. 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Youthful soldier, largely surrounded by a U.S. flag, advancing
toward the viewer]
Remember! The flag of Liberty : Support it! Buy U.S. government bonds
: 3rd. Liberty Loan. 30" x 20 1/8"
[Depicted: Mustachioed man with a hat over his heart in front of others
(all are immigrants?) who collectively stand in front of a ship (partly
visible in the upper left) and the U.S. flag (partly visible in the upper
right)]
Ring it again : Buy U.S. gov't bonds : Third Liberty Loan. 29 7/8" x 20"
[Depicted: Liberty Bell (in sky) and Independence Hall (with the bell
ringing) surrounded by a crowd in Colonial garb]
James Montgomery Flagg.
Say folks! If you lend us a hand now,
then you won't be ashamed to meet us with the good old hand-shake when
we get our job finished. From us. Ask your foreman about the 3rd Liberty
Loan. 17 ½" x 11 5/8"
[Depicted: Heads of a soldier (left) and of a sailor (right) above
black text on a white background (the letter) surrounded by an orange border
(incorporating the text "Ask your foreman. . . ." in white at the bottom)]
Herbert Paus.
To make the world a decent place to live in :
Do your part–Buy U.S. government bonds : Third Liberty Loan. 36" x 56"
[Depicted: Allied troops, at and behind a gun emplacement, against
a red sky; a U.S. flag flies in the background]
J[oseph] C[hristian] Leyendecker.
U.S.A. bonds : Third Liberty
Loan campaign : Boy Scouts of America. 29 7/8" x 20"
[Depicted: Boy Scout handing up a sword (inscribed "Be prepared") to
a stylized warrior carrying a shield (with an eagle design) who is draped
in a robe resembling the U.S. flag]
You can help to can the Kaiser by lending your money to the government
: Ask your foreman about the 3rd Liberty Loan. 17 ½" x
11 5/8"
[Depicted: Text in black and orange on a field of white (bordered in
black and orange) above a drawing of a German soldier (evidently the Kaiser
in military uniform) sunk into a large metal canister]
Fourth Liberty Loan Posters [1918]
C. LeRoy Baldridge.
The A.E.F. to the President: "If the folks
back home fall short [. . .] call on us for the balance [. . . .]" : Fourth
Liberty Loan. Heading: Straight from the trenches. Originated and produced
for the Liberty Loan Committee entirely by members of the American Expeditionary
Force. 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Sketch of a standing soldier]
Howard Chandler Christy.
Clear-the-way-!! Buy bonds : Fourth
Liberty Loan. 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Sailors attending to a ship's gun with an officer off to
one side (holding binoculars) and waterspouts from fired shells visible
in the sea; there is also a young woman (Columbia?) in the space above
the ship with her arms outstretched and a U.S. flag behind her]
Scott Williams. [possibly with an added first initial of J. or V.]
For
victory, buy more bonds: Fourth Liberty Loan. 36" x 56"
[Depicted: Allegorical figure, draped in a U.S. flag, with a sword
and shield (possibly Columbia?) in front of a bald eagle and troops (in
silhouette) marching in the background under a dark sky]
Honor Roll : The following patriotic men and women in this organization
have bought bonds of the 4th Liberty Loan. 27" x 19 5/8"
[Depicted: Text above and below a flag (four vertical blue bars on
a white field bordered by red) with 100 numbered spaces for names beneath]
Is your name on the honor roll? Fourth Liberty Loan. 5" x 30"
[Depicted: Text in blue and red]
C. LeRoy Baldridge.
Pvt. Treptow's pledge : [. . .] "I will
fight cheerfully and do my utmost [. . . .]" : You who are not called upon
to die–Subscribe to the fourth Liberty Loan. Heading: Straight from the
trenches. Originated and produced for the Liberty Loan Committee entirely
by members of the American Expeditionary Force. 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Sketch of a dead soldier with ruins beyond him]
Ellsworth Young.
Remember Belgium : Buy bonds : Fourth Liberty
Loan. 30" x 20"
[Depicted: Silhouette of a German soldier (with a moustache and wearing
a spiked helmet) leading a disheveled young woman; a city burns in the
(predominantly green) background]
Joseph Pennell.
That liberty shall not perish from the earth
: Buy Liberty Bonds : Fourth Liberty Loan. 40 7/8" x 30"
[Depicted: New York City ablaze beyond a decapitated Statue of Liberty]
Think! Have you bought your limit? 4th Liberty Loan. 42
1/4" x 28", 42 1/4" x 27" and 42 1/4" x 27" [3 sections; unassembled]
[Depicted: Text (in blue and red) within red, white and blue border]
Think–Have you bought your limit? Fourth Liberty Loan. 7" x 60"
[Depicted: Text in blue and red]
4th Liberty Loan / Boy Scouts as "gleaners" / "Buy another bond"
/ October 12th to 19th. 7 3/4" x 20"
[Depicted: Text in black ink]
Wear your fourth Liberty Loan honor button: 4th Liberty Loan bonds.
13 7/8" x 11"
[Depicted: Text above and below an image of a button bearing an image
of a flag (four vertical bars on a field of white bordered in red)]
Edwin F. Bayha.
Put this flag in your house and back up the
boys in France: Buy your own Liberty Bond.The spirit of women is
the power behind the Army. (Illustration courtesy of "Modern
Priscilla".) s.l.: Woman's Liberty Loan Committee of New England,
1918.
[Depicted: A wistful young woman hangs a small flag in her window]
Victory Liberty Loan Posters [1919]
Howard Chandler Christy.
Americans all! Honor Roll : DuBois
: Smith : O'Brien : Cejka : [etc.] : Victory Liberty Loan. 40" x 26
7/8"
[Depicted: Woman looking upward (standing at the left) in front of
a U.S. flag and holding aloft a laurel wreath in her left hand; a list
of surnames is included (in a column at the right)]
Vic Forsythe.
And they thought we couldn't fight : Victory
Liberty Loan. 41 1/8" x 30 3/8"
[Depicted: Wounded but cheerful Allied soldier standing on a former
battlefield (the land and sky are predominantly blue) with a rifle over
his shoulder and three German helmets in his hands]
Alfred Everitt Orr.
For home and country : Victory Liberty
Loan. 39 7/8" x 29 7/8"
[Depicted: Standing soldier with his left arm holding a child and his
right arm around a woman who is looking up at him]
[After Beneker]
It is just like taking money out of one of
your pockets and putting it into the other : The money you lend to the
government you still have–and it's earning interest. How long will your
money stay with you and grow–if you do not invest it? Invest again in the
Victory Liberty Loan. 19 3/4" x 14"
[Depicted: Text in blue and black beneath a man in overalls reaching
into his pocket and a semi-circular arrow pointing to his other pocket]
Gerrit A. Beneker.
Sure! We'll finish the job. Victory Liberty
Loan. 38" x 25 7/8"
[Depicted: Man in overalls (with four Liberty Loan pins attached) reaching
into his pocket]
L.A. Shafer.
They kept the sea lanes open : Invest in the Victory
Liberty Loan. 29 3/8" x 39 1/8"
[Depicted: Damaged submarine (with people on top) in the ocean in front
of a warship (flying the U.S. flag) which is protecting a passenger liner
(at the left)]
C. LeRoy Baldridge.
To the folks back home :–We are finishing
our job. Are you finishing yours? Private A.E.F. On the Rhine 1919. Invest!
Victory Liberty Loan. 29 3/4" x 19 7/8"
[Depicted: Standing Allied soldier with his gun in front of him]
V : Invest. 29 ½" x 19 ½ "
[Depicted: Blue "V" above "Invest" (in white) on a field of red bordered in white and blue]
V : Invest. 20 7/8" x 54"
[Depicted: "Invest" in white letters above a white "V" (only the top
and bottom are visible) across a red diamond on a field of blue bordered
in red and white; at the sides an Allied soldier (standing at the left)
and a U.S. sailor (standing at the right) lean on the first and last letters
of "Invest"]
V : Invest! 24" x 24"
[Depicted: "Invest" in white letters above a white "V" bordered in
blue (only the top and bottom are visible) on a red diamond on a field
of white]
You must help to build the bridge if you expect to get across : Your
own prosperity depends upon the prosperity of the whole country : Invest
your dollars in the Victory Liberty Loan. 19 3/4" x 14"
[Depicted: Unfinished masonry bridge (labeled "Victory Liberty Loan")
over water and opposite a distant shore (labeled "national prosperity");
additional text (in blue and black) is present at the bottom]
Monographs of Related Interest Held by the Rutgers University Libraries
-
Cork, Richard.
A Bitter Truth: Avant-Garde Art and the Great
War. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994.
- George C. Marshall Research Foundation.
Posters of World War
I and World War II in the George C. Marshall Research Foundation.
Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, c1979.
- Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace.
Persuasive
Images: Posters of War and Revolution from the Hoover Institution.
Princeton: Princeton University, 1992.
- Rawls, Walton.
Wake Up, America!: World War I and the American
Poster. New York: Abbeville Press, c1988.
- Rudolph, G. A.
War Posters from 1914 through 1918 in the Archives
of the University of Nebraska--Lincoln. Lincoln: University of
Nebraska, 1990.
Web Resources
- Posters from the Great War -
From "Trenches on the Web: An Internet History of the Great War," maintained by the Great War Society.
