In the course of World War I, America printed more than twenty million copies of about twenty-five hundred posters in support of the war effort, more posters than any of the other countries involved (1). They covered a range of subjects, including promoting enlistment, encouraging food rationing, supporting the Salvation Army and YMCA, and collecting books for the soldiers "over there". More often, posters (including the majority of this collection) dealt with supporting the war financially. After the United States joined the Allies in April of 1917, the government's main concern became how to raise the billions of dollars necessary to support the war. Much of the funding would have to be borrowed from the American people through the sale of war bonds. Massive campaigns were undertaken to promote these Liberty Loans through wartime propaganda, commissioning hundreds of artists to produce posters urging Americans to buy bonds.

Through images of patriotism and intimidation, the posters emphasized every American's duty to support the war through the purchase of Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps. In the end, through four Liberty Loans and a Victory Loan campaign over the course of two years, the American public bought about $24 billion in bonds, more than either Britain or France raised in their four years in the war (2). The posters succeeded in their goal of selling bonds, as well as promoting other wartime causes, and continue to serve as a reminder of the spirit of World War I in America.

1 Rawls, 12.
2 Rawls, 196.



Source:
Rawls, Walton. "Wake Up, America!: World War I and The American Poster," Abbeville Press: New York, 1988.