World War I posters collection

The World War I posters collection consists of 300 posters and broadsheets from the United States, France, Germany, and Great Britain and covers the period from 1914-1920, extending into the post-war era.

The posters reflect the concerns of a country at war and recruitment; wartime production; conscription; public health; food and material rationing; war loans; war work; and morale, both on the battlefield and on the home front. Post-war issues including unemployment, the war-wounded, and the care of widows and orphans are also represented.

The collection is arranged into two series: I. American posters and II. European posters. Within each series, the posters are arranged by issuing body or agency.

Languages present in this collection include: English, Welsh, Lettish, Polish, Italian, Russian, Lithuanian, Hebrew, French, and German.

Series I. American posters, comprises the majority of the collection and contains posters representing and encouraging support for United States military, civic, and economic initiatives primarily between 1916 and 1919, which included War stamps and multiple Liberty Loan Drives; food rationing and substitution; fundraising and associated events; fuel rationing; enlistment and conscription; national morale; and wartime manufacturing and production. Highlights of the series include multilingual posters soliciting American immigrants for recruitment in the armed forces; posters promoting corn and cottage cheese as appropriate substitutes for wheat and meat; and advertisements for “smileage” books that contained entertainment and movie tickets coupons for troops. Items of local and regional interest include a Philadelphia recruiting poster for the Marines and several posters featuring artwork by Philadelphia artist Joseph Pennell (1857-1926).

Series II. European posters, contains posters addressing concerns regarding French, German, and British battlefronts and home fronts between 1914 and 1920, including food access and pricing; conscription and enlistment; education; legal issues regarding orphans; veteran disabilities; survivors' benefits; and postwar rebuilding efforts. The series consists of forty-nine French posters, forty-five German posters, and twenty-nine British posters. Highlights of the series include speeches from French and German politicians reproduced on posters; French posters announcing the conscription of pigeons, automobiles, horses, and mules; and a poster issued by Buckingham Palace regarding recruitment and written in Welsh.