The Retro Posters of World War I

The World War I posters produced by Germany and Austria-Hungary were quite different than their opponents of the allied forces of France, Russia and Great Britain (with the US joining in 1917). The simplicity of the Plakatstil with words in bold and images broken down into simple shapes was a good fit in integrating that movement into war propaganda.

However, there were still some components still carried over from the Vienna Secession.

The popular British war poster of the time stressed the need to promote values, the home and the family.

The most effective of the lot was the commonly copied poster by Alfred Leete was the popular Lord Horatio Kitchener, British Secretary of War pointing directly at the viewer. 
This powerful face forward illustration originally appeared as the cover of London Opinion magazine September 5, 1914 and was carried above the headline “Your Country 
Needs You.”

Perhaps the most sentimental of the lot was my personal favorite, Saville Lumley’s ad “Daddy, What Did YOU do during the Great War?” Nothing could have promoted more guilt and cowardice than the question presented by a young child. The chap gazes off in complete embarrassment!

The United States advertising effort promoted the war to “make the world safe for democracy” in “the war to end all wars.” The Division of Pictorial Publicity was set up to promote the cause and illustrator Charles Dana Gibson became their art director. The agency produced as many as seven hundred posters and numerous propaganda materials. This all had a pronounced effect on the field of illustration as many commercial artists turned to poster design.

A good number of illustrators gained fame from the persuasive propaganda they depicted. The sketchy style of James Montgomery Flagg produced 46 posters through the entire participation of the US in the war. He is most known for his Americanized version of the Kitchner pose, which was in fact a self portrait (above are the many versions still popular and in use today).

The Artist Joseph C. Leyendecker was the most popular of the group following Gibson who created the idealized Gibson girl in anything from Navy suits to Army gear with the slogans “GEE I WISH I WERE A MAN. I’D JOIN THE NAVY.” It was a far cry from our next war and the appearance of Rosie the Riveter!