World War I poster collection
Collection area: Political Affairs
Collection dates: circa 1914-1918
This is an artificial collection that has two series and is comprised of posters relating to World War I. Most of the posters held in this collection are one-sheet in size (27"x41"). Many are regarding enlistment and monetary contributions to the war effort in the United States, Canada, Great Britain and France. The first series contains materials from the United States with the second series containing materials from Canada, France, and Great Britain. The collection consists of broadsides comprised primarily of text and graphic works by anonymous and well-known artists, including James Montgomery Flagg and Joseph Pennell. The majority of the posters are in English, with some posters in French.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the poster was the primary instrument for mass communication. The poster was accepted and immediately understood by the masses and was cheap to manufacture. Posters from the First World War (28 July 1914-11 November 1918) were created to appeal to people's basic conscious or subconscious emotions of self-preservation, patriotic pride, and moral traditions. These posters had a modern look and employed familiar ideas and images as well as a simplified view of war as right versus wrong. Posters used various methods to convey their intended messages including using images of national leaders past or present or quotations from these leaders, symbols, slogans, myths allegories, and metaphors, and semiotic illustration.
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