Lot 35
This First World War poster was created by the United States Treasury Department to urge the American public to buy war bonds. War bonds were debt securities issued by various governments to finance their military operations and other expenses during the First and Second World Wars. The wider campaign for American Liberty bonds combined exhortations for purchase with appeals to patriotism and conscience, especially in those retail bonds specifically marketed to the public. Scaremongering tactics Pervasive accounts of (largely unfounded) atrocities, such as rape, child murder and mutilation and abuse of soldiers' bodies, lay behind many of the images for these propaganda posters. This particular poster depicts a German soldier, identifiable by his spiked Prussian Pickelhaube helmet. He looms toward the female figure like an ape, a popular brutish characterization of the 'Hun'. The horror of the scene is intensified by the girlish appearance of the female figure and her attempted protection of a baby. 'Pictorial publicity' The poster was designed by Henry Patrick Raleigh (1880-1944), a significant early 20th century American illustrator. To support his family, teenaged Raleigh worked as a shipping clerk for a San Francisco coffee-importing firm. His drawing talents were discovered by his boss Colonel Clarence Bickford, who sent Raleigh to the Hopkins Academy art school. At 17, he was hired by the San Francisco Chronicle as an on-the-scene newspaper artist, and from there, built his career to become one of the most famous and prolific American illustrator artists of his time. Raleigh was already well-known when in 1917 his 'Hunger Poster' was selected for a distribution of 5 million copies by the US government Food Administration. He illustrated four more abstract and emotional war posters under his service to the Division of Pictorial Publicity of the Committee on Public Information. This division mobilized America's greatest artistic talents to win over American public opinion on an unpopular war, and to create pictorial publicity for the war effort. British and American Posters in New Zealand This item is part of a collection of First World War posters sent to New Zealand as examples of British and American wartime propaganda. From 1917-1919, the Dominion Museum (now The Papa) collected such war material with the help of the New Zealand High Commissioner in London and the Department of Defense. We describe all items to the best of our ability as we are not experts on everything. Please ask specific questions on details, condition, and shipping prior to bidding, ALL ITEMS ARE SOLD AS IS, and bidder will be responsible for payment. We box and ship what we can to keep costs low, and use USPS and UPS. Large items, extremely fragile, and high value items will be packed by UPS. Quotes available on request.
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Dimensions:
- Approx. 20" x 30" Condition:
- Very Good Condition with a couple of repairs. It is shrink-wrapped with a cardboard backing. It is loose from the cardboard
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