“Rivets are Bayonets, Drive them home!” In 1918 the United States needed ships faster than it had ever built them, and this poster told the men in the shipyards exactly how much their work mattered. Designed by illustrator John E. Sheridan and issued by the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation, it turns a riveter’s job into a charge across no man’s land.
What the poster shows
A shipyard riveter in a bowler-style hat, work vest and gloves crouches over a pneumatic rivet gun, its air hose coiled at his feet beside a rivet keg. Behind him, in pale lavender, the silhouette of a soldier charges forward with rifle and bayonet in exactly the same stance. Red and white flag stripes and a blazing yellow sky fill the background, with a crowd of figures at the horizon. The deep green border carries the orange headline at the top and the name of the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation at the bottom.
The idea is carried by the matching poses: the worker and the soldier are the same figure, and the rivet gun is the bayonet. It is one of the clearest visual statements of the American home front’s belief that industrial work was a form of military service.
The Emergency Fleet Corporation
German submarines sank merchant ships faster than the Allies could replace them, and the United States had to carry an army and its supplies across the Atlantic. On April 16, 1917 the U.S. Shipping Board created the Emergency Fleet Corporation to acquire, build and operate merchant ships. It financed new government shipyards, including the vast Hog Island yard in Philadelphia, and expanded a shipbuilding workforce that had numbered fewer than 50,000 when America entered the war into a national industry.
The Corporation ran its own publicity to recruit and motivate shipyard workers. This poster was issued by its Publications Section in Philadelphia and printed by the Thomsen-Ellis Company of Baltimore and New York. Riveting speed became a matter of public pride, with shipyards competing to drive the most rivets and launch ships faster.
John E. Sheridan
John E. Sheridan (1880 to 1948) was an American illustrator and poster artist. His design for the Emergency Fleet Corporation, with its flat colour, strong silhouettes and simple message, is often praised by collectors as one of the most striking and underrated American posters of the war, and its image of the heroic industrial worker looks ahead to the home-front imagery of the Second World War.
The restored edition
Our edition was restored from an archival scan of an original 1918 print. The comparison below shows the difference: stains, creases, edge damage and paper wear were repaired and the colours brought back, while Sheridan’s signature, the deep green border and the original lettering were kept intact.
The restored poster is available as a paper print in three sizes or framed in black, white or natural wood, printed to order in the USA.
Frequently asked questions
Who designed the Rivets are Bayonets poster?
The poster was designed by American illustrator John E. Sheridan (1880 to 1948), whose signature appears at the left of the image. It was issued in 1918 by the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation.
What does Rivets are Bayonets mean?
The poster told shipyard workers that every rivet they drove into a ship's hull was as important as a soldier's bayonet at the front. More ships meant more troops, food and munitions carried safely across the Atlantic.
What was the Emergency Fleet Corporation?
The Emergency Fleet Corporation was created by the U.S. Shipping Board on April 16, 1917 to acquire, build and operate merchant ships for the war effort, replacing tonnage lost to German submarines. It financed huge new shipyards such as Hog Island in Philadelphia.
Who printed the Rivets are Bayonets poster?
The imprint on the poster reads Thomsen-Ellis Company, Baltimore and New York. The bottom border notes that it was issued by the Emergency Fleet Corporation's Publications Section in Philadelphia.
How big was the original poster?
Original copies measure about 38 x 25 inches. Our restored edition is available as a paper print up to 23.4 x 33.1 inches and as a framed print up to 23 x 33 inches.