Discover the artists, campaigns and imagery behind the posters, with archival sources and links to the corresponding editions.
74 poster histories · Page 1 of 7
A magazine cover drawn in a mirror became the most reproduced poster in American history. How Flagg’s Uncle Sam was made, where the pose came from, and why it still points at you.
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A Marine bulldog chasing a German dachshund: the story of Charles Buckles Falls’ 1918 Devil Dog poster and the legend behind the name.
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A wartime anniversary design connects advancing Marines with the traditions of the Corps.
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Battleships firing out of a watercolour sky: the story of Rowland Hilder’s Forward to Victory, a British Ministry of Information poster by a New York-born artist.
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No soldier, no sailor, just the flag: the story of the Join Army Navy Marines recruiting poster from the First World War.
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A gun crew reloading in the smoke, and a warning to choose now: the story of McClelland Barclay’s 1942 Navy recruiting poster, and the artist who died at sea a year later.
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When Japan took the rubber plantations of South-East Asia, Washington asked every driver to nurse their tyres. Walter Richards answered with a jeep in mid-air.
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A sombrero and Uncle Sam’s hat raised in one salute: the story of Leon Helguera’s Americanos Todos, a 1943 poster made to welcome Mexican Americans into the war effort.
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A catapult crew launching a jet from a carrier deck: the story of the 1966 Go With the Bold Ones Navy recruiting poster.
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A smiling servicewoman, two airmen and a sky of jets: this postwar U.S. Air Force recruiting poster was painted by Tom Hall. Here is its history.
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The recruiting poster that asked women to join the Marine Corps so that more men could go into combat.
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An anti-aircraft gunner firing into the sky and a warning not to wait: the story of McClelland Barclay’s 1942 Navy recruiting poster, painted a year before he was killed at sea.
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