Posters created in war time more than 100 years ago inspire modern protests

By Darby VanHoutan

Although we’re living in a predominantly digital age, the things that hang on street corners and bulletin boards still incite something in us. Everything from posters proclaiming “its okay to be white” in big font appearing on KU’s campus to protestors on campus wielding hand-made signs have sparked response almost immediately. Using ink and a piece of paper to get their message across, everyday individuals are the ones responsible for today’s propaganda-like posters.

However, the words “I want you” likely conjure up the image of Uncle Sam pointing at you, coaxing you to join the U.S. military. In fact, the era in which that famous poster was created is one of the best examples of how signs and posters were utilized by the government to sway public opinion or, at the very least, stir something up in people.

In April 1917, at almost the exact same time the U.S. entered World War I, James Montgomery Flagg created the “I want you for the U.S. army” poster. It was printed more than 4 million times, just during the final year of WWI, and Flagg used his own face as inspiration for Uncle Sam’s. The WWI time period saw thousands of these propaganda-like posters, each with a different message or goal — conserve food, enlist in the army, donate blood, donate clothing, buy liberty bonds, and so on.

Marian Burns, a volunteer at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, MO, describes posters during 1914 to 1918 as an almost constant backdrop to everyday life.

“I mean they were everywhere. People just made posters and hung them on the street corner,” Burns said. “Anyone could make them. And then the government printing office would just print them off by the hundreds.”

Some posters became famous because they were timeless and effective. For example, Flagg’s “I want you” poster was reused in virtually every American war after that. Others became infamous for the way they tokenized deadly events. One in particular was the image of a drowning mother cradling her child with the word “Enlist” underneath — referencing the 1915 sinking of ocean liner RMS Lusitania that resulted in an estimated 1,198 casualties.

The posters targeted everyone from women — imploring them to donate to the war effort — to children, urging them to ask their parents for liberty bonds. Countless examples of these posters hang on the walls of the National World War I Museum and Memorial and, according to Burns, those are just a few.

“We have a lot of posters but I mean, this is just a drop in the bucket of how many different ones there were,” she said.

Today’s posters, though less common and used for a different reason, likely found their footing in the posters created more than 100 years ago. Today, for example, posters are glued onto pieces of wood and used by mothers, students, and union workers during protests. They call on legislatures, University administrators, and others to make changes. In the WWI period, however, they were used instead by members of the legislature and government to get mothers, students, and others on their side.

Although the person wielding the sign has changed over a century, the usefulness of the sign hasn’t. Whether the creators of the posters we see today know it, they also likely have the same goal as the creators in WWI — incitement.