Now all roads lead to France and heavy is the tread
Of the living; but the dead returning lightly dance.
Edward Thomas, Roads

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Spectacular! The War Posters of the United States Shipping Board


Of the thousands of posters from the Great War I've seen in over 25 years, as a set, I've seen nothing to match this series of posters for their vivid colors and dynamism. There is not one dominant illustrator for the series, and I would guess from this that there was someone — an individual or small group — that guided the series.










4 comments:

  1. Agree, thanks for posting these!

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  2. Stunning...They certainly capture the times; I would like to see more. Do you know of a collection of these? I have done some reading on our ship building program, what could be described as a campaign, preceding our entry, and certainly picking up steam after we became a belligerent. In fact many steamer cargo hulls were made entirely of wood designed for only a couple of passages.

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    1. Actually they were designed for only one (1) passage. After the war many were sold and plugged along for some years; very interesting and colorful stories. Their manufacture took place at various US locations using a couple of competing designs. One can imagine using steam triple expansion reciprocating engines in a wooden hull; the fire and engine torque hazards.

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