Snapshots of the Past

Uncle Sam says - garden to cut food costs Ask the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., for a free bulletin on gardening - it's food for thought / A. Hoen & Co., Baltimore. – Historic Reproduction

Uncle Sam says - garden to cut food costs Ask the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., for a free bulletin on gardening - it's food for thought / A. Hoen & Co., Baltimore., [1917] — vintage poster
Uncle Sam says - garden to cut food costs Ask the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., for a free bulletin on gardening - it's food for thought / A. Hoen & Co., Baltimore., [1917]. Vintage poster from the World War I collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

A window into the past: Uncle Sam says - garden to cut food costs Ask the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., for a free bulletin on gardening - it's food for thought / A. Hoen & Co., Baltimore., preserved in this vintage poster. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.

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Uncle Sam says - garden to cut food costs Ask the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., for a free bulletin on gardening - it's food for thought / A. Hoen & Co., Baltimore.

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Uncle Sam himself makes the pitch on this 1917 color lithograph, urging Americans to plant a garden to cut food costs and directing them to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a free bulletin. The poster's closing line, "food for thought," is a pun on the message, and A. Hoen & Co., a Baltimore lithography firm, printed it. Issued the same year the United States entered the First World War, it reflects a broader push to grow vegetables at home so that commercial produce could go to soldiers and allies. These home plots, often called war gardens or victory gardens, became a familiar civilian contribution on the home front.

Created / published[1917]
Medium1 print (poster) : lithograph, color ; 39 x 51 cm.
GenreWar posters American 1910-1920.Lithographs Color 1910-1920.
NotesUnited States Department of Agriculture.
SubjectsWorld War, 1914-1918--Economic & industrial aspects--United States. Uncle Sam (Symbolic character)--1910-1920. Gardening--1910-1920. Vegetables--1910-1920. Victory gardens--1910-1920.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan4,682 × 3,790 px · prints to 16 × 13 in at 300 dpi
Reference1015_Uncle_Sam_says_garden_1917

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