Snapshots of the Past

Come On, Boys! Give the Guard a Fighting Chance – Historic Print

Come On, Boys! Give the Guard a Fighting Chance — historic image
Come On, Boys! Give the Guard a Fighting Chance. Historic image from the Military collection.

(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: Come On, Boys! Give the Guard a Fighting Chance, preserved in this historic image. Drawn from the Snapshots of the Past archive, it is an authentic piece of documented history.

The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

Come On, Boys! Give the Guard a Fighting Chance

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The title speaks directly to young men, calling them "boys" and urging them to give the Guard a fighting chance, so the picture reads as an appeal to join up. The National Guard, the state-based militia, was called into federal service after the United States entered the First World War in April 1917, and it needed men quickly to fill its ranks. Appeals like this one, in informal and pointed language, were a common tool of wartime recruiting, which relied on posters, newspapers and public events to reach men who might otherwise have stayed home. Viewers in 1917 would have heard the phrase as both a challenge and a reassurance.

Original scan3,790 × 4,715 px · prints to 13 × 16 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-221075

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