If you can't enlist--invest Buy Liberty bonds--See your bank today. – Historic Print
![If you can't enlist--invest Buy Liberty bonds--See your bank today., [1917] — vintage poster](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/a8/a8857facc79d-L.webp)
(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
This rare vintage poster captures If you can't enlist--invest Buy Liberty bonds--See your bank today. in remarkable detail. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.
Framed, it is ready for the wall; unframed, it is ready for the frame you choose. 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.
If you can't enlist--invest Buy Liberty bonds--See your bank today.
Order a print
Thank you. Your order went through, and a receipt is on its way by email.
Secure checkout · SSL encryptedPowered by Stripe and PayPal
Free shipping in the lower 48 states. The checkout page shows the picture, size and price before you pay.
Liberty Bonds were the U.S. government's main way of borrowing money from ordinary citizens to pay for the First World War, and this poster makes the case directly to those who could not serve in uniform. Its headline, "If You Can't Enlist, Invest," offers civilians a patriotic task of their own: lending money to the war effort rather than fighting in it. The first Liberty Loan drive launched in 1917, after the United States entered the war in April, and posters like this one were a central part of the campaigns that followed. Worth noticing is how the appeal ties personal savings to national duty, a tactic that would become familiar in later wartime advertising.
| Created / published | [1917] |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print (poster) : lithograph, color ; 69 x 52 cm. |
| Genre | War posters American 1910-1920.Lithographs Color 1910-1920. |
| Notes | Forms part of: Willard and Dorothy Straight Collection. |
| Subjects | Statue of Liberty National Monument (N.Y. and N.J.)--1910-1920. World War, 1914-1918--Economic & industrial aspects--United States. War bonds & funds--1910-1920. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 3,989 × 4,912 px · prints to 13 × 16 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-222402 |
More from the Government & Politics collection
Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.
