Framed Vintage Recruiting Posters

One of the certainties of history is the inevitability of war. And with war come certain other inevitabilities – inevitabilities such as the cultural response to war effort and the mass turnout of advertising materials en masse to help sway the public at large in the direction of efforts to help the troops and bring victory to the appropriate side. The easiest and most recognizable way to do so is with posters. Even after the war effort is long over, the imagery of these framed vintage recruiting posters remains firmly engrained in the societal collective, creating enduring pictures that last long beyond the truces of peacetime.

“Rosie the Riveter” by J. Howard Miller is one of the most iconic framed vintage recruiting art pieces of all time. The visual of the woman in blue with the red bandanna, posed determinedly against a bright yellow background and declaring “We Can Do It!” to the observer, is instantly recognizable and empowering. Originally used to draw women into the vacant construction positions necessitated by the war but left vacant by departed soldiers, “Rosie” has since become a symbol of feminism and patriotism as well.