The National Industrial Conservation Movement was an organization that promoted the value of supporting the many industrial partners that sprang up all over the country during The Great War. There are a large number of their posters, almost all similar in design to this one. Their goal was to educate the public about the realities of being at war and what it meant to the average citizen regarding prices, rationing, and the general support needed to build and sustain a business that contributed to the war effort.

The war lasted for four years and caused the deaths of eight million men. The United States involvement lasted only 19 months, yet the industrial build-up in America was well beyond the build-up needed for the war. America's national debt went from approximately $1,000,000,000 in 1915 to $21,000,000,000 by 1919. The war was the first industrial war and with all the technological advances, production lines, transportation advancements, and an endless supply of labor, America discovered it had a huge capacity to support the war in every needed way.

The period of the Great War was a transitional period for Western art. The early war posters emphasized text over image, and many, like this one, were essentially text. The art style however, quickly took on a patriotic flavor for recruitment, public announcements and appeals for action of one kind or another. Impressionists and Post-Impressionists trained in the last quarter of the 19th Century, began to use bright, sharp colors to depict. As a result, new art works appeared and in large numbers reflecting the violence, suffering, fear and disgust of the participants. The patriotic poster emerged in full force, and like the illustrations of life on the western frontier in America, were designed to generate enthusiasm and support.

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Medium : 1 print (poster) lithograph

Created/Published : 1917

Creator National Industrial Conservation Movement, 30 Church Street, New York City

Housed in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress

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Product #: cph3g07854