This poster was intended to motivate munitions workers after the entry of the United States into the European war in April 1917. The pose of the shipyard worker using a rivet gun mirrors that of the silhouetted infantryman behind him as he advances with his bayonet against the Stars and Stripes, and suggests a direct connection between the worker’s contribution to the war effort and that of the solider on the battlefield. John E. Sheridan was one of many American artists, including such established figures as Flagg, Leyendecker, and Christy, convened by Charles Dana Gibson, founder of the Society of Illustrators in 1917, to commit their efforts to winning the war. They operated under the Division of Pictorial Publicity in the U.S. Office of Public Information with Gibson as head, and typically produced posters incorporating traditional, figurative illustrations like this one.