Like many war-bond posters, this one, promoting the Third Liberty Loan of April 5, 1918, appeals to the viewer’s conscience. As American soldiers are shown fighting heroically in the trenches against a billowing national flag and an ominous red sky, civilians are urged to “do your part” by purchasing war bonds. Herbert Paus, a commercial illustrator and illustrator of children’s books, produced many posters during World War I that encouraged not only the purchase of war bonds and war savings stamps but also enlistment and the hard work necessary to victory. During the war, he also designed highly successful covers for Collier’s, a weekly periodical that published many battle reports.
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