Be Patriotic

Depicts a women who is holding her arms out beseechingly to the viewer. Robed in a U.S. flag, and wearing a cloth cap (which bears the stars and stripes), the woman has an imploring expression on her face. The poster is based on a drawing (or watercolour), with loose washes applied across the surface, so that the pencil lines occasionally appear through the paint. The poster reveals some of the underlying social changes occurring in the United States during the war - the casual, yet deft brushwork highlights a face which has intimations of make-up; she is an interesting amalgam of the ideal beauty epitomised in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century by the 'Gibson Girl', and the emancipated glamour of future film stars, such as Clara Bow. The First World War transformed the role of women in the United States, which still refused to give women the vote. Women played a vital role in holding the economy together, gathering and preserving food supplies, and caring for the wounded; a small section of women were granted the vote in March 1919. By the roaring 20s, use of make-up evolved from signifying a woman of dubious repute, to an emancipated citizen with full voting rights.

The main title of the poster runs from the lower left to the lower right printed in red ink. The remainder of the text is printed in blue ink ('sign your country's pledge to save the food').