This poster, produced by the Associated Motion Picture Advertisers, encouraged men to enlist in the U.S. military. When the United States entered the First World War in April 1917, approximately 140,000 men composed the nation’s standing army. Military leaders and policymakers, however, believed that roughly 1 million American troops would be required to wage war effectively. Several weeks after declaring war, the U.S. government therefore established a draft and began to conscript men into the armed forces. At the same time, posters like these continued to encourage men to enlist for military service voluntarily. In constructing their appeal, poster producers chose two traditional symbols to personify the United States: the male character Uncle Sam and the female character Columbia. Both would have been familiar to American viewers at the time.

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