Famous
World War One recruitment lithographed poster, produced by
James Montgomery Flagg.
Mano a mano, a mesmering stern-faced
Uncle Sam engages eye contact with the passer-by, hopefully an 18-50 year old healthy and heterosexual
American male, and impresses upon him that he should play his part in the defence of the republic. This picture is one of the world's most famous
wartime propaganda art, although true credit should go to an earlier
British recruitment
poster featuring
Lord Kitchener.
The picture originally appeared on the front cover for the 6 July 1916 edition of Leslie's Weekly with the caption "What Are You Doing for Preparedness?" . Subsequently it was reprinted, on four million posters in 1917 and 1918, and was reused in World War Two. Flagg had modelled Uncle Sam on himself, as he told President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, to save on the modelling fee.
The picture sometimes mistakingly referred to as the more grammatically correct I Want You for the US Army.