Will You Do Your Bit

If I were killed to-day.jpg

Dublin Core

Title

Will You Do Your Bit

Subject

Recruitment: Military

Description

This poster plays off the militant sentiments of the time, where killing German soldiers was so strongly seen as a man's duty that it was comparable to putting bread on his family's table. "Putting just one German helmet in my kit" almost resembles the act of punching a timecard before leaving work for the day.

Not only does the poster play off the public value of honest work, but it mimics the form of a religious motivational, with its simple, painted graphic and elegantly embellished text, completed by the use of a poem. In this way, a man's duty not only to his family but to his God is highlighted and subjected to the war effort.

The contrast of the dutiful and pious sentiments in this poster against the actual realities of the war is jarring, especially in this day and age, where war is no longer a popular idea. It highlights the plain fact of just how innocent the civilian population was of what its young men were actually doing each day. They were told their sons were going to honor their families, serve their God, do their rightful duty, as if they were leaving for work on a Monday morning. Not until later did it become apparent that they weren't coming back.

Creator

Anonymous

Source

McFarlin Library, Department of Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tulsa, 2933 E. 6th St. Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104-3123

Date

1910-1920

Language

English

Identifier

1992.004.5

Coverage

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Great Britain

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Poster