{"product_id":"london-opinion-kitchener-your-country-needs-you-1914","title":"Kitchener \"Your Country Needs You\" 1914 | Leete London Opinion","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is the 1914 \u003cem\u003eLondon Opinion\u003c\/em\u003e sheet — the first public outing of Alfred Leete’s pointing Kitchener, printed to sell a penny weekly rather than to recruit anyone. The red masthead sits above the figure, the price strapline \u003cstrong\u003e1D LONDON OPINION 1D\u003c\/strong\u003e runs along the foot, and below it the printer’s imprint reads \u003cstrong\u003ePRINTED BY THE VICTORIA HOUSE PRINTING CO., LTD., TUDOR ST., LONDON, E.C., SEPT. 5. 1914\u003c\/strong\u003e — dating the sheet to one issue, on one day. This is not the later “BRITONS … JOIN YOUR COUNTRY’S ARMY!” recruitment poster. It is the design that came first, and that the recruitment poster was adapted from.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA gloved hand drives forward through the composition, the index finger aimed directly at the viewer. Above it, Lord Kitchener's face, field marshal's cap, heavy moustache, an expression that allows no ambiguity. Above the figure, a saturated crimson banner carries 'London Opinion' in cream slab-serif. Below the outstretched arm: 'YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU' in close-set capitals, with 'YOU' in outsized outlined letters that fill the lower third. The two-colour scheme, crimson and near-black on cream stock, is the totality of the design's means. Leete used nothing else.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlfred Leete (1882–1933) drew the image as a magazine cover illustration for the 5 September 1914 issue of London Opinion, printed by the Victoria House Printing Co. Ltd., Tudor Street, London. He was not commissioned to produce a recruiting poster. The Parliamentary Recruiting Committee requested permission to adapt the cover after readers wrote in asking for reproductions. By January 1915, the design was on hoardings across Britain, at the base of Nelson's Column, in omnibuses, on commercial vans. September 1914, the month of first publication, recorded the highest monthly volunteer enlistment of the war. Leete's direct-address pointing-finger composition became the template for James Montgomery Flagg's 1917 Uncle Sam 'I Want YOU' and has been reworked by cartoonists and political artists ever since.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReproduced as a giclée print on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art Paper from the Library of Congress high-resolution archival scan (Prints \u0026amp; Photographs Division, digital ID ppmsca.37468). No known copyright restrictions apply to the 1914 design. For anyone drawn to WW1 graphic history, the commercial illustration tradition of Edwardian Britain, or the visual language of political mobilisation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vintage Poster Archives","offers":[{"title":"A4","offer_id":64241522311545,"sku":"VPA-13856-A4","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3","offer_id":64241522344313,"sku":"VPA-13856-A3","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"A2","offer_id":64241522377081,"sku":"VPA-13856-A2","price":34.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"50x70cm","offer_id":64241522409849,"sku":"VPA-13856-50x70cm","price":39.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"A1","offer_id":64241522442617,"sku":"VPA-13856-A1","price":44.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"70x100cm","offer_id":64241522475385,"sku":"VPA-13856-70x100cm","price":59.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"A0","offer_id":64241522508153,"sku":"VPA-13856-A0","price":69.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0994\/1139\/4937\/files\/Propaganda-LondonOpinion-KitchenerYourCountryNeedsYou-Leete-1914.jpg?v=1786692075","url":"https:\/\/vintageposterarchives.com\/products\/london-opinion-kitchener-your-country-needs-you-1914","provider":"Vintage Poster Archives","version":"1.0","type":"link"}