Vintage Poster Archives
US Army Builds Men 1919 | Herbert Paus WW1 Poster
US Army Builds Men 1919 | Herbert Paus WW1 Poster
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An amber-uniformed doughboy stands before a globe of the world in three-quarter profile, composed and steady. Behind him, three allegorical male figures fill a black arch in flat slate blue: a worker with tools at left (Crafts), a crusader holding a sword and orange banner at centre (Character), and a bare-armed man flexing at right (Physique). The letters USA ghost large through the background. A winged Nike in teal surmounts the globe at lower left. The amber-to-blue palette, the arched ground, and the layered allegorical structure give the composition a measured authority.
Designed by Herbert Andrew Paus (1880–1946) for the United States Army and printed by Niagara Litho. Co. of Buffalo, New York, this is a WW1 recruitment poster from the preparedness campaign that sought to grow a standing regular army as America entered the war. Paus served on the government's Committee on Pictorial Publicity during WW1, and the design demonstrates the formal confidence that distinguished his government commissions from the more urgent patriotic appeals of the period. The work is held in the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (POS - US .P38, no. 7, reproduction number LC-USZC4-3189).
The three virtues, Crafts, Character, Physique, read simultaneously as allegorical archetypes and as a practical enlistment argument: the Army does not merely use men, it builds them. The knight errant at centre, invoking a chivalric tradition, places the WW1 soldier in a lineage of martial honour that was a deliberate rhetorical move of the period.
Reproduced as a fine art archival print on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art Paper using pigment-based inks. Sits well with anyone drawn to the graphic design of American wartime communication, the history of WW1 poster art, or the broader tradition of the US Army's visual culture.
