Framed Vintage Navy Posters

Few things are more aggressively patriotic than the military. Throughout the course of history, supporting an individual’s country has always seemed to go hand – in – hand with supporting their military efforts, particularly during wartime, and this phenomenon has led to a whole host of advertising and public opinion campaigns to recruit, engage, and enlist the public on a variety of levels. From an artistic standpoint, framed vintage navy posters provide an interesting insight into this phenomenon and create a fun, colorful lens through which to view the events of American military history.

One of the most fascinating early framed vintage navy arts is a piece entitled “Don’t Read American History, Make It.” It is titled thusly because of the inscription on this piece itself, which flanks the two central figures in the picture—a well – dressed young civilian man with a newspaper and an attractive, well – built sailor in Navy uniform. The two are set against a water-colored backdrop with Columbia, personification of the American spirit, in the background.