Framed I Want You Posters
Uncle Sam has been a well-known figure in American popular culture for close to two hundred years. He is frequently, but not always, the subject of framed vintage I Want You posters. However, even if he is not directly shown, the influence of his most famous portrayals is always present.
The character Uncle Sam is meant to serve as a stand-in for the United States as a whole. This is reinforced by his initials, U.S. The character that would go on to influence framed vintage I Want You wall art was first mentioned in 1810. By the 1830s it was common to see Uncle Sam portrayed in political cartoons. However, during this time there was not a standardized depiction of the Uncle Sam character.
The most famous framed vintage I Want You artwork was created by James Montgomery Flagg in 1916 for an Army recruitment poster as the US was preparing to enter the First World War. Flagg’s “I Want You…” shows an elderly man with a white goatee in red, white, and blue formal dress pointing at the viewer. Most portrayals of Uncle Sam since this time have stayed with that template. During the Second World War, a less formally dressed Uncle Sam is shown in “Avenge Pearl Harbor - Our Bullets Will Do It.”
Uncle Sam was not only used to promote military recruitment. He was also used to promote domestic policies in works like “Buy War Bonds and Stamps” and “Uncle Sam Needs That Extra Shovelful,” which was a campaign to encourage coal conservation. Today the image is sometimes used in an ironic way, such as in the film “I Want You! To Enlist in the Army of Love,” which features a scantily-clad woman.