Description
As military costs spiraled out of control, a nations ability to raise money was as important as any battlefield victory. This poster alleges that the citizens of occupied Belgium and France were forced to fill the German war coffers. In the United States, the war was funded primarily through voluntary contributions, and numerous charitable and military organizations competed for donations. In an effort to streamline war funding appeals, many cities initiated local war chest campaigns which raised a single lump sum to be distributed to individual organizations. Perhaps the most successful of these was the Columbus War Chest Campaign in Ohio, where this poster was produced to persuade local citizens to contribute to the fund. Although individual donations were voluntary (and not made, as here, with the threat of bayonets), the citizens of Columbus were exhorted to prove their patriotism. This is your war . . . some must fight and some must pay and all must sacrifice. The Mayor of Columbus declared that any city employee who complained about the war chest campaign would immediately be dismissed. Billy Ireland, a native Ohioan, spent his entire career as a cartoonist for The Columbus Dispatch. Deeply proud of his Ohio roots and uninterested in pursuing a career in New York or London, Ireland created cartoons that were reproduced in magazines throughout the country and abroad.
Details
- Work Date:
- 1918
- Dimensions:
- 27⅞ x 21⅞ inches
- Medium:
- color lithograph
- Credit Line:
- Gift of Bartlett H. Hayes, 1985