Conscription Posters

During World War 1 the continued casualties suffered by Australian forces led to an increased recruiting drive at home.

Perhaps the most visible form this recruiting drive took were conscription/enlistment posters. These posters, many of which featured the artwork of prominent Australian artists such as Norman Lindsay, were displayed everywhere in a bid to get men to enlist and to inform others about how they could help the war effort.

The posters generally fall into two categories, those that try to persuade people to help/enlist by appealing to their sense of pride, calling for an immediate action and those that used persuasion, playing on people's emotions. The difference between the two is obvious, the ones using force often feature direct comments to the viewer, slogans like “go and help” and “don’t just stand there reading this” obviously require a direct response.

The ones using persuasion on the other hand often attempted less direct methods of getting their message across, appealing to people’s feelings and sensibilities rather than their sense of outrage or moral duty.

Like telegraph pole posters today, exposed to the weather and rough treatment, most of these conscription posters did not survive and are now only seen as reproductions put out as souvenirs for people with an interest in the history of the time.

However, several original posters have still survived and are now highly sort after by collectors. Viewing a real poster you are able to see the fine detail of the pictures and can feel privileged in the knowledge that you are looking at something someone was viewing almost 100 years ago.

Strand Coins has managed to obtain four original conscription posters which are kept in the Strand Arcade store.

The first of these is a British poster with the title, “Don’t Stand Looking at This”. Printed in London this poster implores a direct response from the reader, urging them to “Go and Help” their countrymen.

Next is one of the most famous Australian conscription posters, “A Call from the Dardanelles”. This poster depicts an Australian soldier bestriding Gallipoli and Asia Minor and calling out to his fellow countrymen with the words, “Coo-ee Won’t You Come?”. The poster is finished off with the words “Enlist Now”.

The third poster shows a wounded Australian soldier and features the words “What are you doing for Australia Day? July 30 1915”. Interestingly, as observers will note, the date listed as Australia Day isn’t the same date (Jan 26) as we celebrate now. Up until the 1950s January 26 was known as Foundation Day, the Australia Day discussed in the poster was a special day to raise funds for the war effort. It was common practice to have country days, such as “Belgium Day” etc to raise money for allies and July 30 was picked to raise money for Australia’s war effort.

Finally, the fourth poster doesn’t feature any images but instead the following slogan: “Get Into Khaki. Your comrades in Gallipoli are calling you. This is not the time for football or tennis matches. This is serious. Show that you realize this by enlisting at once.” Far more direct and alarmist than the others, this poster was probably produced later in the war as a last ditch attempt to get men to enlist.

For more information on these posters please contact us.