1917 "You Buy a Liberty Bond Lest I Perish" Vintage WWI Poster by Charles R. Macauley

Presented is a stunning WWI Liberty Bond poster designed by Charles R. Macauley. This poster was published in 1917 to promote the U.S. Treasury Liberty Loan program. It features a striking, larger-than-life Lady Liberty pointing her finger at the viewer, her brow furrowed in a scowl. The text reads, “YOU buy a Liberty Bond Lest I Perish.” 

Each of the four Liberty Loan campaigns (two in 1917, two in 1918) and the Victory Loan campaign of early 1919 aimed for rapid subscription in the loan and bond programs, to generate quick funding of the war effort. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financial securities to many citizens for the first time. Working Americans would buy these savings stamps, to then trade in for smaller denominations of bonds, which at the end of the war would be repaid with interest.

Consequently, there was an outpouring of poster art on both the local and national levels for these loan programs, including this particular poster. Famous artists and illustrators were hired to design these attention-grabbing posters, like Charles R. Macauley. 

Charles Raymond Macauley (1871–1934) was an American illustrator, political cartoonist, and author. Born in Canton, Ohio, Macauley developed his professional career through newspaper work, gaining early recognition in 1891 when he won a $50 prize for a cartoon submitted to the Cleveland Press. He subsequently contributed illustrations and editorial cartoons to several prominent publications, including the Cleveland World, Philadelphia Inquirer, New York World, and Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Macauley also wrote and illustrated his own literary works, among them Emblemland (1902), written in collaboration with John Kendrick Bangs, Fantasma Land (1904), and The Red Tavern (1914), while illustrating books by other authors. 

During the First World War, he produced patriotic posters supporting American military and financial mobilization, including this famous 1917 Liberty Loan poster. Macauley’s most significant professional distinction came in 1930, when he received the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning for "Paying for a Dead Horse," a 1929 cartoon published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle that addressed the issue of First World War reparations.

CONDITION: 

Near fine condition. Color lithograph. Color is vibrant, without toning. Paper is healthy, with only minimal creasing along bottom left side margin. 

Poster is framed to archival standards, with acid-free mats, UV plexiglas, and a custom-built frame. 

Framed Dimensions: 42 3/4'' H x 32 3/4'' W x 1 1/2'' D.

Accompanied by our company’s letter of authenticity.