CHARLES E. CHAMBERS.Food Will Win the War, lithographed poster, 1917; 30x20 inches. Rusling Wood, New York. Condition A-: repaired tears in margins. On May 5, 1917, Herbert Hoover was appointed head of the U.S. Food Administration, having already told President Wilson that "second only to military action [food] was the dominant factor" in the war (Rawls p. 112). This poster is an appeal to new citizens to help their adopted country save food to feed the Allies by visually reminding immigrants of the beauty, promise and joy of arriving in New York harbor (patriotically and inspirationally complete with Statue of Liberty, red, white and blue rainbow and golden buildings). "The central figure, with one hand firmly placed on a food basket, motions with his other hand toward a ship being loaded--a gesture that impresses the viewer with the urgency of providing food for Europe." (Magnes p. 48). To reach as broad an immigrant base as possible, this poster appeared in several different languages including English, Yiddish, Italian and Hungarian. Rawls p. 113, Theofiles p. 94, Borkan p. 59.
