The WPA & the Golden Age · The American Golden Age
Gee!! I Wish I Were a Man, I'd Join the Navy
Howard Chandler Christy (1873-1952) · United States Navy recruiting station, 1917
What it is
Howard Chandler Christy's 1917 colour lithograph puts a young woman in a sailor's uniform and hands her the taunt 'Gee!!
Why it matters
I wish I were a man, I'd join the Navy.' It is the sharpest surviving example of wartime recruiting that works by challenge rather than duty.
What to notice
A woman in Navy blues delivers the dare that made the poster famous: be a man and do it.
The years America learned to argue, sell, and dream in ink.
Provenance
- School
- The American Golden Age — the Poster before 1931 (United States)
- Designer
- Howard Chandler Christy (1873-1952)
- Format
- Political poster
- Poster published
- United States Navy recruiting station, 1917
- Source
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division · LCCN 2002712088
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. 95-year rule (published 1930 or earlier). Gated by the poster’s own publication year. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-18.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 40x60" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
