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Prepared from the source scan: surroundings removed and the sheet levelled where required. The source record remains available below.
The Posters That Went to War · Over There
Join the United States School Garden Army: Enlist Now
Edward Penfield (1866-1925) · United States School Garden Army, Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior, 1918
Format
Archival pigment giclée on museum-grade matte art paper, color-managed to the source scan — the flat inks and stone grain intact. The 40×60 is the room-changer.
Size
$39.00
What it is
A colour lithograph Edward Penfield drew for the United States School Garden Army, printed by the American Lithographic Co. of New York in 1918, 76.5 by 50.9 cm on the sheet.
Why it matters
The School Garden Army enlisted schoolchildren as gardeners, and the sheet tells them to write to the Bureau of Education of the Department of the Interior in Washington to join. Penfield is counted the father of the American poster.
What to notice
A girl at the plough handles, drawn in Penfield's flat colour and firm outline, under the order to enlist.
A child's garden, mustered like a regiment.
Provenance
- School
- The Great War Poster (United States and the world)
- Designer
- Edward Penfield (1866-1925)
- Printer / house
- American Lithographic Co., New York
- Campaign
- Food Will Win the War
- Format
- Political poster
- Poster published
- United States School Garden Army, Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior, 1918
- Source
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division · LCCN 2002719431 · POS - US .P452, no. 133 (C size) [P&P]
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 2026-11-02. Commons licence re-read 2026-11-02 on the Commons mirror of the same LoC scan: Public domain (PD-1923, PD-Layout, PD-US-expired).
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