The WPA & the Golden Age · The American Golden Age
That liberty shall not perish from the earth — Buy liberty bonds, Fourth Liberty Loan
Joseph Pennell (1857-1926) · Fourth Liberty Loan campaign, 1918
What it is
Joseph Pennell, an etcher better known for industrial landscapes, imagined the unthinkable: Manhattan burning under aerial attack, the harbor smoking, and Liberty herself broken off at the shoulders.
Why it matters
The Library of Congress record describes a colour lithograph roughly 104.2 x 71.6 cm, printed by Heywood, Strasser & Voigt of New York for the Fourth Liberty Loan of 1918. Where most bond posters offered heroism, Pennell offered consequence — the war brought home to a skyline every buyer recognised.
What to notice
New York harbor in flames and the Statue of Liberty beheaded — the most alarming image American war finance ever printed.
The years America learned to argue, sell, and dream in ink.
Provenance
- School
- The American Golden Age — the Poster before 1931 (United States)
- Designer
- Joseph Pennell (1857-1926)
- Printer / house
- Heywood, Strasser & Voigt Litho. Co., N.Y.
- Format
- Political poster
- Poster published
- Fourth Liberty Loan campaign, 1918
- Source
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division · LCCN 2008677184
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
