A Wonderful Opportunity for You. Ashore, On Leave. United States Navy
A smiling sailor in dress blues strides ashore carrying a parcel and a suitcase, with warships against an orange sunset behind him, under the headline 'A Wonderful Opportunity for You.' The offer is never itemised; the appeal rests on the cheerful figure and the word 'wonderful,' which is the poster's tell for glittering generalities.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1917
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- U.S. Navy (recruiting)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Wilson Administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Recruit
- Theme
- War and the military
- Event
- World War I
- Regime
- Wilson administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 4 (U.S. Food Administration), World War I Posters (NAID 512439), retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- NARA Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision
U.S. Navy. National Archives and Records Administration, 4-P-1.
Text on the object
A Wonderful Opportunity For YOU Ashore, On Leave. United States Navy [suitcase stencil: XYZ Seaman U.S.N.] [cap tally: U.S.S. ...] [small imprint at lower left: ... East 23rd St., N.Y. City.] [artist's signature at lower right, within a small monogram: RUTTAN]
The first characters of the imprint at lower left are cut off or faint ('4 East 23rd St., N.Y. City.'); the cap tally and the monogram letters are small and only partly legible.
