That was the day I joined the WAVES
Navy recruiting poster: a young woman in a WAVES uniform and U.S. Navy cap in front of a large Western Union telegram that tells of a man wounded in hospital, with a dark stormy sea behind. The headline gives her own account, 'That was the day I joined the WAVES', and the footer directs readers to a Navy recruiting station. The telegram supplies the emotional prompt; the first-person line is testimonial.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Navy (Naval Officer Procurement), art by John Falter, USNR
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Recruit
- Themes
- War and the military, Gender and suffrage
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
U.S. Navy. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-141 (NAID 513589).
Text on the object
[signature: JOHN FALTER USNR] WESTERN UNION A.N. WILLIAMS PRESIDENT LD241 INTL SANS ORIGINE 17 4 MISS NANCY HOLMES IN HOSP[illegible] WOUND[illegible] [illegible]HT [illegible] CHEST EVERYTH[illegible] WORRY [illegible] O.K. LOVE DAN THAT WAS THE DAY I JOINED THE WAVES INQUIRE AT ANY Navy Recruiting Station or Office of Naval Officer Procurement ORDER NO. 92 [imprint: NAVPERS-NRB-[illegible]-26 May 43-[illegible]M.]
