Who Told You You Couldn't Enlist Now in the Navy? Just Try It!
Centered type asks 'Who told YOU you couldn't enlist now in the navy?' above a large red question mark, answered by 'Just try it!' and the imprint of the Recruiting Committee. There is no picture; the poster addresses the individual reader directly and treats the doubt about eligibility as something to be tested rather than accepted.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1917
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- Recruiting Committee, Mayor's Committee on National Defense
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- 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
Recruiting Committee, Mayor's Committee on National Defense. National Archives and Records Administration, 4-P-36.
Text on the object
WHO TOLD YOU YOU COULDN'T ENLIST NOW IN THE NAVY ? JUST TRY IT! Recruiting Committee MAYOR'S COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL DEFENSE THE HEGEMAN PRINT N.Y.
