--- title: 'WW1 posters of women: nurses, war workers and the home front' url: https://propagandaarchive.org/ww1-propaganda-posters-women/ description: 'WW1 posters of women: nurses and the Red Cross, war workers, home-front housekeepers and recruiting appeals, with issuer and technique shown.' section: FRAME --- ![Illustration: a dossier collage of an evidence wall of pinned propaganda posters, leaflets and printed matter from many eras, with contact sheets and catalog labels.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/hero-collection.jpg) Collection # WW1 posters of women: nurses, war workers and the home front WW1 posters of women: nurses and the Red Cross, war workers, home-front housekeepers and recruiting appeals, with issuer and technique shown. 1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/) 2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) 3. [WW1 propaganda posters: who made them and how they worked](https://propagandaarchive.org/ww1-propaganda-posters/) 4. WW1 posters of women [![Aux Femmes Françaises (To French Women) — government appeal, 6 August 1914](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/aux-femmes-francaises-viviani-1914-640.jpg)Aux Femmes Françaises (To French Women) — government appeal, 6 August 1914](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/aux-femmes-francaises-viviani-1914/) [![Gee!! I Wish I Were a Man, I'd Join the Navy](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/gee-i-wish-i-were-a-man-1917-640.jpg)Gee!! I Wish I Were a Man, I'd Join the Navy](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gee-i-wish-i-were-a-man-1917/) [![Nurses of America, Humanity Calls You. What Is Your Answer?](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/nurses-of-america-humanity-calls-you-1917-640.jpg)Nurses of America, Humanity Calls You. What Is Your Answer?](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nurses-of-america-humanity-calls-you-1917/) [![Back Our Girls Over There: Y.W.C.A. United War Work Campaign](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/back-our-girls-over-there-1918-640.jpg)Back Our Girls Over There: Y.W.C.A. United War Work Campaign](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/back-our-girls-over-there-1918/) [![The Greatest Mother in the World](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/greatest-mother-in-the-world-red-cross-nara-1918-640.jpg)The Greatest Mother in the World](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/greatest-mother-in-the-world-red-cross-nara-1918/) [![Wanted Immediately: 2,000,000 Garments, Clothes Collection Week](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/wanted-immediately-2000000-garments-clothes-collection-week-1918-640.jpg)Wanted Immediately: 2,000,000 Garments, Clothes Collection Week](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/wanted-immediately-2000000-garments-clothes-collection-week-1918/) > **Content note.** One poster here uses the claim that Belgian women were assaulted as a reason to enlist, and another shows civilian suffering to sell bonds. They are shown as issued; showing an item is not endorsing it. [How did WW1 posters address and portray women?](https://propagandaarchive.org/ww1-propaganda-posters-women/#how-did-ww1-posters-address-and-portray-women) [Nurses and the Red Cross](https://propagandaarchive.org/ww1-propaganda-posters-women/#nurses-and-the-red-cross) [Women at work](https://propagandaarchive.org/ww1-propaganda-posters-women/#women-at-work-the-allied-labourer) [Women as the home front](https://propagandaarchive.org/ww1-propaganda-posters-women/#women-as-the-home-front) [Women as a reason to fight](https://propagandaarchive.org/ww1-propaganda-posters-women/#women-as-a-reason-to-fight) [Differences worth stating](https://propagandaarchive.org/ww1-propaganda-posters-women/#differences-worth-stating) ## How did WW1 posters address and portray women? WW1 posters used women in three ways: as a target audience (bond buyers, food savers, volunteers), as a symbol (nurse, mother, allied labourer) and as a reason for men to enlist. Governments, the Red Cross, the YWCA and the Salvation Army issued them. The collection holds them mostly from the US, Britain, France and Canada. ![American Red Cross poster, 1918: a nurse in a white veil cradles a wounded soldier in the pose of a Madonna and child](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/greatest-mother-in-the-world-red-cross-nara-1918.jpg) ## Nurses and the Red Cross "The Greatest Mother in the World" (American Red Cross, 1918) borrows the pose of a Madonna and child for a nurse and a stretcher-borne soldier, which is [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/): the weight of motherhood and religious imagery is lent to the organisation. "Red Cross Nurse" does the same with a flag and marching troops. ![American Red Cross poster, 1917: a large red cross under a headline addressed to the nurses of America](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/nurses-of-america-humanity-calls-you-1917.jpg) ![Belgian Red Cross poster, 1915: a winged nurse tends a wounded soldier before a Belgian flag](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/belgian-red-cross-buchel-1915.jpg) Explain moreShow less "Nurses of America, Humanity Calls You" is a recruiting sheet for Army and Navy nursing; its tag is [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/), since "humanity" is the caller. Britain's Belgian Red Cross appeal by Charles Buchel gives its nurse angel's wings, and a 1917 Red Cross poster, "Help the Red Cross", holds a figure against a nurse's chest. ## Women at work: the allied labourer ![Food Administration poster, 1917: three French women haul a plough by chains](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/will-you-help-the-women-of-france-save-wheat-1917.jpg) One motif, French women pulling a plough, appears on sheets from three issuers. The US Food Administration asked Americans to save wheat; the YWCA sought money for recreation huts; Canada's Victory Loan sheet, "Elles servent la France", asked for bond purchases. Each uses [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/): regard for the women's labour is attached to an unrelated request. ![Canadian Victory Loan poster, 1918: three women pull a plough, with the slogan Elles servent la France](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/elles-servent-la-france-emprunt-de-la-victoire-1918.jpg) ![YWCA poster, 1918: French women work in a foundry under the YWCA triangle](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/four-years-in-the-fight-women-of-france-1918.jpg) Britain's Parliamentary Recruiting Committee paired a soldier and a munitions worker in "We're Both Needed to Serve the Guns", an [Identity fusion](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/identity-fusion/) of enlisting and producing. ![British recruiting poster, 1915: a soldier shakes hands with a bare-armed factory worker](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-were-both-needed-to-serve-the-guns-1915.jpg) ![Massachusetts Board of Food Administration poster, 1917: a woman carrying food strides ahead of marching soldiers](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/house-manager-massachusetts-board-of-food-administration-1917.jpg) ## Women as the home front "The House Manager" (Massachusetts, 1917) places a housekeeper ahead of a column of soldiers, so household food management reads as service ([Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)). "Women! Help America's Sons Win the War" (2nd Liberty Loan, 1917) pairs a maternal figure with a torpedoed ship and a battlefield, a [Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/) about sons. "Joan of Arc Saved France" addresses "Women of America" with a heroine's prestige. ![Treasury poster, 1917: a woman before a flag, flanked by a torpedoed ship and a battlefield](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/women-help-americas-sons-win-the-war-2nd-liberty-loan-1917.jpg) ![Treasury poster: a young woman in armour raises a sword above a panel addressed to Women of America](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/joan-of-arc-saved-france-war-savings-stamps-1917-1919.jpg) ![United War Work Campaign poster, 1918: a Salvation Army woman with doughnuts and a grinning soldier](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/oh-boy-thats-the-girl-salvation-army-lassie-1918.jpg) ![YWCA poster, 1918: a woman at a telephone switchboard, soldiers marching behind](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/back-our-girls-over-there-1918.jpg) Explain moreShow less The Salvation Army doughnut sheet ("Oh, Boy That's the Girl!") and the YWCA's "Back Our Girls Over There" show women's service to soldiers, again by [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/). ## Women as a reason to fight ![Recruiting poster, 1915: a young woman in a green shawl under the question Have you any women-folk worth defending](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/women-folk-worth-defending-1915.jpg) An Irish recruiting poster of 1915 asks "Have you any women-folk worth defending?" and points to reports of violence against Belgian women, never shown: a [Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/) that moves the threat onto the viewer's family. Howard Chandler Christy's Navy poster has a young woman say "I wish I were a man", then adds "Be a man and do it", lending her appeal to recruiting. ![US Navy poster, 1917: a young woman in a petty officer's uniform says she wishes she were a man](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/gee-i-wish-i-were-a-man-1917.jpg) The French proclamation "Aux Femmes Françaises" (6 August 1914) is text only and asks women, children and the elderly to bring in the harvest. ![French government proclamation, 1914, addressed to the women of France](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/aux-femmes-francaises-viviani-1914.jpg) ## Differences worth stating The collection's holdings differ by country: most of the sheets shown here are American, and the British, French, Irish and Canadian items are fewer, so the page does not measure how much each government addressed women. The intent differs too: a charity asked for gifts, a treasury for loans, a recruiting committee for enlistment. The same techniques recur across all of them. ## What the collection does not hold - **Not here:** British Women's Land Army posters of 1917 to 1919; the collection's Land Army items date from the Second World War. - **Not here:** German, Austrian, Russian or Italian posters addressed to women, or women's own posters (suffrage items are filed separately as cartoons and leaflets). - **Thin:** British munitions-worker posters; one sheet stands for the subject. For wider context see [WW1 posters by country](https://propagandaarchive.org/ww1-propaganda-posters/by-country/), [Liberty Loan posters](https://propagandaarchive.org/liberty-loan-posters/) and [recruiting posters](https://propagandaarchive.org/recruiting-posters/). Sources and further reading ## Sources National Archives and Records Administration, World War I posters (record groups 4-P and 44-PF). National Archives and Records Administration, World War I posters (record groups 4-P and 44-PF). Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, World War I Posters. Maurice Rickards, *Posters of the First World War* (1968). Each item carries its own source and rights note. ## WW1 posters addressed to or showing women Showing 26 of 26 objects. [Filter the whole collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/). - [Aux Femmes Françaises (To French Women) — government appeal, 6 August 1914](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/aux-femmes-francaises-viviani-1914/) (France · Aug 6, 1914 · Glittering generalities, Card stacking) - [Belgian Red Cross (donations poster, London)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/belgian-red-cross-buchel-1915/) (Belgium · 1915 · Transfer) - [We're Both Needed to Serve the Guns! Fill Up the Ranks! Pile Up the Munitions!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-were-both-needed-to-serve-the-guns-1915/) (United Kingdom · 1915 · Transfer) - [Have You Any Women-Folk Worth Defending? Remember the Women of Belgium. Join To-Day](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/women-folk-worth-defending-1915/) (United Kingdom · 1915 · Fear appeal) - [Let There Not Be a Man or a Woman Among Us Who... (The Prime Minister, May 4th 1915)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-not-idle-prime-minister-1915/) (United Kingdom · May 4, 1915 · Glittering generalities) - [Gee!! I Wish I Were a Man, I'd Join the Navy](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gee-i-wish-i-were-a-man-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Transfer) - [Help the Red Cross](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/help-the-red-cross-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Transfer) - [The House Manager (Issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Board of Food Administration)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/house-manager-massachusetts-board-of-food-administration-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [Joan of Arc Saved France: Women of America, Save Your Country, Buy War Savings Stamps](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/joan-of-arc-saved-france-war-savings-stamps-1917-1919/) (United States · 1917 · Transfer, Identity fusion) - [Keep This Hand of Mercy at Its Work: War Fund Week, One Hundred Million Dollars](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/keep-this-hand-of-mercy-at-its-work-war-fund-week-1917-1919/) (United States · 1917 · Transfer, Fear appeal) - [Nurses of America, Humanity Calls You. What Is Your Answer?](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nurses-of-america-humanity-calls-you-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Glittering generalities, Transfer) - [Nurses, the Call from No Man's Land Is "Come Across"](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nurses-the-call-from-no-mans-land-is-come-across-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Glittering generalities) - [Will You Help the Women of France? Save Wheat](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/will-you-help-the-women-of-france-save-wheat-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Transfer) - [Women! Help America's Sons Win the War. Buy U.S. Government Bonds. 2nd Liberty Loan of 1917](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/women-help-americas-sons-win-the-war-2nd-liberty-loan-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Transfer, Fear appeal) - [Ain't It a Grand and Glorious Feelin'? The Men Know, Home Folks Know. Y.W.C.A. Hostess Houses in Seventy Camps](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/aint-it-a-grand-and-glorious-feelin-ywca-hostess-houses-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Plain folks) - [Back Our Girls Over There: Y.W.C.A. United War Work Campaign](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/back-our-girls-over-there-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Transfer) - [A Call to the Colors: America's Second Line of Defense, Girls in Wartime Will Tell You What America Expects of Her Girls](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/call-to-the-colors-americas-second-line-of-defense-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [Elles servent la France. Tout le monde peut servir. Souscrivons à l'Emprunt de la Victoire (Canada)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/elles-servent-la-france-emprunt-de-la-victoire-1918/) (Canada · 1918 · Transfer) - [Every Girl Pulling for Victory: Victory Girls, United War Work Campaign](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/every-girl-pulling-for-victory-victory-girls-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Bandwagon, Identity fusion) - [Four Years in the Fight: The Women of France. We Owe Them Houses of Cheer](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/four-years-in-the-fight-women-of-france-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [The Greatest Mother in the World](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/greatest-mother-in-the-world-red-cross-nara-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [Heroic Women of France Toiling to Produce Food: Are You Doing Your Part?](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/heroic-women-of-france-toiling-to-produce-food-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Testimonial, Transfer) - [Must Children Die and Mothers Plead in Vain? Buy More Liberty Bonds](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/must-children-die-and-mothers-plead-in-vain-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Fear appeal, Transfer). Content note: A painted scene of a ragged woman holding two infants amid smoke and debris, as issued, used to appeal for bond purchases. - [Oh, Boy That's the Girl! The Salvation Army Lassie. Keep Her on the Job](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/oh-boy-thats-the-girl-salvation-army-lassie-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Testimonial, Transfer) - [Red Cross Nurse](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/red-cross-nurse-harrison-fisher-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Transfer) - [Wanted Immediately: 2,000,000 Garments, Clothes Collection Week](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/wanted-immediately-2000000-garments-clothes-collection-week-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Bandwagon)