Anti-Militarism Poster, 1968

1968. [Propaganda][Counterculture] Ты / Uncle Sam Wants You! New York: International Poster Corp., 1968. Offset lithographic poster in red, black, and cream tones, measuring 21 x 29 inches. A striking Cold War-era visual pastiche that fuses Soviet revolutionary imagery with American military propaganda, this poster was issued during a peak moment of political unrest in the U.S., amid the Vietnam War and domestic resistance movements.

This design is a bold recontextualization of the iconic 1920 Soviet recruitment poster "Ты записался добровольцем?" ("Did you volunteer?") by Dmitry Moor, repurposed here with the English slogan "Uncle Sam Wants You!" emblazoned below in tall, confrontational type. The juxtaposition of Soviet iconography-complete with red army uniform, factory smokestacks, and Cyrillic lettering-with a phrase universally associated with U.S. enlistment efforts, delivers a searing critique of militarism, nationalism, and ideological doublespeak on both sides of the Cold War divide. Produced by the International Poster Corp., a commercial publisher in the late 1960s known for distributing countercultural and revolutionary imagery, this poster was marketed to radical bookstores and student groups across North America. It exemplifies the era's politically charged appropriation of state propaganda styles as a vehicle for anti-war, New Left, and student movement critiques. The figure's accusatory point, lifted directly from Moor's original, underscores a shared visual vocabulary of coercion that transcended ideological boundaries. Very good condition, with strong color retention and no visible tears, small surface abrasion on recto not affecting images. Printed copyright and publishing line along bottom margin. An evocative artifact of 1960s countercultural print culture, merging international iconographies of enlistment and resistance.