c.1917 20,000 Apprentice Seaman Needed US Navy Charles Stafford Duncan WWI
c.1917 20,000 Apprentice Seaman Needed US Navy Charles Stafford Duncan WWI
c.1917 20,000 Apprentice Seaman Needed US Navy Charles Stafford Duncan WWI

c.1917 20,000 Apprentice Seaman Needed US Navy Charles Stafford Duncan WWI

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Date: c.1917
Artist: Duncan, Charles Stafford
Size (in): 42” x 28”
Size (cm): 106.7 x 71.1
Condition: B+
Linen backed: No

This rare antique original WWI US Navy recruiting poster was created by San Francisco artist Charles Stafford Duncan very early in his long career. The poster isn’t dated but was probably issued in 1917. Duncan’s Modernist style is well represented in this image of a strapping young US Navy sailor above text that reads 20,000 APPRENTICE SEAMEN NEEDED IMMEDIATELY IN THE U.S. NAVY AGE 18 TO 30. Space is provided in the lower margin to overprint or write the address of the recruiting office where interested young men could apply for enlistment in the US Navy. The lower left hand corner has the printers’ union emblem and indicates “The Francis-Valentine Co. Print, S.F.”

Charles Stafford Duncan was born in Kansas in 1892 and moved to San Francisco when he was about four years old. He studied at the California School of Fine Arts under the tutelage of Maynard Dixon and Ralph Stackpole and became associated with the bohemian San Francisco artist community that flourished in the early 20th century and included luminaries Diego Rivera and others. This poster was created by a San Francisco artist and was printed in San Francisco and probably didn’t see distribution beyond the West Coast of the United States which accounts for its rarity.

This vintage original poster was issued folded and shows light handling wear with no tape or pinholes. The poster is slightly bumped on the edges and shows modest toning from age. Overall condition is very good.


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