World War I coincided with the later years of the “Golden Age Of Illustration,” a time of particular excellence in the quality of book and poster images.  The artists of this era contributed their considerable skills in the creation of materials supporting the war effort.  This painting by noted muralist Edwin Howland Blashfield was the original design for a wartime billboard in New York City created by O. J. Gude Company.  The accompanying text read “For Democracy and the Freedom of the Seas … Enlist in the Navy.”