ALCO & THE "GREAT" WAR
During what is now known as WWI, nobody printed more war posters than the American Lithographic Co. Today there are probably 100 or more repros being sold. You have to wonder as they rolled off his presses, if J. P. Knapp didn't recall his boyhood days in Brooklyn as General Grant, Sherman, Woodford and more would drop in to see his mother and father. Then there were those huge Memorial Day parades going down Bedford Ave past the festooned Knapp Mansion... it had to have an impact.
On Saturday April 14th of 1917 , 10 days after President Wilson & congress declared war on Germany, J. P. & J. F. Knapp had Admiral Usher of the Navy out on their estate in Mastic sizing up the place for a air base. Next day it was reported in the NY Times and a week or so later J. F. and his pals were patroling the south shore by Smith's Point in their Curtiss Flying Boats as members of The USNR Aerial Coast Patrol , Third Yale Unit.
Admiral Nathaniel Usher 1917
artist: JAMES MONTGOMERY FLAGG as UNCLE SAM
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If nobody printed more WWI posters than Joseph Palmer Knapp, no one drew more of them than James Montgomery Flagg. His iconic I WANT YOU Uncle Sam is probably the most enduring image of the era. Sam's face is Flagg's btw. Flagg who was a real "first nighter" was a close personal friend of my grandfather Jack "the Ol' Marine" Spooner.
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| 1950 : Here We Go Again, There's Trouble In Korea .......... | |||||||||||
| 1917 : "UNCLE JAMES & HIS PAL SAMMY" | 1942 : Unfortunately for the entire planet Jim would have to get his crayons out again. If he looks pissed off ....He certainly has the right to be ....... | ||||||||||
HO HO HO 1917
from UNCLE SAM & THE AMERICAN LITHOGRAPHIC CO.