Both of These Men Had Syphilis
Artist
Leonard Karsakov
Printer
U.S. Government Printing Office
Datec. 1943
Dimensions28 x 22 in. (71.1 x 55.9 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.7788
DescriptionDuring the 1930s, the U.S. government had already launched campaigns to reduce infections from venereal disease that might undermine the military in the event of a new war, especially given the epidemic of syphilis and gonorrhea experienced by the troops during World War I. Since penicillin was not widely available to the armed forces until September 1943, these diseases still posed a serious threat. In the early 1940s, the government hired WPA artists to create bold, symbolic health-warning posters but these seem to have confused new recruits. It therefore hired artists and ad men through Madison Avenue advertising agencies to devise more realistic and clearer health warnings that could be pasted on walls at military bases and training facilities. This poster is part of a series with a clear written and visual message; in each, a man with who has taken his shots to treat the disease is shown fully recovered and with a happy personal life; the other man who has not is seen alone and hobbling on crutches.On View
Not on view
