Mine More Coal - WWI USFA

This compelling WWI poster was created by the US Fuel Administration to enlist immigrant workers to support their counterparts fighting overseas by working harder at mining coal. The top message is repeated below in the languages spoken by most coal miners at the time: Italian, Polish, German, Hungarian, Slovenian, and Croatian. It is very likely that this poster would have been either hung in mining towns seeking new recruits, or hung in the workplace to encourage productivity.

Even before American joined into WWI in 1917, the nation was experiencing a coal and fuel shortage due to a surge in population and the hard winter of 1916/1917. The United States Fuel Administration was formed in August of 1917 by executive order of President Woodrow Wilson. Coal was the one of the main raw materials needed to power locomotives that carried soldiers and ammunition and power machines that made steel for weapons, tanks, and ships. America's natural reserves of coal helped out power Germany, and was one of the defining reasons for the war's end. The USFA managed the use of coal and oil and issued orders to for the American public to conserve as much as possible. It was the USFA that introduced daylight savings time, shortened work weeks to five days, amongst other initiatives that are still a part of American life today.

This is an Original Vintage Poster; it is not a reproduction. This poster is conservation mounted, linen backed, and in excellent condition. We guarantee the authenticity of all of our posters.