Smiler trivia . . .

A Happy Birthday Salute to James Montgomery Flagg (June 18, 1877 – May 27, 1960) artist, illustrator and cartoonist. He is best remembered for his posters, particularly his 1917 Army recruitment poster. Visit ASIFA to view some of his cartoon work.

"His most famous poster was created in 1917 to encourage recruitment in the United States Army during World War I. It showed Uncle Sam pointing at the viewer (inspired by a British recruitment poster showing Lord Kitchener in a similar pose) with the caption 'I Want YOU for U.S. Army'. Over four million copies of the poster were printed during World War I, and it was revived for World War II. Flagg used his own face for that of Uncle Sam (adding age and the white goatee), he said later, simply to avoid the trouble of arranging for a model." direct quote source (1)

Poster image source (1)