Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very unique recruitment poster due to the fact that it has the original US Army recruiters business card stapled to it as well as his information stamped to the back of it.
 
The recruiter is Master Sergeant George Richard Schnurr and from what we could find, he served during WWII up until Vietnam. M/Sgt Schnurr died in 1996. There is a lot of information to decipher when you research his name, making this poster an excellent candidate for research.
 
This 29” x 21” which comes framed without glass, features a winking soldier in a late 1950s/early 1960s uniform. He is winking giving the “ok” sign with his right hand while pointing at it with his left hand which holds a ruler. There is a “Go Army Grow” sticker covering the right hand.
Top Text Reads:
Get Choice
not chance
“Get choice not chance” is referring to the draft, encouraging young men to choose the branch they want to enlist in on their own will, instead of being drafted.
 
The Bottom Text Reads:
From Your Army Recruiter
U.S. Army Recruiting Station
City Hall
Hagerstown, Maryland
 
The poster is framed, and we do not want to remove it, but there doesn't appear to be any damage to the poster. There is however slight fading to the colors.
 
This is a wonderful example of an early Vietnam War US Army recruitment poster. Comes ready to display!
 
Military recruitment refers to the activity of attracting people to, and selecting them for, military training and employment.
 
Prior to the outbreak of World War I, military recruitment in the US was conducted primarily by individual states. Upon entering the war, however, the federal government took an increased role.
 
The increased emphasis on a national effort was reflected in World War I recruitment methods. Authors Peter A. Padilla and Mary Riege Laner define six basic appeals to these recruitment campaigns: patriotism, job/career/education, adventure/challenge, social status, travel, and miscellaneous. Between 1915 and 1918, 42% of all army recruitment posters were themed primarily by patriotism. And though other themes – such as adventure and greater social status – would play an increased role during World War II recruitment, appeals to serve one's country remained the dominant selling point.
 
In the aftermath of World War II military recruitment shifted significantly. With no war calling men and women to duty, the United States refocused its recruitment efforts to present the military as a career option, and as a means of achieving a higher education. A majority – 55% – of all recruitment posters would serve this end. And though peacetime would not last, factors such as the move to an all-volunteer military would ultimately keep career-oriented recruitment efforts in place.[96] The Defense Department turned to television syndication as a recruiting aid from 1957–1960 with a filmed show, Country Style, USA.
 
On February 20, 1970, the President's Commission on an All-Volunteer Armed Force unanimously agreed that the United States would be best served by an all-volunteer military. In supporting this recommendation, the committee noted that recruitment efforts would have to be intensified, as new enlistees would need to be convinced rather than conscripted. Much like the post-World War II era, these new campaigns put a stronger emphasis on job opportunities. As such, the committee recommended "improved basic compensation and conditions of service, proficiency pay, and accelerated promotions for the highly skilled to make military career opportunities more attractive." These new directives were to be combined with "an intensive recruiting effort." Finalized in mid-1973, the recruitment of a "professional" military was met with success. In 1975 and 1976, military enlistments exceeded expectations, with over 365,000 men and women entering the military. Though this may, in part, have been the result of a lack of civilian jobs during the recession, it nevertheless stands to underline the ways in which recruiting efforts responded to the circumstances of the time.