“Teufel Hunden” was one of many posters issued by the United States government during World War I to encourage support of the war. This poster was created as a military recruitment and enlistment poster for the Marine Corps in 1917. The name “Teufel Hunden” stated on the poster refers to a term German soldiers would use when describing World War I American Marines. “Teufel Hunden” translates to “Devil's Dogs” and was a popular nickname for the Marines and many U.S. newspaper headlines adopted it. Other nicknames that were used to describe Marines such as “Leatherneck” and “Jarhead” but these nicknames were not adopted in popular media. The term “Devil Dog” was so well-liked and embraced by the Marines that eventually an assault ship was named after it. This poster includes one of the earliest published usages of the term and helped spread its popularity. Charles Buckles Falls, the illustrator who helped create this iconic poster for marine recruitment, was a freelance artist from Indiana. Falls was a part of the Society of Illustrators during World War I and contributed to illustrating war propaganda posters for the Committee on Public Information’s Division of Pictorial Publicity throughout the war. Falls illustrated many posters during the war that helped promote military recruitment. This poster was created and reproduced as a lithographic print at the time of its distribution.
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