Description
Frank Dadd The Veteran’s Farewell 1914. Early poster issued by the Parliamentary Recruiting Office features a Chelsea pensioner shaking hands with new recruit. Variety of attire of enlistees in the background ranging from pinstriped suits & bowler hats to simple jackets and workers caps suggests that service in the Great War was a social leveler. Dr. John Jonson comments follow:The Veteran’s Farewell portrays the mutual obligations of intergenerational responsibility, though, in this case, the relationship has been broadened from veteran-father and recruit-son to all veterans and all recruits. The Veteran’s Farewell was the eighth most reproduced poster in the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee series. The Veteran’s Farewell suggest that volunteers for Lord Kitchener’s “New Army” come from all social classes. At the same time, they remind the viewer of the sacrifices made by a previous generation, represented here by the Chelsea pensioner. The older man speaks directly to the “lad”—the later poster corrects the punctuation of the earlier one by adding an additional comma in recognition of the vocative. His quoted words make it clear that he would serve again if age did not prevent it. In short, the young men of the present not only have an obligation to serve their country but also to uphold the military tradition that has made it and its empire great. 30×20 near mint, conservation backed.
