VintageGent’s Menswear Daily

Retro Wartime Posters at Cafepress

While tooling around on the internet, I realized I had forgotten all about Cafepress. How could I have done that? Everyone and his roommate’s girlfriend’s uncle’s first girlfriend’s dog sitter’s favorite television personality did up their own custom Cafepress t-shirts . In fact, I had tried my hand in it, too.  Since I haven’t been thinking of buying or making anything, it sort of slipped off the radar in my mind.  I remember the margin on paper products was slim, but now there are all sorts of  funny motivational and inspirational posters, as well as classic posters sold directly through Cafepress.

I was surprised by the selection of retro posters. There are movie posters, such as the Godfather poster, but I had seen those all before.  There is also a selection of retro images, such as posters from WWII.  Some look familar, but I am wondering if some were created with new artists in the old style.  There are so many images from the War that exist just as a couple copies of a poster, so it is not surprising if many are unfamilar. Either way, if you want to create a retro decor, they fit the bill.  Some are available in the typical Cafe Press format of poster, mini-poster and framed print.

Of course, always surf around to find original designs from individuals, but if you are looking for classic copyrighted images, Cafepress itself has a lot to offer now.

Speaking of poster, I was wondering where the word originated. The snippet on posters from Wikipedia states, “A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface.” Really? That would include wallpaper. However, Merriam-Webster also insists its “intended for public display.”  The word came into vogue during the 1830–40 period.