Advertising the United States:

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“She’s American from Stem to Stern,” Commissioned by International Business Machines, 1951, Saturday Evening Post

Image courtesy of The Archives of Advertising, SS United States: A History in Advertising 1951-1968.

This ad for Alcoa Aluminum makes use of William James Aylward’s illustration of the SS United States, a rendering of the ship as it was still being built in Newport News! Aylward was an award-winning, American artist who started his career with the United States Army in World War I. After retiring from the army, he used the skills he developed at the Art Institute of Chicago to illustrate nautical themed advertisements and magazines. Not only does this ad market a ship that was American made right down to the aluminum, but even the artwork that represented the ship was made by American hands giving the phrase “she’s American from stem to stern” greater significance.

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