Poster Help Needed

[cameldriver]

I recently purchased a poster in need of restoration. It states "Mechanics urgently needed for the Imperial Royal Flying Corp(s)". However, the restorer believes that "Corps" is spelled "Corp" based upon the amount of room available and the font of the remaining letters. I have never seen it appear that way. The background of the poster is orange and has a drawing of a British plane shooting down a German one in flames. If anyone has seen this poster or has a picture of it and can let me know how Corp(s) is spelled on it, I would be very appreciative.

[Jim]

At the Hoover Political Institute at Stanford University, Hoover Political Poster Database their library has the following reference:


HOOVER POLITICAL POSTER DATABASE

Poster Details

Poster ID: UK 718
Issuing Agency: Great Britain. Army. Publicity Department
Country: Great Britain
Artist: Sampson,
Text Transcription: Skilled mechanics urgently needed, Imperial Royal Flying Corps. ...
Date of Publication: 1914-1918?
Publisher: Slone, Ltd.
Color or B&W: Color
Width: 25 inches
Length: 35 inches
Description: Drawing of an air battle.


And, at the University of Montreal, in their library they have a collection of war posters that includes the following reference. If you go to their website and search for this poster there is an image of it. It appears in that image that their poster may be cut down on the right side, but you can still see a bit of the 's' What is missing is whether there was a period ' . ' after the 's' that you see in some other posters of the era.

Titre: Skilled mechanics urgently needed : Imperial Royal Flying Corps
Titre traduit: Mécaniciens de talent demandés d'urgence: Imperial Royal Flying Corps
Pays d'origine: Canada

Période: Première Guerre Mondiale

Thème(s): Aviation et Guerre aérienne Recrutement

Identificateurs: Grande-Bretagne. Imperial Royal Flying Corps

Artiste(s): Sampson

Date: 1915; 1916; 1917; 1918
Notes: L'Imperial Royal Flying Corps permettait aux Canadiens de se joindre au Royal Flying Corps britannique. Texte coupé à droite de l'affiche

My suggestion is to contact both libraries and talk to one of the reference librarians to see if they would be so kind as to look at their example of this poster in their library collection and tell you what they see regarding what is on the right hand side of the poster. Clearly there is an 's', but is there a period after it. Also, if your poster is badly damaged they may be able to help you fill in other missing parts.

[cameldriver]

Jim
Many thanks. I will follow up on your suggestion.
Bob

[cameldriver]

Jim
I found the University of Montreal's website, but could not find links to the poster. Can you provide further guidance?
Thanks

[charles]

Not the same posters as yours but you can see that they are spelling it "corps."

[Jim]

Originally Posted by cameldriver

Jim
I found the University of Montreal's website, but could not find links to the poster. Can you provide further guidance?
Thanks

Sure thing. Here you go: Skilled mechanics Poster

[cameldriver]

Thanks again. It's clear that the s is there. Too bad that it's cut off on that side, but it should be enough to help the restorer. It's a pretty cool poster.

[Thomas Trauner]

A pretty cool poster, indeed.
But also a good example you cannot trust every contemporary source. Look at the roundels of the RFC plane……

Thomas

[cameldriver]

You're right. Maybe they were paying tribute to their French allies.

[Jim]

When buying old posters condition is exceptionally important to commercial value and unfortunately there are too many unscrupulous people out there who do things like slice damaged pieces off of posters to make them appear to be less damaged than they actually are to get a better price. Still, if you go in with your eyes open you can save a bundle by buying such 'condition challenged' posters and have a very nice looking poster for a fraction of what one in original mint or near mint condition would cost.