July 1948

Astounding Science Fiction, “Astounding Science Fiction, July 1948,” Drew University Library Special Collections

This advertisement was featured in the July 1948 edition of Astounding Science Fiction. Printed in black and white ink this ad is targeting a very specific group of people. In this advertisement, the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force were looking for recruits, who were men between the ages of 17 and 34. The advertisement features half of a page of text describing the type of people they want to enlist, as well as the benefits to try and persuade people to do so, with the other half being taken up by a drawing of a man who is in the army. The advertisement uses gendered language, which is targeted at men, describing the desired combat soldier as “husky and alert”. By taking up the entire page, featuring a man in uniform and holding a gun, the ad has created an image for the type of person this ad is for. Though it may seem strange at first for this to be an advertisement in a science fiction magazine, this edition was published at a time between wars, three years after the end of World War II and two years before the Korean War, and thoughts of war were not too far gone. It also demonstrates to us that the expected audience of this magazine by the advertiser would likely include young men, as it is who the ad is specifically targeting. “He has to be all man because he has a great job!”