<P> "We Can Do It!" is an American wartime propaganda poster produced by J. Howard Miller in 1943 for Westinghouse Electric as an inspirational image to boost worker morale . </P> <P> The poster was very little seen during World War II . It was rediscovered in the early 1980s and widely reproduced in many forms, often called "We Can Do It!" but also called "Rosie the Riveter" after the iconic figure of a strong female war production worker . The "We Can Do It!" image was used to promote feminism and other political issues beginning in the 1980s . The image made the cover of the Smithsonian magazine in 1994 and was fashioned into a US first - class mail stamp in 1999 . It was incorporated in 2008 into campaign materials for several American politicians, and was reworked by an artist in 2010 to celebrate the first woman becoming prime minister of Australia . The poster is one of the ten most - requested images at the National Archives and Records Administration . </P> <P> After its rediscovery, observers often assumed that the image was always used as a call to inspire women workers to join the war effort . However, during the war the image was strictly internal to Westinghouse, displayed only during February 1943, and was not for recruitment but to exhort already - hired women to work harder . Feminists and others have seized upon the uplifting attitude and apparent message to remake the image into many different forms, including self empowerment, campaign promotion, advertising, and parodies . </P>

Where did the we can do it poster come from