In this 1918 election advertisement, a brawny soldier ignores an elderly man in old-fashioned dress who is offering him a glass of water. The battle between those wanting prohibition of alcohol sales and breweries and hoteliers had been waged for over 40 years at this point. The ad urges voters to vote for ‘continuance’ of liquor licences in their area and contrasts young, hardy, straightforward masculinity with age and an almost feminine delicacy. The alternative was to vote in favour of a dry area, where alcohol was not sold – a form of prohibition, which (as the poster's caption suggests) was common in the United States.