---
title: 'Christmas propaganda posters: war bonds, Santa and mail-early appeals'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/christmas-propaganda-posters/
description: 'Christmas propaganda posters from 1914 to 1951: war bond gifts, Santa in a steel helmet, mail-early notices and enemy-side leaflets, tagged by technique.'
section: FRAME
---

![Illustration: a dossier collage of an evidence wall of pinned propaganda posters, leaflets and printed matter from many eras, with contact sheets and catalog labels.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/hero-collection.jpg)

Collection

# Christmas propaganda posters: war bonds, Santa and mail-early appeals

Christmas propaganda posters from 1914 to 1951: war bond gifts, Santa in a steel helmet, mail-early notices and enemy-side leaflets, tagged by technique.

1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/)
2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)
3. Christmas propaganda posters

[!['Frohe Weihnachten und glückliches Neujahr' Austro-Hungarian Christmas postcard (1914)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/frohe-weihnachten-kriegsjahr-postcard-1914.jpg)'Frohe Weihnachten und glückliches Neujahr' Austro-Hungarian Christmas postcard (1914)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/frohe-weihnachten-kriegsjahr-postcard-1914/) [![A Merry Christmas: Peace, Your Gift to the Nation](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/peace-your-gift-to-the-nation-a-merry-christmas-1918-640.jpg)A Merry Christmas: Peace, Your Gift to the Nation](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/peace-your-gift-to-the-nation-a-merry-christmas-1918/) [![A Christmas Carol](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/a-christmas-carol-uncle-sam-carolers-640.jpg)A Christmas Carol](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/a-christmas-carol-uncle-sam-carolers/) [![Give war bonds: the present with a future](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/give-war-bonds-present-with-a-future-1943-640.jpg)Give war bonds: the present with a future](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/give-war-bonds-present-with-a-future-1943/) [![Christmas Mailing Time: packages for our armed forces overseas](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/christmas-mailing-time-armed-forces-1944-640.jpg)Christmas Mailing Time: packages for our armed forces overseas](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/christmas-mailing-time-armed-forces-1944/) [!["Mr. Moneybags is in Florida this Christmas" leaflet, Korean War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/cpv-moneybags-christmas-leaflet-1951.jpg)"Mr. Moneybags is in Florida this Christmas" leaflet, Korean War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cpv-moneybags-christmas-leaflet-1951/)

> **Content note.** One British-held sheet here, "German Christmas in Jugoslavia", pairs a Christmas headline with a photograph of five hanged men. It is shown as held, with no date, place or source for the photograph on the sheet. Showing an item is not endorsing it.

[What are Christmas propaganda posters?](https://propagandaarchive.org/christmas-propaganda-posters/#what-are-christmas-propaganda-posters) [War bonds as Christmas gifts](https://propagandaarchive.org/christmas-propaganda-posters/#war-bonds-as-christmas-gifts) [Santa Claus in uniform](https://propagandaarchive.org/christmas-propaganda-posters/#santa-claus-in-uniform) [Mail early, and troops at Christmas](https://propagandaarchive.org/christmas-propaganda-posters/#mail-early-and-troops-at-christmas) [Christmas as an accusation](https://propagandaarchive.org/christmas-propaganda-posters/#christmas-as-an-accusation) [What the collection does not hold](https://propagandaarchive.org/christmas-propaganda-posters/#what-the-collection-does-not-hold)

## What are Christmas propaganda posters?

Christmas propaganda posters are wartime posters, leaflets and cards that use the holiday to ask for something: buy war bonds, mail parcels early, avoid accidents, stay at work, or see the other side's leaders as the cause of the war. The collection holds 21 such items from 1914 to 1951, from the United States, Canada, Austria-Hungary, Germany, the United Kingdom and a Communist leaflet from the Korean War. Most were made in the United States in 1943 and 1944.

![Treasury poster, 1943: a Christmas tree hung with savings bonds and war savings stamps beside wrapped gifts, under the line The Present with a Future](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/give-war-bonds-present-with-a-future-1943.jpg)

## War bonds as Christmas gifts

The U.S. Treasury's War Finance Division, with the Office of War Information, asked the public to give bonds in place of presents. "Give War Bonds for Christmas" appears in two text-led versions framed by holly, and "The Present with a Future" hangs bonds on a tree. A 1944 sheet joins the cracked Liberty Bell to Christmas bells under "For Liberty and Peace on Earth Give War Bonds". The tag in each is [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/): the warmth of giving is attached to a purchase. A Canadian War Savings Stamp booklet leaf of December 1944 does the same with stamps as "patriotic Christmas gifts".

![Army and Navy Postal Services poster, 1945: a cartoon Santa Claus in a steel helmet holds a parcel addressed to a private](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/christmas-overseas-gifts-1945.jpg)

## Santa Claus in uniform

Santa appears in a steel helmet on a 1945 postal poster and on an Office of War Information cartoon by Charles Alston. A 1944 Navy safety poster has him hand a baby marked 1945 a book of safety rules, set against the line about spending Christmas in a hospital ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)). In 1918 an unattributed sheet places Santa behind Uncle Sam and a soldier, with "Peace" as the nation's Christmas gift. Alston's "A Pledge and a Prayer" (1943) shows a Black soldier looking at a star, and NARA notes it was apparently meant for the Black press.

## Mail early, and troops at Christmas

The Army Postal Service posters of 1943 and 1944 give a mailing window of 15 September to 15 October and rules for weight, size and address. The 1943 sheet uses a sample name, "Pvt. Frank Doe", in the manner of [Plain folks](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/plain-folks/). A 1914 Austro-Hungarian postcard shows five soldiers around a candlelit tree in the snow. A 1917 Red Cross poster asks for ten million new members by Christmas ([Bandwagon](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/bandwagon/)).

## Christmas as an accusation

![Leaflet from the Korean War, about December 1951: cocktail drinkers at a poolside above soldiers in a snowy trench](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/cpv-moneybags-christmas-leaflet-1951.jpg)

A leaflet held by the Truman Library, catalogued about December 1951 and attributed to Communist forces, sets "Mr. Moneybags is in Florida this Christmas" against "Where are you? In Korea!" ([Scapegoating](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/scapegoating/), [Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/)). Its issuer is not named on the sheet. The British-held "German Christmas in Jugoslavia" uses a sarcastic headline over an execution image ([Outrage bait](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/outrage-bait/)). In Berlin in 1935 a photograph shows Winterhilfswerk Christmas parcels packed under a swastika flag.

## What the collection does not hold

- **Not here:** Christmas truce items from 1914, which are mostly letters and photographs and not posters.
- **Not here:** Japanese, Soviet and Italian Christmas or New Year posters of the war years, and German bond or parcel posters of 1939 to 1945.
- **Not here:** Christmas cards issued by governments or forces, apart from the 1914 postcard.

Sources and further reading

## Sources

U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (Record Group 44 and related series); Harry S.

U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (Record Group 44 and related series); Harry S. Truman Library; Library of Congress. Each item in the grid carries its own source, date basis and rights note.

## Christmas propaganda posters in the collection

Showing 21 of 21 objects. [Filter the whole collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/).

- ['Frohe Weihnachten und glückliches Neujahr' Austro-Hungarian Christmas postcard (1914)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/frohe-weihnachten-kriegsjahr-postcard-1914/) (Austria Hungary · 1914 · Plain folks)
- [Ten Million New Members by Christmas - Join the Red Cross](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ten-million-new-members-red-cross-us-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Bandwagon, Transfer)
- [The Greatest Mother in the World: Red Cross Christmas Roll Call](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/greatest-mother-in-the-world-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Transfer)
- [A Merry Christmas. Peace. Your Gift to the Nation](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/merry-christmas-peace-your-gift-to-the-nation-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [A Merry Christmas: Peace, Your Gift to the Nation](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/peace-your-gift-to-the-nation-a-merry-christmas-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Glittering generalities, Transfer)
- [Weihnachtspakete für das W.H.W. (NSV packing parcels, Berlin)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/whw-weihnachtspakete-berlin-1935/) (Nazi Germany · Dec 1935 · Transfer). Content note: Photograph of Winterhilfswerk parcel packing in a room hung with a large swastika flag, 1935.
- ['Twas the Day After Christmas...](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/canada-twas-the-day-after-christmas-absenteeism-1939/) (Canada · 1939 · Fear appeal)
- [German Christmas in Jugoslavia](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-german-christmas-in-jugoslavia-1939/) (United Kingdom · 1939 · Outrage bait). Content note: Shows a photographic montage of five men hanged from a gallows frame, captioned 'German Christmas in Jugoslavia', as printed.
- [A Christmas Carol](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/a-christmas-carol-uncle-sam-carolers/) (United States · 1941 · Transfer, Bandwagon)
- [Christmas mailing time for soldiers overseas](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/christmas-mailing-time-soldiers-overseas-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Plain folks)
- [Give war bonds for Christmas](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/give-war-bonds-for-christmas-holly-wfd-862-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Transfer)
- [Give war bonds for Christmas](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/give-war-bonds-for-christmas-owi-wfd-861-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Give war bonds: the present with a future](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/give-war-bonds-present-with-a-future-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [The Best Present for the Best Future!!!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/us-owi-alston-best-present-best-future-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Transfer, Bandwagon)
- [A Pledge and a Prayer](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/us-owi-alston-pledge-and-a-prayer-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Glittering generalities, Transfer)
- [The 25 Club \[5\]](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/canada-25-club-christmas-gifts-december-1944/) (Canada · 1944 · Transfer)
- [Christmas Mailing Time: packages for our armed forces overseas](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/christmas-mailing-time-armed-forces-1944/) (United States · 1944 · Transfer)
- [For Liberty and Peace on Earth Give War Bonds](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/for-liberty-and-peace-on-earth-war-bonds-1944/) (United States · 1944 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Let's spend Christmas and New Year's this way! And not in a hospital!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/lets-spend-christmas-this-way-navy-safety-1944/) (United States · 1944 · Fear appeal, Transfer)
- [Christmas overseas gifts](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/christmas-overseas-gifts-1945/) (United States · 1945 · Transfer)
- ["Mr. Moneybags is in Florida this Christmas" leaflet, Korean War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cpv-moneybags-christmas-leaflet-1951/) (China · 1951 · Scapegoating, Card stacking)

## Related guides and pages

- [American propaganda posters: US examples by technique](https://propagandaarchive.org/american-propaganda-posters/)
- [Uncle Sam posters: the I Want You poster and what else he was used for](https://propagandaarchive.org/american-propaganda-posters/uncle-sam-poster/)
- [Women's suffrage posters and cartoons, 1880 to 1923](https://propagandaarchive.org/womens-suffrage-posters/)
- [WPA posters: New Deal and wartime posters, 1936 to 1943](https://propagandaarchive.org/wpa-posters/)
- [Civil War propaganda: 1860 and 1864 election prints](https://propagandaarchive.org/civil-war-propaganda/)
- [Presidential campaign posters: US banners and prints, 1840 to 1900](https://propagandaarchive.org/presidential-campaign-posters/)
- [Spanish-American War propaganda: yellow press, Maine and cartoons](https://propagandaarchive.org/spanish-american-war-propaganda/)
- [Victory garden posters: WWI war gardens, WWII victory gardens, Dig for Victory](https://propagandaarchive.org/victory-garden-posters/)
- [Red Cross posters: WW1 and WW2 fundraising, nursing and blood donor appeals](https://propagandaarchive.org/red-cross-posters/)
- [Space race propaganda: Sputnik cartoons and US space posters, 1957 to 1969](https://propagandaarchive.org/space-race-propaganda/)
- [All guides](https://propagandaarchive.org/guides/)