---
title: A rumor, like the seeds we sow, will grow and grow and grow. Don't be a blabbermouth
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/a-rumor-grow-and-grow-1941/
description: 'Yellow security poster: the words ''I HEARD'' repeat in shrinking perspective beside a column of aircraft, all rising from a circle in which a soldier'
section: Collection
---

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3. A rumor, like the seeds we sow, will grow and grow and grow. Don't be

[![A rumor, like the seeds we sow, will grow and grow and grow. Don't be a blabbermouth, 1941 US poster: Yellow security poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/a-rumor-grow-and-grow-1941.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/a-rumor-grow-and-grow-1941.jpg)

# A rumor, like the seeds we sow, will grow and grow and grow. Don't be a blabbermouth

Yellow security poster: the words 'I HEARD' repeat in shrinking perspective beside a column of aircraft, all rising from a circle in which a soldier at a desk talks into a telephone, with 'blab-blab' and 'six engines' lines and a pin-up in his thought bubble. The label is name-calling ('Don't be a blabbermouth'); the repetition shows a rumour growing.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/)

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
I HEARD
I HEARD
I HEARD
I HEARD
I HEARD
BLAB-BLAB-BLAB
LEAVING-TONIGHT
BLAB-BLAB
SIX-ENGINES
A rumor, like the seeds we sow,
will grow and grow and grow.
DON'T BE A BLABBERMOUTH
KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN AND YOUR MOUTH SHUT!
[imprint: PRODUCTION OF OCASC -INTELLIGENCE SECTION-]
[signature: illegible emblem at upper left]
```

[← A national emergency is upon us - Arise America before it is too late!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/a-national-emergency-is-upon-us-1941/) ['A stitch in time saves coupons' (British Board of Trade clothes-rationing poster) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/a-stitch-in-time-saves-coupons-1941/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- [Behistun (Bisotun) rock relief and trilingual inscription of Darius I: the king, two attendants and the bound rebel leaders beneath the winged figure of Ahuramazda](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/behistun-relief-darius-and-rebels-521bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Card stacking, Name-calling, Testimonial). Content note: Shows bound captives before the king, and the inscription records the mutilation and public execution of rebel leaders, as the king's own account.
- [Passional Christi und Antichristi: the emperor kisses the pope's foot (leaf 'Antichristus')](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/passional-christi-antichristi-emperor-kisses-pope-1521/) (Electoral Saxony · 1521 · Name-calling, Card stacking)
- [Anacoana fut pendue sans raison (engraving in Le miroir de la cruelle et horrible tyrannie espagnole)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/anacoana-hanged-miroir-tyrannie-espagnole-1620/) (Dutch Republic · 1620 · Fear appeal, Name-calling). Content note: Engraving of a hanged, bare-breasted Taino woman, burning huts and people being killed by Spanish soldiers.
- [Ondersoeckt de Geesten, ofse van den Duyvel syn, of niet (the De Witt brothers as devils)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ondersoeckt-de-geesten-de-witt-devils-1672/) (Dutch Republic · 1672 · Scapegoating, Name-calling)
- [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (Great Britain · 1746 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [The North Briton, No. XLV, 23 April 1763 (John Wilkes), opening page](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/north-briton-no-45-wilkes-1763/) (Kingdom of Great Britain · Apr 23, 1763 · Name-calling)
- [The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/revere-bloody-massacre-king-street-1770/) (Province of Massachusetts Bay · Mar 1770 · Name-calling, Card stacking). Content note: Hand-coloured engraving of bloodied dead and wounded colonists after soldiers fired on a crowd.
- [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (France · 1791 · Name-calling, Transfer)