America can't hitch-hike to victory! 20,000,000 cars are essential
Car-conservation poster: a worker in cap, jacket and gloves with a lunch pail thumbs a ride beneath the headline 'America can't hitch-hike to victory!'. A banner reads '20,000,000 cars are essential!' and an Office of Defense Transportation badge reads 'Keep 'em rolling'. An ordinary worker stands for the message (plain folks); the figure stresses cars' essential role and not the case for other travel.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Office of Defense Transportation; printed for Oldsmobile Division of General Motors
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, Economy and finance
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
Office of Defense Transportation and Oldsmobile Division of General Motors. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-346 (NAID 513796).
Text on the object
AMERICA CAN'T HITCH-HIKE TO VICTORY! 20,000,000 CARS ARE ESSENTIAL! ESSENTIAL TRANSPORTATION WORKER OFFICIALLY APPROVED ODT OFFICE OF DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION KEEP 'EM ROLLING -AND IT'S OUR JOB TO KEEP 'EM ROLLING [imprint:] OLDSMOBILE DIVISION OF GENERAL MOTORS
