Americans Suffer When Careless Talk Kills!
A grey-haired man in overalls holds a weeping woman in an apron, who clutches a yellow Western Union telegram, with a blue-star service flag on the wall behind them. The headline 'Americans suffer when careless talk kills!' links the telegram to loose talk, a fear-appeal to civilians about speech and military losses.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. government home-front campaign (Government Printing Office imprint; artist Harry Anderson)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Home front, Security and surveillance
- 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)
U.S. government. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-355 (NAID 513805).
Text on the object
AMERICANS SUFFER when careless talk kills! [illegible: Western Union telegram text, only 'WESTERN' and 'UNION' legible] [signature: Harry Anderson] [imprint: U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943-O-558552]
