---
title: Better than a Wreath
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/berryman-better-than-a-wreath-1943/
description: A man labelled 'Gus Fan', hat in hand, speaks to a grave marker topped with a helmet and inscribed 'Former U.S. Athlete.
section: Collection
---

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2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)
3. Better than a Wreath

**Content note:** A cartoon showing a grave marker topped with a helmet and inscribed as a former U.S. athlete killed in action in 1943, with a civilian addressing it about buying war bonds. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

[![Better than a Wreath, 1943 US cartoon: A man labelled 'Gus Fan', hat in hand, speaks to a grave marker topped with a helmet](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/berryman-better-than-a-wreath-1943.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/berryman-better-than-a-wreath-1943.jpg)

# Better than a Wreath

A man labelled 'Gus Fan', hat in hand, speaks to a grave marker topped with a helmet and inscribed 'Former U.S. Athlete, Killed in Action' with a 1943 date, saying that the most he can put into bonds is the least he can do and that he will see the team has the best equipment. The tell is transfer: a fallen soldier's sacrifice is attached to the purchase of war bonds.

## Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

[Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)

## Text on the object

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

```
FORMER U.S. ATHLETE KILLED in ACTION ...19, 1943
AFTER WHAT YOU PUT INTO THIS GAME, BUDDY, THE MOST I CAN PUT INTO BONDS IS THE LEAST I CAN DO! IT'S UP TO ME PERSONALLY TO SEE THAT YOUR TEAM HAS THE BEST EQUIPMENT IN THE WORLD !
GUS FAN
JIM BERRYMAN
```

[← Aufruf / Zaklyk: call to join the SS-Schützendivision Galizien (Sanok)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/aufruf-zaklik-ss-galizien-sanok-1943/) [Poster 'Nippon Mengoeasai Laoetan' (Japan controls the seas), Djawa Baroe, Java (1 June 1943) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nippon-mengoeasai-laoetan-djawa-baroe-1943/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- [Fragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouches](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/abydos-king-list-ramesses-ii-temple-british-museum/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer)
- [Clay cylinder with the Ehulhul inscription of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, describing work on three temples](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cylinder-nabonidus-ehulhul-inscription-555bce/) (Neo Babylonian Empire · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Seated limestone statue of Hatshepsut as king, with feminine royal titles on the throne, reassembled from fragments broken up at Deir el-Bahri](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hatshepsut-seated-statue-limestone-met-1458bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer, Testimonial)
- [Glazed-brick panel with a striding lion, from Babylon (reign of Nebuchadnezzar II)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ishtar-gate-panel-striding-lion-nebuchadnezzar-ii-604bce/) (Neo Babylonian Empire · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Limestone relief block of Ramesses II wearing the White Crown, a jubilee relief from his temple at Herakleopolis](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jubilee-relief-ramesses-ii-herakleopolis-met-05-4-256/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Line drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of Egypt](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kadesh-relief-ramesseum-breasted-drawing-1275bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer). Content note: A drawing of an Egyptian royal battle relief showing Hittite soldiers and horses killed and drowned, as the king's monument presented the battle; it is a one-sided image made by the winning side's own account.
- [Gypsum alabaster slab inscribed in cuneiform, from Nimrud (Kalhu), reign of Ashurnasirpal II](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nimrud-slab-ashurnasirpal-ii-inscription-883bce/) (Neo Assyrian Empire · 0000 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Egyptian alabaster jar inscribed with the name of Xerxes the Great in four languages (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian, Egyptian), 486 to 466 BCE](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/xerxes-jar-four-languages-486bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Transfer)