Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Sounds Like the Line I fell for Ten Years Ago, 1955 US cartoon: Uncle Sam, dressed as a blacksmith in a star-patterned vest

Sounds Like the Line I fell for Ten Years Ago

Uncle Sam, dressed as a blacksmith in a star-patterned vest, hammers a sword labelled 'For defense of free world' on an anvil while reading a sheet headed 'Russia calls for halt in international arms race'. The cartoon argues that the Soviet proposal should not be trusted, using the sword and the phrase 'free world' as its framing; the technique is glittering generalities, a weak fit as the main work is done by the caption and the title.

Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

Glittering generalities
Date
February 20, 1955
Period
Cold War
Made by
Washington Evening Star (cartoonist Jim Berryman)
Region
North America
Country
United States
Medium
Cartoon
Issuer type
Media
Regime
Eisenhower Administration
Leader
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Persuade or win support
Themes
War and the military, Security and surveillance
Event
Cold War Arms Race
Source
Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source
U.S. National Archives, Records of the U.S. Senate, Jim Berryman Political Cartoons (NAID 5730852), retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights
Public domain (U.S. government work)
Jim Berryman, Washington Evening Star. National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the U.S. Senate, 5743199 (NAID 5743199).

Text on the object

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

RUSSIA CALLS FOR HALT IN INTERNATIONAL ARMS RACE

FOR-DEFENSE-OF-FREE WORLD

JIM BERRYMAN WASHINGTON STAR

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