"Blackout Means Black" (WPA, Oakland Defense Council, 1941-1943)
A downward black arrow points at the word 'BLACK' in heavy type beneath the words 'Blackout means', in a scalloped frame. The tell: the instruction repeats its own key word until the word becomes the picture.
Issued by the Oakland Defense Council and printed by the Oakland WPA Art Program, this poster dates from 1941 at the earliest, with the Library of Congress giving a range of 1941 to 1943. It addresses the domestic public with a wartime warning: a downward black arrow points at the word "BLACK" in heavy type, beneath "BLACKOUT" and "means", inside a scalloped frame. Repetition is the technique, because the instruction restates its own key word until the word itself becomes the picture and the rule is easy to remember.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Oakland Defense Council, printed by the Oakland WPA Art Program
Full record
Region, Country, Medium, Issuer type, Regime, Leader, Audience, Purpose, Themes, Event, Source, Rights
- 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
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, retrieved October 10, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. federal WPA work); LoC: no known restrictions on publication
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LCCN 98518239. "Blackout Means Black" (WPA, Oakland Defense Council, 1941-1943)
Text on the object
Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked
BLACKOUT means BLACK [ISSUED BY THE OAKLAND DEFENSE COUNCIL: small print]
The credit line is small and is partly taken from LoC's note; it is the only part not read directly from the image.
