"Daddy Helps Build Them" To Protect Our Freedom

Two children look up and point at bombers marked with RAF-style roundels beneath the words 'Daddy helps build them', with 'To protect our freedom' in large type below. The tell is the worker-father seen through a child's eyes (plain folks) and the abstract word 'freedom' as the stated purpose of factory work (glittering generality).

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Plain folksGlittering generalities

Date

1939

Period

Second World War

Made by

Director-General of Aircraft Production, Canada; donated by British Aeroplane Engines Limited, Montreal

Region

North America

Country

Canada

Medium

Poster

Issuer type

State

Regime

Mackenzie King Government

Leader

William Lyon Mackenzie King

Audience

Domestic public

Purpose

Mobilize or secure compliance

Themes

Labor, Home front, War and the military

Event

World War II

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 Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026

Rights

Public domain (Canadian Crown copyright, 50 years from publication, expired; no URAA restoration)
Director-General of Aircraft Production, Canada, 1939-1945. U.S. National Archives (NAID 44267577).

"DADDY HELPS BUILD THEM"

TO PROTECT
OUR FREEDOM

Published and distributed under the authority and direction of the Director-General of Aircraft Production.
Donated to Canada's War Effort by British Aeroplane Engines Limited, Montreal.
LITHOGRAPHED IN CANADA