Dig In and Dig Out the Scrap

A smiling woman in a cap and coat carries a bundle of papers, a saucepan and a kettle against a green ground, above a list of salvage materials: metals, rags, bones, paper, rubber, glass. The tell is plain-folks: an ordinary housewife-figure gathering household items presents scrap collection as a familiar domestic act, followed by the assertion that these are 'vital war needs'.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Plain folks

Date

1939

Period

Second World War

Made by

Public Information for the National Salvage Office, Ottawa, under authority of Hon. J. G. Gardiner, Minister of National War Services (Canada)

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

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 federal Crown copyright, 50 years from publication, expired)
Public Information for National Salvage Office, Ottawa (Canada), c. 1939-1945. National Archives and Records Administration, NAID 44267581.

DIG IN
and
DIG OUT the SCRAP

Save
METALS RAGS PAPER BONES RUBBER GLASS
THEY ARE VITAL WAR NEEDS
GET IN TOUCH WITH YOUR LOCAL COMMITTEE

ISSUED BY PUBLIC INFORMATION, FOR NATIONAL SALVAGE OFFICE, OTTAWA;
UNDER AUTHORITY OF HON. J. G. GARDINER, MINISTER OF NATIONAL WAR SERVICES.