La Ménagère en guerre récupère : caoutchouc, métaux, os, matières grasses [The Housewife at War Salvages: rubber, metals, bones, fats]

A stylised smiling housewife is assembled from kitchen objects: a frying-pan head, stove-pipe arms, a hot-water bottle torso and a patchwork apron. The French text tells her to salvage rubber, metals, bones and fats and to consult her local committee. The tell is the ordinary domestic figure, which presents the chore as everyday homemaker work.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Plain folks

Date: 1939
Period: Second World War
Made by: Office national de récupération (National Salvage Office), Government of Canada; Minister J. T. Thorson; artist Clair Stewart
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, Economy and finance
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, expired; issued by the Government of Canada in 1939-1945)
Director of Public Information, Ottawa (Government of Canada). National Archives and Records Administration, WWII Foreign Posters.

Text on the object

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

CLAIR STEWART
LA MÉNAGÈRE EN GUERRE
RÉCUPÈRE:
CAOUTCHOUC · MÉTAUX · OS · MATIÈRES GRASSES
CONSULTEZ VOTRE COMITÉ LOCAL TEL.
PUBLIÉ PAR LE SERVICE DE L'INFORMATION POUR L'OFFICE NATIONAL DE RÉCUPÉRATION, AVEC L'AUTORISATION DE L'HON. J. T. THORSON, MINISTRE DES SERVICES NATIONAUX DE GUERRE. Imprimé au Canada

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

CLAIR STEWART
THE HOUSEWIFE AT WAR
SALVAGES:
RUBBER · METALS · BONES · FATS
CONSULT YOUR LOCAL COMMITTEE TEL.
PUBLISHED BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE FOR THE NATIONAL SALVAGE OFFICE, WITH THE AUTHORITY OF THE HON. J. T. THORSON, MINISTER OF NATIONAL WAR SERVICES. Printed in Canada