After the War - You May be Down but You Needn't be Out (War Savings Certificates)

An RAF-marked twin-engine aircraft lands near hangars above a stooped, cigarette-smoking man in a coat beside a wire fence, with 'You may be down But you needn't be OUT' between them. The tell is the pairing of a landing aircraft with a downcast civilian, offering one remedy (a savings backlog) against post-war hardship.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Fear appeal

Date

1939

Period

Second World War

Made by

War Savings Certificates campaign (issuer and artist not printed; Canada inferred)

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

Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure

Source

U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026

Rights

Held by NARA, Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision (Canadian wartime poster, issuer imprint not fully shown)
Artist 'Ricky' (RCAF); War Savings Certificates campaign, Canada. National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-738.

AFTER THE WAR-
You may be down
But you needn't be
OUT
PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST POST-WAR LET-DOWN
BY BUILDING UP A SAVINGS BACKLOG THROUGH
War Savings Certificates