You Don't Have to be a Math'matical Wizard to Figure out Your Position on This, 1939 Canada poster: A cartoon airman

You Don't Have to be a Math'matical Wizard to Figure out Your Position on This (War Savings Certificates)

A cartoon airman in flying gear scratches his head over a sum, then a second panel shows him holding up a War Savings Certificate while a penniless civilian shrugs with empty pockets: '$4 saved now makes $5 after the war'. The tell is the everyday service-man cartoon voice, with the stated return as the only figure given.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Plain folks

Date: 1939
Period: Second World War
Made by: Canadian War Savings Certificates campaign (issuer not printed); artist 'Ricky' (RCAF)
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-737.

Text on the object

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

You don't have to be a math'matical wizard
To figure out your position on this ...
($4 SAVED NOW MAKES $5 AFTER THE WAR--)
GET "A FIX" ON WAR SAVINGS CERTIFICATES
THEY MAY GET YOU OUT OF A FIX AFTER THE WAR-
COME IN ON A POST-WAR SAVINGS BACK-LOG - BUY ----
WAR SAVINGS CERTIFICATES
[signature:] Ricky RCAF