---
title: Careless matches aid the Axis
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/careless-matches-aid-the-axis-forest-service-1942/
description: 'Forest-fire prevention poster: a grinning caricature of a Japanese soldier, in a cap with a star, with exaggerated teeth and round glasses.'
section: Collection
---

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2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)
3. Careless matches aid the Axis

**Content note:** Shows a racial caricature of a Japanese soldier (exaggerated teeth, round glasses), printed as issued in 1942. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

[![Careless matches aid the Axis, 1942 US poster: Forest-fire prevention poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/careless-matches-aid-the-axis-forest-service-1942.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/careless-matches-aid-the-axis-forest-service-1942.jpg)

# Careless matches aid the Axis

Forest-fire prevention poster: a grinning caricature of a Japanese soldier, in a cap with a star, with exaggerated teeth and round glasses, lights a match before an orange background of burning trees. The headline links a careless match to the enemy, pasting the hated figure onto an everyday habit.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/) [Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)

## Text on the object

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

```
careless matches aid the Axis
PREVENT FOREST FIRES!
[imprint:] FOREST SERVICE U S DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
[imprint:] U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1942—O—466268
```

[← Zipped Lips (Canadian careless-talk poster, no printed title)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/canada-zipped-lips-1942/) [Carelessness is costly →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/carelessness-is-costly-wpa-compensation-commission-1942/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- [Fragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouches](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/abydos-king-list-ramesses-ii-temple-british-museum/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer)
- [Clay cylinder with the Ehulhul inscription of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, describing work on three temples](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cylinder-nabonidus-ehulhul-inscription-555bce/) (Neo Babylonian Empire · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Seated limestone statue of Hatshepsut as king, with feminine royal titles on the throne, reassembled from fragments broken up at Deir el-Bahri](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hatshepsut-seated-statue-limestone-met-1458bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer, Testimonial)
- [Glazed-brick panel with a striding lion, from Babylon (reign of Nebuchadnezzar II)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ishtar-gate-panel-striding-lion-nebuchadnezzar-ii-604bce/) (Neo Babylonian Empire · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Limestone relief block of Ramesses II wearing the White Crown, a jubilee relief from his temple at Herakleopolis](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jubilee-relief-ramesses-ii-herakleopolis-met-05-4-256/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Line drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of Egypt](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kadesh-relief-ramesseum-breasted-drawing-1275bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer). Content note: A drawing of an Egyptian royal battle relief showing Hittite soldiers and horses killed and drowned, as the king's monument presented the battle; it is a one-sided image made by the winning side's own account.
- [Gypsum alabaster slab inscribed in cuneiform, from Nimrud (Kalhu), reign of Ashurnasirpal II](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nimrud-slab-ashurnasirpal-ii-inscription-883bce/) (Neo Assyrian Empire · 0000 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Egyptian alabaster jar inscribed with the name of Xerxes the Great in four languages (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian, Egyptian), 486 to 466 BCE](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/xerxes-jar-four-languages-486bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Transfer)