Careless talk got there first
A U.S. Marine in camouflage uniform and helmet crouches under a rifle on a storm-lashed beach with a palm tree behind him, under the words 'Careless Talk Got there First'. The line says an enemy was ready for the landing because someone spoke; the technique is a fear-appeal built on an unnamed incident.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1944
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. government home-front security campaign (artist: Ray Prohaska)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- War and the military, Security and surveillance, Home front
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- 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 Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
U.S. government home-front security campaign. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-130 (NAID 513578).
Text on the object
CARELESS TALK Got there First [signature:] Ray Prohaska [imprint:] U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1944-O-576497
