Clear the tracks for war shipments. Buy coal now!
Coal-buying poster: a long train of army trucks on flatcars runs down a track toward a signal, with 'Clear the tracks for war shipments' and 'Buy coal now!'. It links an everyday purchase (early coal buying) to the movement of military freight, presenting one reason for the request and leaving other considerations unstated.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Bituminous Coal Consumers' Counsel (with Division of Information, Office for Emergency Management)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, Economy and finance
- 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. Bituminous Coal Consumers' Counsel. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-11 (NAID 513507).
Text on the object
Clear the tracks FOR WAR SHIPMENTS BUY COAL NOW! [imprint: DIVISION OF INFORMATION OFFICE FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT WASHINGTON, D.C.] [imprint: U. S. Bituminous Coal Consumers' Counsel - Washington, D.C.]
