Closed for the duration
Poster with a large painted portrait of a man whose mouth is covered by two crossed strips of tape, under the headline 'Closed for the duration' and two yellow bands reading 'Loose talk can cost lives'. The sealed mouth is the instruction, and the stated cost in lives is a fear-appeal urging civilians to stay silent.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- British and American Ambulance Corps, Inc., artist Howard Scott
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- NGO
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Home front, Security and surveillance
- 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)
British and American Ambulance Corps, Inc.. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1304A (NAID 514911).
Text on the object
CLOSED FOR THE DURATION LOOSE TALK CAN COST LIVES [signature:] HOWARD SCOTT [imprint:] (c)1942 [imprint:] DISTRIBUTED IN THE INTEREST OF NATIONAL DEFENSE, AND AS A MEANS OF OBTAINING FUNDS FOR AMBULANCES WHEREVER NEEDED. BRITISH AND AMERICAN AMBULANCE CORPS, INC., 420 LEXINGTON AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY
