Closed: Public Notice for Violation of the Rules of the United States Food Administration
A blank form notice reading 'CLOSED / Public Notice' around a shield-and-wheat seal, to be filled in with the number of days and the dates in 1918 on which a business is shut for breaking Food Administration rules. It addresses the public, and by display the trader, rather than urging anyone to anything. The tell is the penalty itself, shown as a posted sanction that warns other businesses of the consequence of non-compliance.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1918
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- U.S. Food Administration, Enforcement Division
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Wilson Administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, Economy and finance
- Event
- World War I
- Regime
- Wilson administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 4 (U.S. Food Administration), World War I Posters (NAID 512439), retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- NARA Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision
U.S. Food Administration, Enforcement Division. National Archives and Records Administration, 4-P-278.
Text on the object
CLOSED Public Notice For Violation of the Rules of the United States Food Administration This Place of Business is Closed for ______________ Days From ______________, 1918 to ______________, 1918 UNITED STATES FOOD ADMINISTRATION Enforcement Division
Blank lines are the spaces to be filled in by hand. The circular seal between 'Public' and 'Notice' shows a striped shield within wheat ears and carries no legible text.
