Don't be an amateur G-man!
Cartoon worker in overalls studies a lit-fuse bomb through a magnifying glass and says 'Gosh! Mebbe it's a bomb!'. Text tells workers to report anything suspicious quietly and promptly to the boss and have it checked by experts. The technique is faint; the figure is an everyday worker, a plain-folks device, and the joke is aimed at amateur sleuthing.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Cyrus C. Hungerford (copyright holder, Pittsburgh; issuer not named)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- 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)
Cyrus C. Hungerford. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-653 (NAID 514131).
Text on the object
DON'T BE AN AMATEUR G-MAN! GOSH! MEBBE IT'S A BOMB! [signature:] HUNGERFORD If something looks suspicious around the place, report it Quietly and Promptly to the Boss ...It may be important! Have it checked by EXPERTS...It's Safer!! You are a PRODUCTION SOLDIER... America's First Line of Defense is HERE [imprint:] Copyright 1941, Cyrus C. Hungerford, Pittsburgh, Pa.
