Don't feed rats
Public-health poster: rats gnaw at an overflowing, torn-open garbage can beside a house wall, with scraps and spills on the ground. The headline tells householders not to feed rats, and a small black rat badge reads 'Combat the rat'. The tell is a fear-appeal built on a dark, crowded image of vermin at the home's door.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1944
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Public Health Service, Federal Security Agency (artist Robbins)
- 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
- Health, 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. Public Health Service, Federal Security Agency. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-662 (NAID 514141).
Text on the object
DON'T FEED RATS COMBAT THE RAT [signature:] Robbins [imprint:] Federal Security Agency U. S. PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE CHP No. 4 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. [imprint:] ☆ U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1944—O-574673
