Don't let me down: Nations fall when workers stall
Company-sponsored plant poster: a close-up colour portrait of a young sailor in a cap marked U.S. NAVY looks at the viewer, with 'Don't let me down' in large red letters. A green panel below carries the slogan 'Nations Fall When Workers Stall', labelled an employee prize-winning slogan. The sailor speaks to the worker in the first person, a testimonial-style appeal to attendance and output.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Albert H. Weinbrenner Co. (Milwaukee), with Mandel Engraving Co. & Art Studios
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Corporation
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, Labor
- 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)
Albert H. Weinbrenner Co. (Milwaukee), with Mandel Engraving Co. & Art Studios. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-675 (NAID 514154).
Text on the object
DON'T LET ME DOWN [on cap:] U.S. NAVY Nations Fall When Workers Stall EMPLOYEE PRIZE WINNING SLOGAN ALBERT H. WEINBRENNER CO. MILWAUKEE * MARSHFIEL[illegible] * [illegible]L * ANTIGO [imprint:] COPYRIGHT, 1942, MANDEL ENGRAVING CO. & ART STUDIOS, INC., MILWAUKEE, WIS. [imprint:] LITHO IN U. S. OF A.
