Don't: 1. Talk loosely to strangers 2. Spread rumors
Typographic security poster: a giant black DON'T fills the upper sheet, with two prohibitions in red and blue below, 'Talk loosely to strangers' and 'Spread rumors'. The sheet carries no image of a threat; the fear-appeal is faint and rests on the size of the word and the security framing alone.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- House of Seagram (Seagram-Distillers Corp., New York), artist Essargee
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Corporation
- 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)
House of Seagram (Seagram-Distillers Corp.). National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-649 (NAID 514127).
Text on the object
DON'T [signature:] ESSARGEE 1. TALK LOOSELY TO STRANGERS 2. SPREAD RUMORS THIS POSTER IS PUBLISHED BY THE HOUSE OF SEAGRAM AS PART OF ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE NATIONAL VICTORY EFFORT [imprint:] SEAGRAM-DISTILLERS CORP., N.Y.C. 1
