Forest fires aid the enemy: put your ashes in earth
A hand holds a pipe upside down while a boot grinds the ashes into leaf litter, under 'Forest Fires Aid the Enemy' and 'Put Your Ashes in Earth'. The headline links careless fires to the enemy without saying how, a fear-appeal that asks one specific act of the reader.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, with State Forest Service
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Theme
- 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. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1598 (NAID 515263).
Text on the object
Forest Fires Aid the Enemy Put Your Ashes IN EARTH U. S. DEPT. AGRICULTURE, FOREST SERVICE STATE FOREST SERVICE [imprint:] U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943--O-513708
