The Garbage That Comes from Your Kitchen (Food Administration)
A text-only notice in a red-ruled frame tells households that kitchen garbage contains materials for nitro-glycerine, soaps and fertilizers, or feeds pigs, and asks them to keep it clean and exclude crockery and glass. Key words are picked out in red. The technique is transfer: war necessity is attached to a household chore.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1918
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- U.S. Food Administration
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Wilson Administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, War and the military
- Event
- World War I
- Regime
- Wilson administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 4 (U.S. Food Administration), World War I Posters (NAID 512439), retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- NARA Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision
U.S. Food Administration. National Archives and Records Administration, 4-P-79.
Text on the object
THE GARBAGE that comes from your Kitchen, even after you have eliminated all possible human food, contains materi- als needed in the manufac- ture of nitro-glycerine, soaps, fertilizers and other War Necessities or makes excel- lent food for Pigs. Do not place broken crockery, glass or other household wastes in the garbage pail. Keep the Garbage Clean and see that it is utilized. United States Food Administration [seal: United States Food Administration]
Words in red on the sheet: GARBAGE, Kitchen, nitro-glycerine, soaps, fertilizers, War Necessities, Pigs, Keep the Garbage Clean. Hyphenation follows the sheet.
