Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Give 'Em Both Barrels, 1941 US poster: A helmeted soldier fires a machine gun in dark silhouette, while above and behind him

Give 'Em Both Barrels

A helmeted soldier fires a machine gun in dark silhouette, while above and behind him a lighter, ghosted figure in a cap grips a machine tool in the same pose. The pairing of soldier and factory hand lends the soldier's combat role to production work, and the headline plays on the two barrels. The technique is faint here beyond that visual pairing.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1941
Period
Second World War
Made by
Division of Information, Office for Emergency Management (artist Jean Carlu)
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
Themes
Home front, Labor, War and the military
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)
Division of Information, Office for Emergency Management. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-173 (NAID 513619).

Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

GIVE 'EM
BOTH BARRELS
[signature: Jean Carlu]
[imprint: DIVISION OF INFORMATION / OFFICE FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT / WASHINGTON, D.C.; GPO line illegible]

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