Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Half the metal in every ship, every tank, every gun is scrap! Throw your scrap into the fight!, 1941 US poster: A warship

Half the metal in every ship, every tank, every gun is scrap! Throw your scrap into the fight!

A warship, a tank and a field gun on a red field, with the headline giving a share of their metal as scrap and a blue band telling the viewer to throw 'your' scrap into the fight. The tell is the single statistic with no source, and the personal call to action framed as joining the fighting.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Card stackingGlittering generalities
Date
1941
Period
Second World War
Made by
Unnamed issuer (scrap drive poster)
Region
North America
Country
United States
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
Mixed
Regime
Roosevelt Administration
Leader
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Mobilize or secure compliance
Themes
Home front, Economy and finance
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)
Unnamed issuer. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-927 (NAID 514433).

Text on the object

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

Half the Metal in every ship every tank every gun is SCRAP!
THROW YOUR SCRAP INTO THE FIGHT!

[imprint:] LITHO IN U.S.A.

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