Help Crush the Menace of the Seas: Buy Liberty Bonds
A red fist rises from dark, blood-streaked water gripping a dripping, arrow-shaped spike, while a warship flying a U.S. flag steams on the horizon. The headline names an unspecified 'menace of the seas' and attaches the purchase of Liberty Bonds to crushing it, with 'Buy Quickly, Buy Freely' as the instruction. The tell is the threat shown as an image rather than a stated claim, paired with an urgent, concrete ask.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1917
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- Rainbow Division Special Liberty Loan Committee (artist J. L. Grosse)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Wilson Administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Fundraise
- Themes
- War and the military, Economy and finance
- 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
Rainbow Division Special Liberty Loan Committee (artist J. L. Grosse). National Archives and Records Administration, 4-P-197.
Text on the object
HELP CRUSH the MENACE of the SEAS BUY LIBERTY BONDS Buy Quickly Buy Freely RAINBOW DIVISION SPECIAL LIBERTY LOAN COMMITTEE J.L.Grosse Poster Contributed by Cloak, Suit and Skirt Industry Committee O'Connor-Fyffe, Adv., N.Y.
