Here's what you're helping America make
Army scrap-metal poster: five photographs (field wire in North Africa, a destroyer escort, field guns, a B-26 bomber, men loading a cartridge belt) each captioned with the pounds of metal it uses. The figures link household metal donations to named weapons; only favourable quantities are given.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Army
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- War and the military, 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. Army. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-974 (NAID 514481).
Text on the object
HERE'S WHAT YOU'RE HELPING AMERICA MAKE FIELD WIRE, here being laid in North Africa, calls for over 2,000,000 lbs. of copper per month. DESTROYER ESCORTS are helping lick the U-boat. Each sturdy ship uses over 344,400 lbs. of nonferrous metals. BIG POISON AND LITTLE POISON (3 in. and 37 mm. guns) are among our finest weapons. Both guns and ammunition use your metals. AMMUNITION for our famous 50 cal. airplane machine guns takes mountains of metal (each gun can spit out 152 lbs. in one minute!) HARD-HITTING B-26 "MARAUDERS" played a big part in Tunisia . . . use over 19,000 lbs. of nonferrous metals each. U. S. ARMY [imprint:] U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943 O - 539767
