Home Canning: Don't (six canning mistakes)
Six cartoon panels, each headed 'Don't', show canning mistakes: bandaged spoiled vegetables, a cook overwhelmed by a heap of food, a jar packed too tight, a woman on the phone beside a steaming pot, jars standing on their heads and a cracked jar in a draft. Faces on the jars and produce show pain. The technique is mild fear-appeal by cartoon.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Home front, Health
- 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. Department of Agriculture. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-998T (NAID 514523).
Text on the object
Don't can wilted, over-ripe or partly spoiled food... it won't keep. Don't prepare more than your canner will hold. Food spoils if it stands around. Don't pack too tight... especially corn and greens. Tightly packed jars heat through too slowly. Don't lose track of time... follow timetables to the minute for successful canning. Don't stand hot jars on their heads... you may break the seal. Don't place hot jars on a cold surface or in a draft. HOME CANNING BUREAU OF HUMAN NUTRITION AND HOME ECONOMICS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 19 [imprint:] [illegible]
