---
title: The House Manager (Issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Board of Food Administration)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/house-manager-massachusetts-board-of-food-administration-1917/
description: A pen drawing shows a woman in a sash lettered 'House Manager' carrying a basket of food and raising a fist, striding in step ahead of a column
section: Collection
---

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3. The House Manager

[![The House Manager, 1917 US poster: A pen drawing shows a woman in a sash lettered 'House Manager' carrying a basket of food](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/house-manager-massachusetts-board-of-food-administration-1917.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/house-manager-massachusetts-board-of-food-administration-1917.jpg)

# The House Manager (Issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Board of Food Administration)

A pen drawing shows a woman in a sash lettered 'House Manager' carrying a basket of food and raising a fist, striding in step ahead of a column of rifle-bearing soldiers. The sheet's only words are the issuing state board's imprint. The tell is transfer: the soldiers' march is lent to the housekeeper's role, so household food management reads as a form of military service.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/) [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)

## Text on the object

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

```
HOUSE MANAGER [sash]

COPYRIGHT LIFE PUBLISHING CO.—Reprinted from "LIFE" September 13, 1917

Issued by
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Board of Food Administration
State House
Boston : : Mass.
```

The copyright line is very small. The artist's signature at lower right of the picture is script and not reliably legible. A small state seal sits beneath the imprint.

[← Honorable Discharge. Oh Boy! That's Sure Worth Working For](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/honorable-discharge-oh-boy-worth-working-for-1917/) [Hunger: For Three Years America Has Fought Starvation in Belgium →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hunger-america-has-fought-starvation-in-belgium-1917/)

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