How much do you bid?
Agency-written war-effort sheet: a man in a pinstripe suit holds a gavel and a Statue of Liberty figure, beside the headline 'How much do you BID?' The text casts Liberty as on the auction block 'going to Hitler' unless readers bid blood, scrap, fats and War Stamps and Bonds. It uses fear-appeal, name-calling ('barbarians', 'wrecking crews') and bandwagon ('130 million').
Propaganda techniques used in this advertisement
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- I. A. Goldman & Company, Advertising Agency (Baltimore and Philadelphia)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Advertisement
- Issuer type
- Corporation
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Fundraise
- Themes
- Home front, Economy and finance, War and the military
- 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)
I. A. Goldman & Company, Advertising Agency (Baltimore and Philadelphia). National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1013 (NAID 514539).
Text on the object
DECEMBER 7, 1941 Remember Pearl Harbor? . . . a year ago today! How much do you BID? LIBERTY is on the auction block—and it's going, going, going to Hitler unless you start bidding with everything you've got! Baloney, did you say? That's what too many "chair-warmers" think—and if they keep on "thinking" instead of "doing," Mr. Hitler and his wrecking crews are going to sneak up and haul Miss Liberty right off to Berlin! And don't kid yourself—Liberty can be torn down on the frozen tundras of Siberia or on the scorching sands of the Sahara—not necessarily in gay New York. So come on—let's be frank! You've been getting the best of everything that Liberty has to offer—and now when She's in trouble, you're being asked to pitch in so that you can keep on getting the best of it. What's that worth to you? How much will you bid? Just a cock-sure attitude? That isn't much of a contribution—because that won't stop a Stuka. Well then, what are you asked to bid? Your life?—no! But, a little bit of your blood, maybe, to save some bright-eyed soldier's life! Will you bid that? Will you bid the vital scrap that's picking up dust and rust—the fats that you're letting go to waste? Will you bid your sense of fairness and avoid hoarding? Will you bid your sense of balance and help gag the tongues that wag? Will you bid your sense of economy and use rubber and oil wisely? And most important, will you bid your cash by socking it into War Stamps and Bonds until it pinches? The choice is yours! Will you start bidding these things today—now—before it's too late! Remember, your bid counts because every bit counts—and because, collectively, we can outbid the cunning, powerful, ruthless barbarians who have turned the world into a Niagara of blood and tears in their efforts to drown out freedom and the light of precious LIBERTY! Well, do we hear any bidders? One . . . one hundred . . . one hundred and thirty million? Fine! LIBERTY . . . sold to the folks in the Red, White, and Blue. There goes the Axis— Going, going, gone! Another message in the interest of the War Effort, written by I. A. GOLDMAN & COMPANY Advertising Agency 100 North Eutaw Street, Baltimore, Maryland 1015 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. Additional reprints of this message upon request [imprint: PHOTOGRAPH BY METTEE - ENGRAVING BY ALPHA] [imprint: © 1942—I. A. GOLDMAN & CO., BALTIMORE, MD.]
