Ideas going to waste!
Workplace suggestion-program sheet: two men in work caps and overalls talk over cups of coffee, one gesturing, against a burst of light. Text tells workers not to give ideas away in idle conversation but to write them on a suggestion blank. The technique is plain-folks, ordinary workers as the speakers.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1944
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- War Department, Army Service Forces (ASF Suggestion Poster No. 3)
- 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
- Home front, Labor, 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)
War Department, Army Service Forces. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1046 (NAID 514572).
Text on the object
IDEAS GOING TO WASTE! DON'T GIVE AWAY YOUR IDEAS IN IDLE CONVERSATION TELL US ABOUT IT ON A SUGGESTION BLANK [imprint:] U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1944--O--614794 ASF Suggestion Poster No. 3
