If you can't go across... come across! Buy war bonds
War bond poster: a smiling sailor in dress blues raises two fingers in a V sign before a bulging canvas bag, under red banners reading 'If You Can't Go Across.. Come Across!' and the line 'Buy War Bonds'. The pun asks civilians to match the serviceman's overseas service with a purchase; the sailor's cheerful image lends the armed forces' standing to the appeal.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Abbott Laboratories, for the U.S. Treasury Department's Schools-at-War program
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Corporation
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Fundraise
- Themes
- Home front, Economy and finance
- 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)
Abbott Laboratories, for the U.S. Treasury Department. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-524 (NAID 514003).
Text on the object
If You Can't Go Across.. Come Across! BUY WAR BONDS [signature: E. Fiene] [imprint: PUBLISHED BY ABBOTT LABORATORIES AS A CONTRIBUTION TO THE TREASURY'S SCHOOLS-AT-WAR PROGRAM]
