Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
If you can't make it don't take it!, 1943 US poster: Cartoon-style food conservation poster

If you can't make it don't take it!

Cartoon-style food conservation poster: a wide-eyed man in a brown service cap and shirt rests his cheek on one hand and holds the other up, palm out, refusing a plate of food, a sandwich and a bottle of milk. A yellow badge shaped like a cartridge base reads 'Food is ammunition'. The badge borrows the weight of munitions for the plea not to waste food.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1943
Period
Second World War
Made by
U.S. government (issuer not named; U.S. Government Printing Office imprint)
Region
North America
Country
United States
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
State
Regime
Roosevelt Administration
Leader
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Audience
Mixed
Purpose
Mobilize or secure compliance
Themes
Home front, 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)
U.S. Government. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1064 (NAID 514588).

Text on the object

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

IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT
Don't Take It!
FOOD IS AMMUNITION
DON'T WASTE IT
☆ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1943—O—534432

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