Kill the black market with your ration stamps
Horizontal ration-compliance sheet: a hand holds a fan of red 'A 5' ration stamps beside the headline 'Kill the BLACK MARKET with your Ration Stamps' and two rules, with a black footer reading 'It takes two to make a black market'. The technique is faint; the stamps are cast as the weapon, and the footer places part of the responsibility on the buyer.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. government (issuer not named; Government Printing Office imprint)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- 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)
U.S. government (issuer not named. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1223 (NAID 514829).
Text on the object
Kill the BLACK MARKET with your Ration Stamps Accept no rationed food without giving up ration stamps Pay no more than ceiling prices [on the stamps: A 5] [imprint: U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943—O—520987] REMEMBER: IT TAKES TWO TO MAKE A BLACK MARKET
