It Takes Less Than a Minute for a Man to Die... "Killing Time" Can Kill Men Too!
A sailor in dark blue slumps forward, his cap falling, in a burst of orange rays beside a deck gun, with a plane landing behind and a second crewman at the gun. The tell for fear-appeal is the death image set beside a plain warning about wasted time or inattention. The headline reads "It takes less than a minute for a man to die..." and the base line "Killing Time can kill men too!"
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Bressler Editorial Cartoons Co., New York; artist Packer
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Corporation
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Mixed
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- War and the military, Home front
- 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)
Bressler Editorial Cartoons Co., New York; artist Packer. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1115 (NAID 514642).
Text on the object
IT TAKES LESS THAN A MINUTE FOR A MAN TO DIE... "KILLING TIME" CAN KILL MEN TOO! [signature:] Packer [imprint:] LITHO IN U.S.A. B-180 Copyright, BRESSLER EDITORIAL CARTOONS CO., NEW YORK
