Labor Day in the United States, Free World poster (English poster distributed in Manila)

A large sheet with a mural of American labour history, a steelworker on a girder and photographs of a foundry, a skyscraper worker, a hay harvest and a household interior. The text says Labor Day is a time to take stock of economic achievements, credits a partnership of trade unionism and management for the economic system, and gives productivity figures (output over four times in 50 years; $3.13 an hour per worker). The tell is glittering-generalities: 'more of everything for everybody' stands in for a measured claim.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Glittering generalitiesCard stacking

Date

September 16, 1964

Period

Cold War

Made by

U.S. Information Agency (predecessor: State Department International Information and Educational Exchange Program), Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East series

Region

North America

Country

United States

Medium

Poster

Issuer type

State

Regime

Johnson Administration

Leader

Lyndon B. Johnson

Audience

Foreign public

Purpose

Persuade or win support

Themes

Labor, Economy and finance

Event

Cold War

Source

Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure

Source

U.S. National Archives (NARA), Record Group 306, Posters in Asia, Latin America, Middle East, retrieved October 4, 2026

Rights

Public domain (U.S. government work; NARA RG 306)
U.S. Information Agency / Department of State, September 16, 1964. National Archives, Record Group 306 (NAID 6949285, 306-PPB-360).

LABOR DAY
IN THE UNITED STATES

is a time
for taking stock
of past economic
achievements
and for setting
future goals
designed to raise
the individual's
standard of living.

A partnership of Trade Unionism and the management of business and industry has built the American economic system as it is today.

In the last 50 years, America has increased its total production of goods and services by more than four times, while its population has not quite doubled. The average American worker today produces $3.13 worth of goods and services an hour, nearly two and one-half times as much as he did 50 years ago. This higher productivity has meant more of everything for everybody.

[in mural:] LABOR IS LIFE CARLYLE

SUPPLEMENT TO
FREE WORLD
VOL. XIII NO. 9  SEPTEMBER 1964