Content note: A clawed, bloody hand labelled 'Axis butchery' with a swastika for the X holds an hourglass of crowds against flames. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Lost time means lost lives! We'll stay on the job!
A clawed, hairy hand in a spiked cuff, with blood dripping from it and the arm labelled 'Axis butchery' (the 'X' drawn as a swastika), holds an hourglass filled with crowds of people against flames. The hourglass links delay at work to deaths, a fear-appeal; the label and beast's hand cast the Axis as brutal, which is name-calling.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Bressler Editorial Cartoons, Inc. (artist Packer)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, Labor, 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)
Bressler Editorial Cartoons, Inc.. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1307 (NAID 514920).
Text on the object
LOST TIME MEANS LOST LIVES! AXIS BUTCHERY WE'LL STAY ON THE JOB! [signature:] PACKER [imprint:] LITHO IN U.S.A. [imprint:] B-23 [imprint:] Copyright, BRESSLER EDITORIAL CARTOONS, Inc., NEW YORK [the 'X' of AXIS is drawn as a swastika]
