Make your rubber last: nipples and rubber sheeting
Care sheet with five photographs: hands rinsing baby-bottle nipples at a tap, wrapping them in gauze over a kettle, and a young woman scrubbing, dusting and folding a rubber sheet. Steps sit beside each picture. The technique is faint here; the smiling housewife at work is plain-folks.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Bureau of Home Economics, U.S. Department of Agriculture
- 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)
Bureau of Home Economics, U.S. Department of Agriculture. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1324D (NAID 514966).
Text on the object
• Rinse rubber nipples at once after using. The butterfat in milk, if absorbed by the nipple will make it soften sooner. MAKE YOUR RUBBER LAST -To disinfect •Pour a little water into a kettle with a wire rack. •Wrap nipples in clean gauze and put into the steaming kettle.... cover tightly. •Let boil for 5 minutes.... remove and cool quickly. •Spread the rubber sheet and scrub with soap and warm water. •Rinse well.... wipe dry with a cloth or hang in a cool airy place. •Dust the surface with talcum or cornstarch before folding. [on bottle:] 1 lb. CARBON TETRACHLORIDE A.C.S. BUREAU OF HOME ECONOMICS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE [imprint: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1942—O—477986]
