Man-Power, Petrol and Rubber Are Released for the War Effort When You Carry Your Shopping Home

Brush lettering reads 'Man-power, petrol and rubber are released for the war effort when you carry your shopping home', with a royal coat of arms and 'Ministry of War Transport' at top. It is a plain instruction with a stated rationale; the only loose element is 'the war effort', a virtue phrase that is not quantified on the poster.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Glittering generalities

Date: 1939
Period: Second World War
Made by: Ministry of War Transport (printed for HMSO by Geo. Gibbons Ltd.)
Region: Western and Central Europe
Country: United Kingdom
Medium: Poster
Issuer type: State
Regime: Churchill Government
Leader: Winston Churchill
Audience: Domestic public
Purpose: Mobilize or secure compliance
Themes: Home front, Economy and finance
Event: World War II
Regime: Churchill wartime government
Leader: Winston Churchill
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 Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights: UK Crown copyright, published 1941-1945, 50 years expired; hosted by owner decision
Ministry of War Transport; printed for HMSO by Geo. Gibbons Ltd.. National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-283.

Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

MINISTRY OF WAR TRANSPORT
Man-power,
petrol and
rubber are
released for
the war effort
when you carry
your shopping
home
[imprint:] Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Geo. Gibbons Ltd.  51/2359