Man the guns, Join the Navy
U.S. Navy recruiting poster: a painting of a bare-armed sailor carrying a large shell toward a gun crew in a steel helmet, with gun flashes and sea behind, above the large lettering 'Man the GUNS, Join the NAVY'. The tell is the heroic labour image paired with a direct command; the technique is faint beyond that.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Navy
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Recruit
- Theme
- 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)
U.S. Navy. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-24 (NAID 513519).
Text on the object
Man the GUNS Join the NAVY [signature:] McCLELLAND BARCLAY USNR [imprint:] NRB-31781-3-4-42-15M
Signature and imprint read from the image.
