Mr. American, your country is at WAR
Navy appeal to defense-plant workers: an Uncle Sam figure points straight out of the sheet above a block of text telling the worker that lives depend on every minute on the job. Technique: transfer, Uncle Sam as national authority, and identity-fusion in the closing line that work is necessary 'to America'.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Navy, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox (Navy S.O. Publications)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, Labor
- 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-1372 (NAID 515031).
Text on the object
Mr. American WAR Your country is at WAR, and so are you. Your buddies and friends are giving their lives perhaps this very minute for YOU and for YOUR HOME. Every minute you lose on your job is a minute lost for them. Can you afford to have their lives on your conscience when they depend on you to produce for them ? Give them a full time shift from whistle blow to whistle blow. Shift your clothes, stow your effects, get your tools, and be ready to start your work with a bang - AND DO IT ON YOUR OWN TIME! Keep inside your lunch period - and SNAP BACK ON THE JOB! Don't be a clock watcher. Work right up to the end of your shift - AND THEN MAKE PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE ON YOUR OWN TIME. Generate the WILL TO WORK, my friend, and remind yourself every minute that you're AN AMERICAN, and that YOUR work is desperately necessary to AMERICA. [signature: Frank Knox] THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY [imprint: NAVY S.O. PUBLICATIONS] [imprint: U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1942-O-461018]
