---
title: 'Private Tom says: Folks back home who take time off needlessly'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/private-tom-says-folks-back-home-1941/
description: A smiling soldier in a helmet and shirtsleeves carries a shell toward a gun breech against a flat red ground, with a quoted speech in his name about
section: Collection
---

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3. Private Tom says: Folks back home who take time off needlessly

[![Private Tom says: Folks back home who take time off needlessly, 1941 US poster: A smiling soldier in a helmet](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/private-tom-says-folks-back-home-1941.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/private-tom-says-folks-back-home-1941.jpg)

# Private Tom says: Folks back home who take time off needlessly

A smiling soldier in a helmet and shirtsleeves carries a shell toward a gun breech against a flat red ground, with a quoted speech in his name about home-front workers who take time off 'needlessly'. The soldier is the speaker, a testimonial that presents the absence of an unspecified 'fair share' as a failing.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Testimonial](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/testimonial/) [Plain folks](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/plain-folks/)

## Text on the object

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

```
Private Tom says:
"Folks back home who
take time off—needlessly—
aren't carrying their fair
share of our
fight for
Victory."
[signature:] C R MILLER
[imprint:] THINKAMERICAN INSTITUTE, REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.
[imprint:] No. 151 — COPYRIGHT — KELLY-READ & CO., ROCHESTER, N[illegible]
```

[← Help at home to win the war! Prevent range fires](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/prevent-range-fires-1941/) [Protect your eyes. Maintain a proper diet →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/protect-your-eyes-maintain-a-proper-diet-1941/)

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- [Tomb of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rustam: the king in relief beside his inscription DNa, c. 490 BCE](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dna-inscription-darius-i-naqsh-e-rustam-490bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Testimonial, Card stacking)
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- [Estoire d'Eracles page with Bernard of Clairvaux preaching the Second Crusade in the initial (Walters W.137, fol. 180v)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eracles-bernard-preaching-second-crusade-w137-1275/) (France · 1275 · Testimonial)
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