Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Production lines are battle lines!, 1942 US poster: Stylised poster in black, brown, grey and red

Production lines are battle lines!

Stylised poster in black, brown, grey and red: diagonal gun barrels, a factory tower and a stepped shape under bursts of red, with the headline 'Production lines are battle lines!' in large outlined letters. The wording equates factory output with fighting; the picture shows industrial and weapon forms with no people. Transfer of the battlefront's urgency to the factory.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1942
Period
Second World War
Made by
War Production Board and Office of Emergency Management, Division of Information; designed by Ches Cobb
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, 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)
War Production Board. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1582 (NAID 515247).

Text on the object

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

PRODUCTION
LINES are
BATTLE
LINES!
[imprint:] POSTER ISSUED BY DIVISION OF INFORMATION OF W.P.B. AND O.E.M.
[imprint:] MATERIALS COURTESY AERO TOOL CO, BURBANK, CALIF.. DESIGNED, CONTRIBUTED BY CHES COBB OF THE HOLLYWOOD WRITER'S MOBILIZATION.. ... ..W.P.A. SO. CALIF. ART PROJECT

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