Content note: Cartoon caricature of a German officer with a swastika armband and of a woman as a stock spy figure. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Shh! Telling a friend may mean telling an enemy
Two-panel cartoon sheet under a large 'Shh!': in the upper panel a serviceman talks across a restaurant table to a woman in a low-cut dress; an arrow leads to a lower panel where the same woman hands a written note to a heavy German officer with a swastika armband. The tell is the chain from casual talk to the enemy (fear-appeal).
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Publications Section, Public Relations Branch, U.S. Army Air Forces; cartoonist Henry Boltinoff
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Own forces
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- War and the military, Security and surveillance
- 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. Army Air Forces. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1719 (NAID 515389).
Text on the object
SHH! TELLING A FRIEND MAY MEAN TELLING AN ENEMY [signature: HENRY BOLTINOFF] 9B PUBLICATIONS SECTION PUBLIC RELATIONS BRANCH U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES
