Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Shoot to kill! Protect your Victory Garden, 1943 US poster: A woman in a wide hat sprays insecticide from a hand gun

Shoot to kill! Protect your Victory Garden

A woman in a wide hat sprays insecticide from a hand gun at a wide-eyed green insect gnawing a large tomato. The headline 'Shoot to kill!' borrows combat language for garden pest control, a transfer of war vocabulary onto a Victory Garden chore.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1943
Period
Second World War
Made by
U.S. Department of Agriculture (artist: Morley)
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
Theme
Home front
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. Department of Agriculture. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1737 (NAID 515408).

Text on the object

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

SHOOT TO KILL!
PROTECT YOUR VICTORY GARDEN
[signature:] MORLEY
[imprint:] U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
[imprint:] U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943 O-523387

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