Simple Sam the wasting fool... every day he breaks a tool!
Industrial conservation poster: a worker in overalls sits on a stool in a dunce cap with a snapped drill bit across his lap, under the name 'Simple Sam' and the words 'the wasting fool'. The label and cap name the careless worker a fool, a name-calling device aimed at the workforce; the headline puts cost on the individual's daily habit.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- [issuer not printed] (Form 155704)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Labor, 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)
[issuer not printed] (Form 155704). National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-736 (NAID 514224).
Text on the object
Simple Sam THE WASTING FOOL... EVERY DAY HE BREAKS A TOOL! [imprint:] Form 155704 [imprint:] Printed in U.S.A.
