Some can't buy, some don't know, some don't try
Photograph of a thin, unshaven man in a cap and worn jacket, hands in pockets, standing in shadow beside a pile of fruit. The text below lists three reasons people lack good food: cannot buy, do not know, do not try. The technique is faint: a hardship portrait set against abundance, working as a mild fear-appeal.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (Make America Strong set, Poster No. 3)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Home front, Health, Economy and finance
- 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)
Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1313K (NAID 514949).
Text on the object
[photograph of a man in a cap standing beside a pile of fruit] Make America Strong (set of 13 posters) . . . . . Poster No. 3 SOME CAN'T BUY Some don't know Some don't try U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1941--O--292318
