Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Sow the Seeds of Victory! Plant and Raise Your Own Vegetables, 1918 US poster: A woman in a Liberty cap and a dress made

Sow the Seeds of Victory! Plant and Raise Your Own Vegetables

A woman in a Liberty cap and a dress made of stars and stripes scatters seed across a ploughed field, beneath the slogan 'Every Garden a Munition Plant.' The flag costume and the munitions metaphor attach national and military meaning to a request to grow vegetables, while a concrete offer (free books on gardening, canning and drying) is printed alongside.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

TransferGlittering generalities
Date
1918
Period
First World War
Made by
National War Garden Commission; James Montgomery Flagg (artist)
Region
North America
Country
United States
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
NGO
Regime
Wilson Administration
Leader
Woodrow Wilson
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Mobilize or secure compliance
Themes
Home front, War and the military
Event
World War I
Regime
Wilson administration
Leader
Woodrow Wilson
Source
Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source
U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 4 (U.S. Food Administration), World War I Posters (NAID 512439), retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights
NARA Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision
National War Garden Commission. National Archives and Records Administration, 4-P-59.

Text on the object

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

Sow the seeds of Victory!
plant &
raise
your own
vegetables

WRITE TO THE
NATIONAL
WAR GARDEN
COMMISSION -
WASHINGTON, D.C.
for free books on
gardening, canning
& drying.

(C) 1918 - NATIONAL WAR GARDEN COMMISSION
JAMES MONTGOMERY FLAGG
"Every Garden a Munition Plant"
Charles Lathrop Pack, President

More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

Fragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouchesNew Kingdom EgyptFragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouches0000 · Card stacking, TransferClay cylinder with the Ehulhul inscription of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, describing work on three templesNeo Babylonian EmpireClay cylinder with the Ehulhul inscription of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, describing work on three temples0000 · TransferSeated limestone statue of Hatshepsut as king, with feminine royal titles on the throne, reassembled from fragments broken up at Deir el-BahriNew Kingdom EgyptSeated limestone statue of Hatshepsut as king, with feminine royal titles on the throne, reassembled from fragments broken up at Deir el-Bahri0000 · Transfer, TestimonialGlazed-brick panel with a striding lion, from Babylon (reign of Nebuchadnezzar II)Neo Babylonian EmpireGlazed-brick panel with a striding lion, from Babylon (reign of Nebuchadnezzar II)0000 · TransferLimestone relief block of Ramesses II wearing the White Crown, a jubilee relief from his temple at HerakleopolisNew Kingdom EgyptLimestone relief block of Ramesses II wearing the White Crown, a jubilee relief from his temple at Herakleopolis0000 · TransferLine drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of EgyptNew Kingdom EgyptLine drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of Egypt0000 · Card stacking, TransferContent noteGypsum alabaster slab inscribed in cuneiform, from Nimrud (Kalhu), reign of Ashurnasirpal IINeo Assyrian EmpireGypsum alabaster slab inscribed in cuneiform, from Nimrud (Kalhu), reign of Ashurnasirpal II0000 · Transfer, Glittering generalitiesEgyptian alabaster jar inscribed with the name of Xerxes the Great in four languages (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian, Egyptian), 486 to 466 BCEAchaemenid EmpireEgyptian alabaster jar inscribed with the name of Xerxes the Great in four languages (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian, Egyptian), 486 to 466 BCE0000 · Transfer