Content note: Black marketeer depicted as a scowling green-skinned caricature. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Stamp out black markets with your ration stamps. Pay no more than legal prices
Vertical color poster: a giant thumb presses down on a red 'A' ration stamp while a scowling green-skinned man in a green suit tumbles off its edge, over the line 'Pay no more than legal prices'. The man stands for the black marketeer, drawn as a grim caricature, and the stamp is cast as the instrument that removes him. The technique is name-calling by caricature, with transfer from the ration stamp.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. government (issuer not named; Government Printing Office imprint)
- 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
- Themes
- Home front, 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)
U.S. government. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1796 (NAID 515474).
Text on the object
Stamp Out BLACK MARKETS ...WITH YOUR RATION STAMPS PAY NO MORE THAN LEGAL PRICES [on the stamp: A] [imprint: U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943—O—530806] [imprint: 422—154]
