Stop Breakage: Conserve and you serve Uncle Sam
Hotel-industry conservation poster: a waiter's hand tilts a tray so a coffee pot and cups slide off, with a 'CRASH' burst and broken crockery below, on red-and-white stripes. The stripes and the line 'Serve Uncle Sam' attach national symbols to routine workplace thrift, a transfer.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- American Hotel Association
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Corporation
- 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)
American Hotel Association. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1816B (NAID 515496).
Text on the object
STOP BREAKAGE CRASH [seal: AMERICAN HOTEL ASSOCIATION, AHA] CONSERVE and you SERVE UNCLE SAM Stop breakage, don't overload trays. Before you give extra butter, etc. ask if it's wanted. Don't waste ice. Conserve sugar, spices. Take orders correctly. Don't use napkins as cleaning cloths. Don't leave water running. Turn off lights, fans, etc. not needed. Report damaged equipment. Take care of your uniform.
