Sugar Means Ships
A woman in a flowered hat sips through a straw from a tall glass while ships labelled 'Sugar' spiral away from her toward a smoking shore marked 'War.' Text states that 400 million pounds of sugar for beverages were imported in ships last year and that every ship is needed to carry soldiers and supplies now. The tell is the single selected figure connecting a drink to shipping capacity, with no wider supply data given.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1918
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- U.S. Food Administration
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Wilson Administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, Economy and finance, 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
U.S. Food Administration. National Archives and Records Administration, 4-P-87.
Text on the object
UNITED STATES FOOD ADMINISTRATION WAR [cloud lettering: HURRY] [ship hull labels: SUGAR; SOLDIERS; SUPPLIES] Sugar means Ships The Consumption of Sugar Sweetened Drinks Must be Reduced. For your beverages 400 million lbs. of sugar were imported in Ships last year. Every Ship is needed to carry soldiers and supplies now. E. Fuhr The Grey Printing Company
'SUGAR' appears on the hull of several ships and 'SOLDIERS' and 'SUPPLIES' on others in the drawing; 'HURRY' appears small in the smoke. 'E. Fuhr' is the signature; the tiny printer's line at lower left reads approximately 'The Grey Printing Company' and the spelling is uncertain. A boxed 'D' monogram appears at left.
