Treat 'Em Rough! Join the Tanks, United States Tank Corps
An enormous snarling black cat with bared claws leaps through flames over a battlefield of tanks and barbed wire, under the slogan 'Treat 'Em Rough!' and the recruiting line 'Join the Tanks'. The poster transfers the ferocity of the animal onto the new arm and its volunteers, and the image of attack carries the appeal in place of any account of tank service.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1918
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- United States Tank Corps; artist August Hutaf; printer National Printing & Engineering Co.
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Wilson Administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Recruit
- Themes
- War and the military, Science and technology
- 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
United States Tank Corps; artist August Hutaf; printer National Printing & Engineering Co.. National Archives and Records Administration, 4-P-8.
Text on the object
TREAT'EM ROUGH! JOIN THE TANKS United States Tank Corps. [signature, lower left:] AUGUST HUTAF [imprint, lower right:] National Printing & Engineering Co., Chicago, New York, St. Louis 010824
