Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Field-Marshal 'Potato Pete', 1939 UK poster: A cartoon potato in a plumed field-marshal's hat and red-cuffed tunic salutes

Field-Marshal 'Potato Pete'

A cartoon potato in a plumed field-marshal's hat and red-cuffed tunic salutes ranks of smiling potatoes in steel helmets marching past. Transfer tell: the prestige and discipline of the army are attached to an everyday vegetable, so eating potatoes reads as service.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
British government via His Majesty's Stationery Office (Potato Pete campaign); printed by James Haworth & Brother Ltd., London
Region
Western and Central Europe
Country
United Kingdom
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
State
Regime
Churchill Government
Leader
Winston Churchill
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Mobilize or secure compliance
Themes
Home front, Economy and finance
Event
World War II
Regime
Churchill wartime government
Leader
Winston Churchill
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 Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights
Public domain (UK Crown copyright, 50 years from publication, expired before 1996; no URAA restoration)
British government via His Majesty's Stationery Office (Potato Pete campaign), c. 1939-1945. US National Archives (NARA, WWII Foreign Posters, NAID 44266921).

Text on the object

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

Field-Marshal
'POTATO PETE'
[small print:] Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by James Haworth & Brother Ltd. London, 51-4214
3480010

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