Uncle Sam: The Lid's Down! Obey Orders!
A pen-and-ink cartoon shows a sleeve labelled 'Uncle Sam' and a hand pressing down the lid of a face-shaped 'Family Sugar Bowl,' with sugar tongs beside it. The caption 'The Lid's Down! Obey Orders!' frames sugar saving as a command from the state. The tell is the personified government acting directly on the household's own table.
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
- 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-78.
Text on the object
UNCLE SAM THE LID'S DOWN! FAMILY SUGAR BOWL OBEY ORDERS! U. S. Food Administration. [artist's monogram and date at lower left: '18]
