War Rages in France: We Must Feed Them
A dark etching of French civilians, among them a woman in a nun's headdress and children, crowded around a handcart before ruined buildings, sits above the headline and a three-column text. The poster links a small act of household saving to the survival of the people pictured, with 'We Must Feed Them' as the central command.
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, 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-112.
Text on the object
[artist's signature, lower right of picture: TOWNSEND] WAR RAGES in FRANCE They cannot fight & raise food at the same time WE MUST FEED THEM Denying our- selves only a little means Life to them United States Food Administration
The poster's text sits in three columns under the headline (left, centre, right); it is given here in that order. The signature 'Townsend' is lettered at lower right of the picture.
