War Traffic Must Come First
Railroad poster: a close, low-angle view of a streamlined steam locomotive's driving wheels and rods, with the headline 'War Traffic Must Come First' and 'Don't Waste Transportation' beneath. The technique is faint here: an appeal to priority and national purpose, carried by the speed and weight of the image, with no specific claim or enemy named.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Association of American Railroads, in cooperation with the Office of Defense Transportation
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, Economy and finance
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- 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 Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
Association of American Railroads, in cooperation with the Office of Defense Transportation. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-10 (NAID 513506).
Text on the object
WAR TRAFFIC MUST COME FIRST DON'T WASTE TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN RAILROADS in cooperation with the OFFICE OF DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION [signature: Fred Chance]
