---
title: What are public health posters? Vintage health propaganda, 1900 to 1988
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/public-health-posters/
description: 'Public health posters: WWI-era to 1988 sheets on TB, syphilis, malaria and nutrition from Britain, the US and others, with who issued each.'
section: FRAME
---

![Illustration: a dossier collage of an evidence wall of pinned propaganda posters, leaflets and printed matter from many eras, with contact sheets and catalog labels.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/hero-collection.jpg)

Collection

# What are public health posters? Vintage health propaganda, 1900 to 1988

Public health posters: WWI-era to 1988 sheets on TB, syphilis, malaria and nutrition from Britain, the US and others, with who issued each.

1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/)
2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)
3. Public health posters

[![Sífilis: Curación absoluta y radical en el Sanatorio para sifilíticos (Syphilis: Absolute and Radical Cure at the Sanatorium for Syphilitics)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/sifilis-sanatorio-abreu-1900.jpg)Sífilis: Curación absoluta y radical en el Sanatorio para sifilíticos (Syphilis: Absolute and Radical Cure at the Sanatorium for Syphilitics)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sifilis-sanatorio-abreu-1900/) [![Diphtheria is one of the most deadly children's diseases](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-diphtheria-most-deadly-childrens-diseases-1939-640.jpg)Diphtheria is one of the most deadly children's diseases](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-diphtheria-most-deadly-childrens-diseases-1939/) [![Cancer danger signals](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/cancer-danger-signals-1941-640.jpg)Cancer danger signals](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cancer-danger-signals-1941/) [![Easy to Get... Syphilis and Gonorrhea](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/easy-to-get-syphilis-and-gonorrhea-1943-640.jpg)Easy to Get... Syphilis and Gonorrhea](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/easy-to-get-syphilis-and-gonorrhea-1943/) [![Don't feed rats](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/dont-feed-rats-1944-640.jpg)Don't feed rats](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dont-feed-rats-1944/) [![Дым, в котором мы живём (The Smoke in Which We Live)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/dym-v-kotorom-my-zhivyom-1988-640.jpg)Дым, в котором мы живём (The Smoke in Which We Live)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dym-v-kotorom-my-zhivyom-1988/)

> **Content note.** Several posters here concern venereal disease and use images of women, prostitution and moral blame, one pairs a political group with typhus, and a 1988 poster shows tobacco. They are shown as issued. Showing an item is not endorsing it.

[What are public health posters?](https://propagandaarchive.org/public-health-posters/#what-are-public-health-posters) [Before 1920](https://propagandaarchive.org/public-health-posters/#before-1920-tuberculosis-syphilis-and-vaccination) [Britain, 1939](https://propagandaarchive.org/public-health-posters/#britain-1939-immunisation-germs-and-venereal-disease) [The United States, 1941 to 1944](https://propagandaarchive.org/public-health-posters/#the-united-states-1941-to-1944-war-work-and-health) [Other places, other sponsors, 1939 to 1988](https://propagandaarchive.org/public-health-posters/#other-places-other-sponsors-1939-to-1988) [Scope and limits](https://propagandaarchive.org/public-health-posters/#scope-and-limits)

## What are public health posters?

Public health posters are notices from governments, health charities and medical bodies that tell people how to avoid disease: wash, cover a cough, screen a window, get a blood test, take a vaccine. Many are plain instruction. Others use fear, authority or a named enemy to change behaviour, and the collection tags each one by technique.

## Before 1920: tuberculosis, syphilis and vaccination

A Berlin committee against tuberculosis addressed "German mothers" with a child-at-risk image ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)). A Barcelona sanatorium sold a cure for syphilis, a commercial sponsor rather than a state ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)).

![Deutsches Central-Komitee poster of 1906: a mother holding a child under a headline calling tuberculosis the worst enemy of public health](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/deutsche-mutter-tuberkulose-1906.jpg)

![Sanatorio Dr Abreu poster of 1900, design by Ramon Casas: a woman with a hidden snake in her shawl under the word Sifilis](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/sifilis-sanatorio-abreu-1900.jpg)

**Content note:** 1904 Brazilian magazine cartoon of the vaccine controversy, with caricatured Black and other Rio residents drawn with exaggerated features, shown as printed. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) ![O Malho cartoon of 29 October 1904 by Leonidas Freire: soldier-nurses with syringe-cannon behind a banner reading Vaccina Obrigatoria](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/guerra-vaccino-obrigateza-o-malho-1904.jpg)

![U.S. Department of Agriculture poster of 1917: Kill the Rat](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/kill-the-rat-us-department-of-agriculture-1917.jpg)

Explain moreShow less

The vaccination dispute is shown from the side of its critics: O Malho's 1904 cartoon casts compulsory vaccination in Rio de Janeiro as a war ([Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/)). In 1917 the U.S. Department of Agriculture labelled the rat a dangerous animal ([Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/)).

## Britain, 1939: immunisation, germs and venereal disease

The Ministry of Health and the Central Council for Health Education pressed parents to immunise children against diphtheria, pairing a threat with an official sponsor ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/), [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)). Another sheet warns that the germs "are everywhere".

![Ministry of Health poster of 1939: Diphtheria is deadly, immunisation is the safeguard](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-diphtheria-is-deadly-immunisation-safeguard-1939.jpg)

![British government poster of 1939 printed for H.M. Stationery Office: The Germs of this Disease are Everywhere](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-germs-of-this-disease-are-everywhere-1939.jpg)

The same Ministry issued a venereal-disease series. "Here Comes the Bride" places a dark hand over a bridal figure and assigns moral blame to the infected husband ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)). The Ministry of Food used the same technique for nutrition, and Abram Games gave soldiers a speaking mosquito.

![Ministry of Health poster of 1939 by Reginald Mount: a huge dark hand over a bridal silhouette under Here Comes the Bride](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-venereal-diseases-here-comes-the-bride-1939.jpg)

![Ministry of Food poster of 1939: Lack of Vitamins Can Strangle His Health](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-lack-of-vitamins-strangle-health-1939.jpg)

![British armed forces health poster of 1939 by Abram Games: a mosquito lettered Fever and Malaria over a pool](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-im-looking-for-you-fever-malaria-games-1939.jpg)

## The United States, 1941 to 1944: war work and health

The Public Health Service framed health as war production. The rat becomes a "Saboteur", a wartime name for a pest ([Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/)); mosquito and TB posters ask for a home or chest check ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)).

![U.S. Public Health Service sheet of 1943: a large rat over the word Saboteur and six panels of harm](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/saboteur-rat-public-health-1943.jpg)

![U.S. Public Health Service poster of 1943: Keep out malaria mosquitoes, repair your torn screens](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/keep-out-malaria-mosquitoes-1943.jpg)

![U.S. Public Health Service poster of 1943: Health wanted, have your chest x-rayed, find TB early](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/health-wanted-find-tb-early-1943.jpg)

![War Department poster of 1944: Cover coughs, cover sneezes, never give a germ a break](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/cover-coughs-cover-sneezes-war-department-1944.jpg)

![War Department poster of 1944: Don't let lice make a monkey out of you](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/dont-let-lice-make-a-monkey-out-of-you-1944.jpg)

![U.S. Public Health Service poster of 1941: Know for sure, get a blood test for syphilis](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/know-for-sure-get-a-blood-test-for-syphilis-1941.jpg)

![U.S. government venereal-disease campaign poster of 1943: a woman leaning on a wall in red tones under Easy to get syphilis and gonorrhea](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/easy-to-get-syphilis-and-gonorrhea-1943.jpg)

![Department of Agriculture chart of 1941: For health, eat some food from each group every day](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/for-health-eat-some-food-each-group-usda-colour-chart-1941.jpg)

![American Red Cross poster of 1941: Learn to keep your family strong and healthy, join a Red Cross nutrition class](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/join-a-red-cross-nutrition-class-1941.jpg)

Explain moreShow less

The War Department told soldiers to cover coughs and delouse. The Public Health Service urged a blood test for syphilis, while a separate 1943 government campaign used a woman on a red-lit street, a figure that carries blame as well as warning ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/), [Scapegoating](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/scapegoating/)).

Nutrition posters were milder. The Department of Agriculture's food-group chart gives instructions in ordinary terms ([Plain folks](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/plain-folks/)), and the American Red Cross borrowed its own name for its classes ([Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)).

## Other places, other sponsors, 1939 to 1988

The South African Red Cross showed the fly's life cycle in English and Afrikaans ([Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)). The U.S. Information Agency distributed health sheets abroad, for example in Burma in 1952 and Jordan in 1957, and the Saigon government issued its own ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)).

![South African Red Cross sheet of 1939: the life cycle of the house-fly in English and Afrikaans](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/south-africa-red-cross-fly-life-cycle-1939.jpg)

![U.S. Information Agency health poster of 1952 in Burmese: a clean and safe latrine](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/health-poster-4-latrine-burmese-1952.jpg)

![Jordan Ministry of Health poster of 1957 in Arabic: Danger, kill this fly, flies carry disease](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/fly-control-arabic-jordan-1957.jpg)

![South Vietnamese public-health poster of 1965 on tuberculosis prevention](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/tuberculosis-prevention-1965-1969.jpg)

![State Propaganda Office of the Independent State of Croatia, 1941: a louse with a star-capped human head, Beware of the Partisan, beware of typhus](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/cuvaj-se-partizana-tifus-ndh-1941.jpg)

![Izdatelstvo Reklama, Kiev, 1988: an apartment tower as an open cigarette pack, The Smoke in Which We Live](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/dym-v-kotorom-my-zhivyom-1988.jpg)

Explain moreShow less

Health imagery has also served politics. In 1941 the State Propaganda Office of the Independent State of Croatia drew a louse with a Partisan star for a head, tying a political group to typhus ([Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/)). In 1988 a Kiev state publisher drew an apartment tower as a cigarette pack ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)).

## Scope and limits

- **Same definitions for all.** Fear, transfer and name-calling are applied alike to British, American, Brazilian, Croatian and Soviet items. A mosquito warning and a political smear share a technique tag; they do not share an aim. The first asks for a precaution, the second assigns hostility to a group.
- **Not here:** proof that any poster changed behaviour, or the medical record for any disease.
- **Not here:** private clinic advertising beyond the one 1900 example.

Sources and further reading

## Sources

Each item in the grid carries its own source and rights note from the holding institution.

Each item in the grid carries its own source and rights note from the holding institution. See also [civil defense posters](https://propagandaarchive.org/civil-defense-posters/), [British propaganda posters](https://propagandaarchive.org/british-propaganda-posters/) and [American propaganda posters](https://propagandaarchive.org/american-propaganda-posters/).

## Public health posters in the collection

Showing 34 of 34 objects. [Filter the whole collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/).

- [Sífilis: Curación absoluta y radical en el Sanatorio para sifilíticos (Syphilis: Absolute and Radical Cure at the Sanatorium for Syphilitics)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sifilis-sanatorio-abreu-1900/) (Spain · 1900 · Fear appeal)
- [Guerra Vaccino-Obrigateza! (Compulsory-Vaccination War!), O Malho cartoon](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/guerra-vaccino-obrigateza-o-malho-1904/) (Brazil · Oct 29, 1904 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [Deutsche Mütter, schützt Eure Kinder vor der Tuberkulose (German Mothers, Protect Your Children from Tuberculosis)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/deutsche-mutter-tuberkulose-1906/) (German Empire · 1906 · Fear appeal)
- [Kill the Rat! The Most Destructive and Dangerous of Animal Pests](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kill-the-rat-us-department-of-agriculture-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Fear appeal, Name-calling)
- [The South African Red Cross Society / Die Suid-Afrikaanse Rooikruisvereniging (house-fly life cycle)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/south-africa-red-cross-fly-life-cycle-1939/) (South Africa · 1939 · Transfer)
- [Diphtheria is deadly - Immunisation is the safeguard](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-diphtheria-is-deadly-immunisation-safeguard-1939/) (United Kingdom · 1939 · Fear appeal, Transfer)
- [Diphtheria is one of the most deadly children's diseases](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-diphtheria-most-deadly-childrens-diseases-1939/) (United Kingdom · 1939 · Fear appeal)
- [The Germs of this Disease are Everywhere](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-germs-of-this-disease-are-everywhere-1939/) (United Kingdom · 1939 · Fear appeal)
- [I'm Looking for You - Fever - Malaria](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-im-looking-for-you-fever-malaria-games-1939/) (United Kingdom · 1939 · Fear appeal)
- [Immunisation is the Only Safeguard Against Diphtheria - Now is the Time to Have it Done](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-immunisation-only-safeguard-diphtheria-now-1939/) (United Kingdom · 1939 · Fear appeal)
- [Lack of Vitamins Can Strangle His Health](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-lack-of-vitamins-strangle-health-1939/) (United Kingdom · 1939 · Fear appeal)
- [Venereal Diseases: Confidential Treatment Can Be Obtained Free at the Following Centres - Delay is Dangerous](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-venereal-diseases-confidential-treatment-1939/) (United Kingdom · 1939 · Fear appeal)
- [Venereal Diseases: Here Comes the Bride](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-venereal-diseases-here-comes-the-bride-1939/) (United Kingdom · 1939 · Fear appeal)
- [Cancer danger signals](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cancer-danger-signals-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Fear appeal)
- [Čuvaj se partizana! Čuvaj se tifusa! (Beware of the Partisan! Beware of Typhus!), Independent State of Croatia](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cuvaj-se-partizana-tifus-ndh-1941/) (Independent State of Croatia · 1941 · Name-calling, Fear appeal, Dehumanization). Content note: Dehumanizing image of a Partisan drawn as a louse, tied to typhus.
- [Exterminate the Fly!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/exterminate-the-fly-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Fear appeal, Card stacking)
- [For health...eat some food from each group...every day!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/for-health-eat-some-food-each-group-usda-colour-chart-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Plain folks)
- [Learn to keep your family strong & healthy - Join a Red Cross nutrition class](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/join-a-red-cross-nutrition-class-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Transfer)
- [Know for sure, get a blood test for syphilis](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/know-for-sure-get-a-blood-test-for-syphilis-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Fear appeal)
- [Easy to Get... Syphilis and Gonorrhea](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/easy-to-get-syphilis-and-gonorrhea-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Fear appeal, Scapegoating). Content note: Shows a woman drawn as a stereotyped street prostitute under a headline linking her to venereal disease; shown as printed.
- [Fight Mosquitoes at Home: Spray, Screen, Cover Cracks](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/fight-mosquitoes-at-home-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Plain folks)
- [Guard against tuberculosis, have your picture taken](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/guard-against-tuberculosis-have-your-picture-taken-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Plain folks)
- [Health wanted: have your chest x-rayed, find TB early](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/health-wanted-find-tb-early-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Fear appeal)
- [Keep out malaria mosquitoes, repair your torn screens](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/keep-out-malaria-mosquitoes-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Fear appeal)
- [Saboteur (Combat the rat)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/saboteur-rat-public-health-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Name-calling, Fear appeal)
- [Cover coughs, cover sneezes. Never give a germ a break!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cover-coughs-cover-sneezes-war-department-1944/) (United States · 1944 · Fear appeal)
- [Don't feed rats](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dont-feed-rats-1944/) (United States · 1944 · Fear appeal)
- [Don't let lice make a monkey out of you!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dont-let-lice-make-a-monkey-out-of-you-1944/) (United States · 1944 · Fear appeal)
- [Man-Made Malaria](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/man-made-malaria-navy-1944/) (United States · 1944 · Transfer, Fear appeal). Content note: Mosquito drawn with rising-sun wings and a yellow-faced, buck-toothed, slant-eyed caricature of a Japanese face, shown as printed.
- [Health Poster #4 (Latrine): Clean and Safe Latrine (Burmese poster distributed in Burma)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/health-poster-4-latrine-burmese-1952/) (United States · Jul 9, 1952 · Transfer)
- [Danger! Kill This Fly - Flies Carry Disease (Arabic poster distributed in Amman)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/fly-control-arabic-jordan-1957/) (United States · Feb 7, 1957 · Fear appeal)
- [Muốn giữ gìn sức khoẻ phải rửa sạch (In Order to Maintain Health You Should Wash These Thoroughly)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/to-keep-health-wash-thoroughly-1965/) (United States · 1965 · Plain folks)
- [Tuberculosis: Prevention (Bệnh Ho Lao: Phòng Bệnh)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/tuberculosis-prevention-1965-1969/) (United States · 1965 · Fear appeal)
- [Дым, в котором мы живём (The Smoke in Which We Live)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dym-v-kotorom-my-zhivyom-1988/) (Soviet Union · 1988 · Fear appeal, Transfer)