• Subscribe Now
  • Today In History
  • Wars & Events
    • The Russia–Ukraine War
    • American Revolution
    • The Civil War
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • Cold War
    • Korean War
    • Vietnam War
    • Global War on Terror
    • Movements
      • Women’s Rights
      • Civil Rights
      • Abolition of Slavery
  • Famous People
    • U.S. Presidents
    • World Leaders
    • Military Leaders
    • Outlaws & Lawmen
    • Activists
    • Artists & Writers
    • Celebrities
    • Scientists
    • Philosophers
  • Eras
    • Modern Era
      • 2000s
      • 1900s
      • 1800s
    • Early Modern
      • 1700s
      • 1600s
      • 1500s
    • The Middle Ages
    • Classical Era
    • Prehistory
  • Topics
    • Black History
    • Slavery
    • Women’s History
    • Prisoners of War
    • Firsthand Accounts
    • Technology & Weaponry
    • Aviation & Spaceflight
    • Naval & Maritime
    • Politics
    • Military History
    • Art & Literature
    • News
    • Entertainment & Culture
    • Historical Figures
    • Photography
    • Wild West
    • Social History
    • Native American History
  • Magazines
    • American History
    • America’s Civil War
    • Aviation History
    • Civil War Times
    • Military History
    • Military History Quarterly
    • Vietnam
    • Wild West
    • World War II
  • Newsletters
  • Podcasts
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
Skip to content
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
HistoryNet

HistoryNet

The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet.

  • Subscribe Now
  • Today In History
  • Wars & Events
    • The Russia–Ukraine War
    • American Revolution
    • The Civil War
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • Cold War
    • Korean War
    • Vietnam War
    • Global War on Terror
    • Movements
      • Women’s Rights
      • Civil Rights
      • Abolition of Slavery
  • Famous People
    • U.S. Presidents
    • World Leaders
    • Military Leaders
    • Outlaws & Lawmen
    • Activists
    • Artists & Writers
    • Celebrities
    • Scientists
    • Philosophers
  • Eras
    • Modern Era
      • 2000s
      • 1900s
      • 1800s
    • Early Modern
      • 1700s
      • 1600s
      • 1500s
    • The Middle Ages
    • Classical Era
    • Prehistory
  • Topics
    • Black History
    • Slavery
    • Women’s History
    • Prisoners of War
    • Firsthand Accounts
    • Technology & Weaponry
    • Aviation & Spaceflight
    • Naval & Maritime
    • Politics
    • Military History
    • Art & Literature
    • News
    • Entertainment & Culture
    • Historical Figures
    • Photography
    • Wild West
    • Social History
    • Native American History
  • Magazines
    • American History
    • America’s Civil War
    • Aviation History
    • Civil War Times
    • Military History
    • Military History Quarterly
    • Vietnam
    • Wild West
    • World War II
  • Newsletters
  • Podcasts
Posted inPortfolio

During the War Years, Posters From the American Homefront Told You What to Do — And What Not to Do

If you needed some motivation during the war years, there was probably a poster for that.
by Tom Huntington4/9/20244/9/2024
ww2-homefront-poster-war-bond
Share This Article

“The First World War saw the first widespread use of propaganda to stir patriotic fervour,” note Gill Saunders and Margaret Timmers in The Poster: A Visual History. “The need to raise vast sums of money from the public purse to fund the war spawned numerous posters advertising war bonds and loans; countries on both sides of the conflict employed some of their best poster artists for this purpose.”

If it had worked in one world war, why not try it in another? In his two-volume Propaganda: The Art of Persuasion: World War II, Anthony Rhodes notes the “barrage of posters” produced by government agencies like the United States Office of War Information as well as private companies during the war. And, observe Saunders and Timmers, “Both the British and the American governments strove to cement the idea of their national characteristics as unwaveringly plucky, with humour more likely to be employed than fearmongering.”

If you had any doubt about what you should be doing—or not doing—as an American to help the war effort, there was probably a poster that could point you in the right direction. Should you buy war bonds? (The answer was emphatically yes.) How about driving to work by yourself? (No! “When you ride ALONE you ride with Hitler!”) If you were a farmer, what should you produce? (Corn! Sugar beets! Milk!) Was it okay to chat about your work with that affable stranger at the bar? (Absolutely not! “Loose talk can cost lives.”) Colorfully eye-catching, the posters exhorted Americans to work harder, produce more war materiel, save gasoline and scrap metal, support their soldiers and sailors, and stop complaining about shortages. In one poster titled “Of course I can,” a young woman clutches her home-jarred food and says, “I’m patriotic as can be—And ration points won’t worry me!” (One thing that did not appear to be in short supply during the war was exclamation points.)

Perhaps the poster that best distilled all the exhortations into one single message showed a bloodied soldier pointing at a battle going on behind him and exclaiming, “More! More of everything—quick!” 

ww2-homefront-posters-volunteer
(National Archives)
ww2-honefront-posters-farm
(National Archives)
ww2-homefront-posters-factory
(National Archives)
ww2-homefront-posters-bonds
(National Archives)
ww2-homefront-posters-united
(National Archives)
ww2-homefront-posters-fight
(National Archives)
Share This Article
by Tom Huntington

Tom Huntington is the editor of Aviation History and World War II magazines. He is also the author of Maine Roads to Gettysburg, Searching for George Gordon Meade: The Forgotten Victor of Gettysburg, and other books.

more by Tom Huntington

Dive deeper

  • propaganda posters
  • World War II Spring 2024
  • WWII homefront

Citation information

Tom Huntington (7/24/2025) During the War Years, Posters From the American Homefront Told You What to Do — And What Not to Do. HistoryNet Retrieved from https://www.historynet.com/homefront-motivational-posters/.
"During the War Years, Posters From the American Homefront Told You What to Do — And What Not to Do."Tom Huntington - 7/24/2025, https://www.historynet.com/homefront-motivational-posters/
Tom Huntington 4/9/2024 During the War Years, Posters From the American Homefront Told You What to Do — And What Not to Do., viewed 7/24/2025,<https://www.historynet.com/homefront-motivational-posters/>
Tom Huntington - During the War Years, Posters From the American Homefront Told You What to Do — And What Not to Do. [Internet]. [Accessed 7/24/2025]. Available from: https://www.historynet.com/homefront-motivational-posters/
Tom Huntington. "During the War Years, Posters From the American Homefront Told You What to Do — And What Not to Do." Tom Huntington - Accessed 7/24/2025. https://www.historynet.com/homefront-motivational-posters/
"During the War Years, Posters From the American Homefront Told You What to Do — And What Not to Do." Tom Huntington [Online]. Available: https://www.historynet.com/homefront-motivational-posters/. [Accessed: 7/24/2025]

Related stories

Stories

Portfolio: Images of War as Landscape

Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, […]

Stories

Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot

In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earhart’s disappearance.

Stories

Celebrating the Legacy of the Office of Strategic Services 82 Years On

From the OSS to the CIA, how Wild Bill Donovan shaped the American intelligence community.

ww2-termoli-italy-pow-boat
Feature

An SAS Rescue Mission Mission Gone Wrong

When covert operatives went into Italy to retrieve prisoners of war, little went according to plan.

HistoryNet
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

“History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.”

David McCullough, author of “1776”

HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the world’s largest publisher of history magazines. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines.

Our Magazines

  • American History
  • America’s Civil War
  • Aviation History
  • Civil War Times
  • Military History
  • Military History Quarterly
  • Vietnam
  • Wild West
  • World War II

About Us

  • What Is HistoryNet.com?
  • Advertise With Us
  • Careers
  • Meet Our Staff!

Stay Curious

Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians.

sign me up!

© 2025 HistoryNet.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service