Guides: Government Comics: Posters and Maps

Government Posters and Maps

Government posters and maps illustrated by cartoons.

Gas by U.S. Army Service Forces, Special Service Division (issuing agency)
Call Number: GDP0401
Publication Date: 1943
This poster features six individual cartoon panels illustrating the identification of various poisonous gases, including lewisite, mustard, tear, phosgene and clorpicrin.
Could This Be You? Don't Travel — Unless Your Trip Helps Win the War by Gluyas Williams (artist); U.S. Office of Defense Transportation (issuing agency)
Call Number: GDP0196
Publication Date: 1945
Four cartoons by Gluyas Williams in black line drawing on white; cartoons appear as paper sheets tacked to a blue background. They depict various excuses for travel which are characterized as frivolous: "It's impossible to find anything in the local shops." "We haven't seen Bob's children since way last fall." "But this contract is vital.""But Grandma misses us so."
Eat the Basic 7 — Every Day! : Eat a Lunch That Packs a Punch! by U.S. Department of Agriculture, War Food Administration (issuing agency)
Call Number: A 80.122:10; GDP0179
Publication Date: 1943
Contains a circular chart showing the seven basic food groups surrounded by anonymous cartoons demonstrating the benefits of a good diet.
Kinda Give It Your Personal Attention, Will You?: More Production by Herbert Roese (illustrator); U.S. War Production Board (issuing agency)
Call Number: GDP0482
Publication Date: 1942
This World War II propaganda poster in black, white, and green shows an image of a smiling soldier (a sergeant) wearing a helmet and lying prone in the grass. He holds a rifle in one hand and wipes his brow with the other. On the ground near the rifle are fired shells. The artwork is by cartoonist and illustrator Herbert Roese, done in a more serious illustrative style than his cartoons.
Rationing Means a Fair Share for All of Us by Herbert Roese (illustrator); Executive Office of the President, Office for Emergency Management, Office of Price Administration (issuing agency)
Call Number: PR 32.4212:R 18/2; GDP0576
Publication Date: 1943
This poster is illustrated with cartoons by Herbert Roese showing scenes at a butcher shop with and without rationing. Roese was a prolific illustrator and cartoonist who worked in New York during the 1930s and 1940s and illustrated many of the humorous novels of Thorne Smith, perhaps best known for Topper. His cartooning style here is very similar to that of Peter Arno.
Save Waste Fats by U.S. War Production Board, Bureau of Industrial Conservation (issuing agency)
Call Number: GDP0208
Publication Date: 1942
Four anonymous cartoon images showing fat in a frying pan, the waste fat being strained into a clean can, the can of waste fat being stored in a cool dark place, and the waste fat being sold to a butcher.
Starve the Squander Bug: Buy More War Bonds by Dr. Seuss (artist); U.S. Department of the Treasury, War Finance Division (issuing agency)
Call Number: Posters WW2 Seuss 1
Publication Date: 1943
The "Squander Bug" was drawn as part of the work done by Theodor Seuss Geisel, known as Dr. Seuss, during World War II. The squander bug was originally created by illustrator Phillip Boydell (who called it the Money Grub) for a campaign by the British National Savings Campaign to discourage wasteful consumer spending during World War II. Dr. Seuss redrew the character in his own inimitable style for an American campaign promoting the sale of war bonds.
This Is Ann, She Drinks Blood! by Munro Leaf; Dr. Seuss (illustrations); U.S. Department of War, Army Service Forces, Special Service Division, Army Orientation Course (issuing agency)
Publication Date: 1943
Uncredited illustrations by Theodore Geisel (better known as Dr. Suess) and text by Munro Leaf (later to be known as the author of the popular children's book Ferdinand) accompany a thematic map showing the distribution of malaria and one's chances of catching it. Ann is the Anopheles mosquito, the principle vector of malaria. This poster appears on the reverse side of a U.S. Army Orientation Course newsmap for the week of October 28 to November 4, 1943.
Is Quiet Possible at the Dudley Home? by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Noise Abatement and Control
Call Number: EP 1.2:D 86
Publication Date: 1978
This fold-up brochure/poster shows a cartoon-style cross section of a house and all the noisy activities going on inside and outside, with advice on ways to reduce the amount of noise pollution in one's home. The drawing is signed "Jim Blackmon." Includes two other smaller drawings of the same house from the front exterior.

Rollin Kirby

Rollin Kirby was a Pulitzer-Prize-winning American political cartoonist. These are some of the propaganda posters he illustrated during World War II to boost the morale of American miners and emphasize the importance of mining metal ores for manufacturing weapons.

The Avenger's Shadow: More Metal for U.S. Planes, Tanks, Guns by Rollin Kirby (artist); U.S. War Department, Army, Bureau of Public Relations (issuing agency)
Call Number: GDP0351
Publication Date: 1943
In this cartoon drawing by political cartoonist Rollin Kirby, a caricatured Japanese soldier holding a smoking gun and standing over the body of a U.S. pilot he has just killed looks up in terror at the menacing, giant shadow of an American miner about to take revenge by supplying "more metal for U.S. planes, tanks, and guns.
Hit 'Em with Copper, Zinc, Lead by Rollin Kirby (artist); U.S. War Department, Army, Bureau of Public Relations (issuing agency)
Call Number: GDP0350
Publication Date: 1942
In a cartoon drawing by political cartoonist Rollin Kirby, an American miner who expresses frustration at not being able to "take a crack at those Japs" is assured by Uncle Same that he is "doin' it every day" by mining ore to make tanks, planes, and guns.
Make his Nightmare Come True! by Rollin Kirby (artist); U.S. War Department, Army, Bureau of Public Relations (issuing agency)
Call Number: GDP0370
Publication Date: 1943
In this cartoon drawing by political cartoonist Rollin Kirby, a caricatured Hideki Tojo is asleep and dreaming about being shot at by a tank and fighter plane as well as bombed by a missile, while a stalwart American miner taunts him with these words: "Now we're gonna mine and smelt still more metal for tanks an' ships an' guns."
A Menace We Must Beat!: "We Need Your Metal to Help Fight the U-boat!" by Rollin Kirby (artist); U.S. War Department, Army, Bureau of Public Relations (issuing agency)
Call Number: GDP0348
Publication Date: 1943
In a black and white cartoon drawing by political cartoonist Rollin Kirby, a wounded american sailor lies supine on floating wreckage from a ship that has just been attacked by a Nazi U-boat, symbolized by a periscope rising from a swastika shape in the ocean. Above we see Admiral Nimitz importuning American miners with the urgent plea: "We need your metal to help fight the U-boat!"
Tomorrow May Be Too Late! by Rollin Kirby (artist); U.S. War Department, Army, Bureau of Public Relations (issuing agency)
Call Number: GDP0345
Publication Date: 1942
In this cartoon drawing by political cartoonist Rollin Kirby, Hideki Tojo encourages an American miner to "take it more easy," but the industrious and conscientious miner's sense of urgency is not swayed.
"United We Stand —": Two Fox-Holes Defending America by Rollin Kirby (artist); U.S. War Department, Army, Bureau of Public Relations (issuing agency)
Call Number: GDP0369
Publication Date: 1942
In a cartoon drawing by political cartoonist Rollin Kirby, a miner drilling ore from a hole in the ground is equated to a soldier shooting at the enemy from a foxhole.
Unlock the Door . . . Quick! by Rollin Kirby (artist); U.S. War Department, Army, Bureau of Public Relations (issuing agency)
Call Number: GDP0349
Publication Date: 1942
In a cartoon drawing by political cartoonist Rollin Kirby, an American soldier urges a miner to use his key of "more ore" to open the lock of "not enough copper, lead, and zinc" and thereby gain access to the "more tanks, planes, and guns" that are trapped inside a vault.
We're Free to Choose . . . This Today, or This Tomorrow by Rollin Kirby (artist); U.S. War Department, Army, Bureau of Public Relations (issuing agency)
Call Number: GDP0352
Publication Date: 1942
In a two-part cartoon drawing by political cartoonist Rollin Kirby, the scenario of American miners willingly working hard to provide raw material for weaponry is contrasted with the alarming possibility that the Germans could take over and make our miners slaves of the Nazi regime.
Your Ore Packs a Punch! by Rollin Kirby (artist); U.S. War Department, Army, Bureau of Public Relations (issuing agency)
Call Number: W 107.8:OR 3; GDP0223
Publication Date: 1943
Two miners listen and respond enthusiastically to radio war news in a cartoon drawing by political cartoonist Rollin Kirby.

RCA Manufacturing Company

In or around 1942, the RCA Manufacturing Company published a series of propaganda posters using the slogan "Beat the Promise" (or sometimes "Beat Your Promise") as an incentive for American workers to exceed their established war-production quotas during World War II. The company also recorded inspirational messages on this theme delivered by former RCA employees who were currently serving in the military and played the recordings over loudspeakers in its plants. (Information from Design for Victory, by William L. Bird and Harry R. Rubenstein.)

Beat Your Promise by RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc. (corporate author)
Call Number: GDP0041
Publication Date: 1942
Buy War Savings Bonds: Beat the Promise! by RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc. (corporate author)
Call Number: GDP0291
Publication Date: 1942
Don't Be a Bottleneck: Beat the Promise by RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc.(corporate author)
Call Number: GDP0121
Publication Date: 1942
Help RCA Help USA: Beat the Promise by RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc. (corporate author)
Call Number: GDP0124
Publication Date: 1942
Ideas Will Help, Let's Have Yours!: Beat the Promise: by RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc. (corporate author)
Call Number: GDP0123
Publication Date: 1942
Put the Squeeze on the Japanese!: Beat the Promise by RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc.(corporate author)
Call Number: GDP0032
Publication Date: [1941–1942]
Stamp 'Em Out!: Beat Your Promise by RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc.(corporate author)
Call Number: GDP0115
Publication Date: [1941–1942]
United we stand, divided we fall: beat the promise by RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc. (corporate author)
Call Number: GDP0122
Publication Date: 1942
"We Did It Then, We Will Do It Again": Beat the Promise by RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc. (corporate author)
Call Number: GDP0268
Publication Date: 1942
We Pledged It, We'll Beat It! by RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc. (corporate author)
Call Number: GDP0361
Publication Date: 1942

Alexander

These posters were created for RCA by the mononymous cartoonist "Alexander." Only one of them uses the "Beat your promise" slogan.

Boris Artzybasheff / Wickwire Spencer Steel Company

Boris Artzybasheff was a Russian-born American artist known for his surrealist magazine illustrations. These are some of the caricatures he created during World War II for a series called Axis in Agony! The images incorporate products made for American military forces by the Wickwire Spencer Steel Company.

Wire to the Axis by Boris Artzybasheff (artist); Wickwire Spencer Steel Company (publisher)
Call Number: GDP0033
Publication Date: 1943
"Of this painting, Artzybasheff says: 'Production means death to the Axis. Steel wire is vital in almost all production for Victory. This suggested a Victory 'V', made up of various Wickwire Spencer shaped wires, appearing as an awesome portent to a battered Axis monster.'" —Axis in Agony!, New York: Wickwire Spencer Steel Company, 1944.
Wire with a Kick by Boris Artzybasheff (artist); Wickwire Spencer Steel Company (publisher)
Call Number: GDP0034
Publication Date: 1942
A man made of wire kicks a caricature of Hitler shaped as a swastika.
Happy Days! by Boris Artzybasheff (artist); Wickwire Spencer Steel Company (publisher)
Call Number: GDP0035
Publication Date: 1942
Hitler, Mussolini, and a Japanese figure (Hirohito? Tojo?) are depicted as apes caged behind a Wickwire Spencer chain link fence. A fruit tree grows outside the fence in the foreground and a barren or dead tree is behind the fence in the background.
Springs with Stings by Boris Artzybasheff (artist); Wickwire Spencer Steel Company (publisher)
Call Number: GDP0036
Publication Date: 1942
A figure made of wire and springs pinches the nose of a caricature of Adolf Hitler, whose arms and legs form a swastika. Hitler holds a knife in one hand.
Screening the Axis by Boris Artzybasheff (artist); Wickwire Spencer Steel Company (publisher)
Call Number: GDP0037
Publication Date: 1942
A figure made of wire cloth uses a sieve to separate Axis soldiers and leaders from their weaponry.
DSycamore Libraryine of the Rising Sun by Boris Artzybasheff (artist); Wickwire Spencer Steel Company (publisher)
Call Number: GDP0038
Publication Date: 1942
A figure made of Wickwire Spencer rope uses a part of itself to hang a caricature of a distressed Hideki Tojo.
Springs with Stings: You Can Speed Victory by Salvaging and Selling Old Metal. The Steel Industry Needs Scrap! by Boris Artzybasheff (artist); Wickwire Spencer Steel Company (publisher)
Call Number: GDP0039
Publication Date: 1942
Wickwire Spencer Steel Company advertisement featuring Boris Artzybasheff's drawing "Springs with Stings," as well as various products made by the company.