Homeland Security U.S.A. Safety Poster, Historic American Patriotism Symbols Public Domain Image: "Loose Talk Can Cost Lives" British and American Ambulance Corps, Inc. Caution Advisory Poster for Homeland Security.

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"Loose Talk Can Cost Lives" Loose talk caution advisory patriotic poster from 1942 World War II; Loose Talk Can Cost Lives, large text on a news story tickertape under a painting of a sinking cargo ship surrounded by lifeboats by American artist Stevan Dohanos; small text at poster bottom reads: Distributed in the interest of national defense, and as a means of obtaining funds for ambulances, wherever needed. British and American Ambulance Corps, Inc...; Click for larger print copyright free graphic file of this artwork lithograph from British and American Ambulance Corps, Inc. of the vintage WWWII poster Loose Talk Can Cost Lives homeland security USA poster.

Two Schools of Art and Thought regarding
Second World War Poster Design

"Loose Talk Can Cost Lives." This striking effective poster was designed in 1942 by famous artist/illustrator Stevan Dohanos. It is a realistic painting of half sunk cargo ship headed for the bottom of the ocean with a clear text message below the sinking ship on a news tickertape the message reads: loose talk can cost lives. The poster depicts an all too common news story of the time involved a ship sunk by a German u-boat.

"Loose Lips Might Sink Ships" stylized war art poster of a sinking ship published by House of Seagram. Click for larger print file public domain image of Seagram Distillers Corporation poster Loose Lips Might Sink Ships.

There were two schools of thought about wartime poster design, "realistic images" and "stylized art". One school of art and artists believed the posters should be realistic, clear and direct like the print advertisements of the time; this was understandable as many of the war poster artists like Stevan Dohanos were selected from the advertisement illustration field. This poster above is obviously from the "realistic direct school" but the one on the left for comparison is from "stylized war art" school of thought. The stylized poster below signed by little known artist Essarge I would think was just as effective as the realistic one because both the message using the catch phrase of the day "loose lips might sink ships" and the image although stylized are both very clear. Other stylized war art type posters were controversial and not so clear like this one "He is Watching You," and "Give 'Em Both Barrels". Because of this type of issue, the U.S. Office of War Information (OWI) was created in June 1942 to review and approve the design, content and distribution of government war posters, coordinate the release of war news and information for domestic use and other wartime responsibilities. Ultimately, two contending groups within OWI clashed over poster design. Those who saw posters as "war art" favored stylized images and symbolism, while recruits from the world of advertising wanted posters to be more like ads. When admen eventually gained the upper hand at OWI, the look of government posters changed decidedly.

World War 2 Homeland Security USA Safety Patriotic Posters, a U.S. "Loose Talk" Type Poster:
"Loose Talk Can Cost Lives"

Espionage has been with us since early time but the immigrant/melting pot based nature of the United States and our relatively late involvement in World War 2 made 1940s America a lucrative environment for spies and potential saboteurs. Naturally the dangers and concerns of national security intensified when the United States entered the war and America's overseas military and homeland patriots urgently needed additional protection. The U.S. Government had a great need to alert its' military and private citizens to the presence of enemy spies and saboteurs lurking in American society. A major advertising blitz involving all media eventually produced thousands of remarkable "careless talk" type posters to warn people that small snippets of information regarding troop movements or other logistical details would be useful to the enemy and could easily compromise national security and U.S. military personnel' safety.

Homeland Security USA Poster: Careless Talk did this! Keep it under your Stetson by Melbourne Brindle.

The greatest percentage of these posters by far were published by the Office of War Information and lithographs printed by the U.S. Printing Office in Washington D.C. but the posters on this page represent how the private sector also contributed thousands of posters to the allied war effort. The upper poster is one of thousands of posters that was paid for and produced by the British and American Ambulance Corps, Incorporated, the center one was produced by the Seagram Distillers Corporation, from the House of Seagram to help insure victory for the allies and the bottom poster by the famous Stetson Hat Company utilized the opportunity to promote itself too, "Careless Talk did this! Keep it under your Stetson."by artist Melbourne Brindle.
These vintage 1940s public domain poster images like this one by British and American Ambulance Corps, Inc. "Loose Talk Can Cost Lives" displayed on this page from the Safety and National Security World War 2 Gallery of this website allow you to own a copyright free piece of WWII history, a historic patriotic artwork poster.

American Artist Magazine Illustrator
Stevan Dohanos (1907-1994)

This "Bits of Careless of Talk are Pieced Togeather by the Enemy" poster is only one of several of the great "careless talk" type posters that American artist/illustrator Stevan Dohanos composed for the U.S. Office of War Information but he like Norman Rockwell was an artist of the "social realist school" and his best works were snippets of American civilians and their life he painted for more than 100 covers of the Saturday Evening Post magazine.

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