Homeland Security U.S.A. Loose Talk Caution Advisory Poster, Historic American Patriotism Symbols Public Domain Image:"Open Trap make Happy Jap; keep 'em pulling for Victory" General Motor Company (GMC) Poster
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World War 2 Homeland Security USA Safety Patriotic Posters, a U.S. "Loose Talk" Type Poster:
"Open Trap make Happy Jap;
Keep 'em pulling for Victory"
The above careless talk caution poster produced by the General Motor Company (GMC) is truly unique and funny I think. Although it was common during both world wars for the propaganda by all sides to depict the enemy using degrading caricatures, the allies usually characterized the Nazis and Japanese as subhuman, monstrous, and threatening; the "Jap" pictured on this poster is happy and humorous. The message is totally serious though; the first text meaning is obvious "Open Trap Make Happy Jap" means whatever you say could end up in enemy ears; the second part of the message "Keep 'Em Pulling for Victory" which is more vague is clarified by the picture of the GMC Army truck pulling the howitzer artillery cannon.
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.
 ...Keep it under your Stetson. |
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 upon thousands of patriotic posters to the allied war effort. Some of these privately produced posters even incorporated a little advertising for the company like the top page poster "Open Trap Make Happy Jap; Keep 'Em Pulling for Victory" the last part of the text "keep 'em pulling for victory" refers to the U.S. Army cargo trucks produced by General Motor Company like the one in the posters lower right hand corner is pulling a howitzer "for victory"; and the poster above on the right is one printed and distributed by the Stetson Hat Company, it utilized the opportunity to promote itself too, "Careless Talk did this! Keep it under your Stetson."
These vintage 1940s public domain poster images like this one "Open Trap make Happy Jap; keep 'em pulling for Victory" 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.
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