Original Item: Only One Available. Guns, tanks, and bombs were the principal weapons of World War II, but there were other, more subtle forms of warfare as well. Words, posters, and films waged a constant battle for the hearts and minds of the American citizenry just as surely as military weapons engaged the enemy. Persuading the American public became a wartime industry, almost as important as the manufacturing of bullets and planes. The Government launched an aggressive propaganda campaign with clearly articulated goals and strategies to galvanize public support, and it recruited some of the nation's foremost intellectuals, artists, and filmmakers to wage the war on that front.

The War Production Board (WPB) was an agency of the United States government that supervised war production during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in January 1942, with Executive Order 9024. The WPB replaced the Supply Priorities and Allocations Board and the Office of Production Management.

The WPB directed conversion of companies engaged in activities relevant to war from peacetime work to war needs, allocated scarce materials, established priorities in the distribution of materials and services, and prohibited nonessential production. It rationed such commodities as gasoline, heating oil, metals, rubber, paper, and plastics. It was dissolved shortly after the defeat of Japan in 1945 and was replaced by the Civilian Production Administration in late 1945.

In 1942–1945, WPB supervised the production of $183 billion (equivalent to $2.12 trillion in 2020) worth of weapons and supplies, about 40 percent of the world output of munitions. The UK, the USSR, and other allies produced an additional 30 percent, while the Axis produced only 30 percent. One fourth of the US output was warplanes; one fourth was warships. Meanwhile, the civilian standard of living was about level.

This poster features striking images of an American welder in full protective attire pulling on his right glove, helmet shield flipped up and standing in front of an American flag. At the bottom of the poster on a yellow background in large black bold lettering is:

FREE LABOR
WILL WIN

Fighting against the Axis dictators in World War 2 (which implicitly had "unfree" labor) combined with President Roosevelt's friendly policies toward organized labor, made this poster a natural patriotic means to promote war production and support labor unions.

This poster is in a near unissued condition with original fold marks present, made during the printing process to make distribution easier.

Comes more than ready to be framed and displayed!