American Vintage Patriotic Homefront Poster ‘Don’t Let Him Down!’ by Beall, 1941

This is a patriotic American advertising poster from World War II created by the United States government. This poster features bold black typography in the middle of a large white block arrow that is in the center of the poster. This is the only lettering on this original poster, and it reads, “Don’t Let Him Down!” The white arrow is positioned over the main image: a black and white photograph of a man in a tank that has been colored a bright red, juxtaposed with a blue background embellished by two small red arrows pointing in the same direction as the big white arrow. This is a bold and powerful example of the posters that were created by the American government to encourage participation in the ongoing war effort. This poster was created by Lester Beall.

This poster is in MoMA’s permanent collection.

Printed by the U.S. Government printing office, published by the Division of Information, Office for Emergency Management, Washington, D.C. 1941.