A Careless Word... Another Cross is OWI Poster No. 23, painted by John Atherton and printed in 1943. A white grave cross hung with a cartridge belt and helmet stands on reddish ground, and the six words tie loose speech to a soldier's death (NAID 513720).
What it shows
The archive describes a white grave cross on reddish ground. A soldier's cartridge belt hangs from the upright and his helmet rests on the crossbar. The cross throws a long shadow. Two short lines of white type frame the picture, one above and one below.
a careless word
...another cross
[signature:] JOHN ATHERTON
[imprint:] OWI Poster No. 23. Additional copies may be obtained upon request from the Division of Public Inquiries, Office of War Information, Washington, D.C.
[imprint:] U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1943-O-501237
Who issued it
The sheet is numbered 23 in the Office of War Information poster series and signed by John Atherton. The GPO job number dates the printing to 1943. The record says nothing about how many copies were made or where they hung.
How to read it
The archive files this under fear appeal, and it is one of the more restrained examples. There is no enemy face, no spy, no slur. The ellipsis does the arguing: say one thing carelessly, and a grave follows. The viewer fills in the chain of events.
That is also where the poster asks the most of its reader. It does not say what kind of word, to whom, or how it would reach the enemy. Shipping dates and troop movements are plainly worth keeping quiet in wartime, and a citizen may choose discretion. A sheet that links any careless word to a death, though, can teach people to distrust talk itself. This sheet asks for self-restraint and cites no law. That difference is the one a free country should keep in view.
Other security sheets on this site: This Man May Die, OWI Poster No. 6; He's Watching You; and the 1942 Seagram sheet. The Office of War Information hub covers the series. The rumor clinics case study treats the newspaper columns that answered rumors as a separate campaign from security posters like this one, which warned against talk of any kind.
Sources
- FRAME object record, A careless word... another cross, 1943. Office of War Information (OWI Poster No. 23), artist John Atherton.
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, NAID 513720, local id 44-PA-271, catalog record, retrieved by the archive 4 October 2026. Rights as recorded: public domain (U.S. government work).
