A 1945 poster of the U.S. Army and Navy Postal Services, signed Graves, shows a cartoon Santa Claus in a steel helmet holding a parcel addressed to a private overseas. Three rules and a mailing window of 15 September to 15 October follow (NAID 514056).
Santa in a helmet
The archive describes a red poster with a cartoon Santa Claus wearing a steel helmet. He holds up a wrapped parcel addressed to a Pvt. John T. Jones through an Army post office; the name and address of a Mrs. M. T. Jones of Troy, New York, are written on it as well. Three starred rules and the mailing dates follow.
Christmas Overseas Gifts
[on parcel:] MRS. M.T. JONES
420 ELM ST.
TROY, N.Y., U.S.A.
PVT. JOHN T. JONES, 1604321
CO. B, 349th Infantry
A.P.O. 670, % Postmaster
New York, N.Y.
★ WRAP SECURELY
★ ADDRESS CORRECTLY
★ CHOOSE GIFTS WISELY
Mail between Sept. 15-Oct. 15
Christmas cards may be sent any time
U. S. ARMY AND NAVY POSTAL SERVICES
[signature:] GRAVES
[imprint:] P-170—RPB—7-9-45—300M
Issuer and file
The record credits the U.S. Army and Navy Postal Services, with the artist named only as Graves. The issuer type is military, the audience the domestic public, and the purpose "Mobilize or secure compliance." The themes are the home front, and war and the military. The National Archives holds the sheet in Record Group 44, World War II Posters. The record does not explain the imprint string, and neither does this page.
How much of this is propaganda
Very little. The archive tags one technique, transfer: Santa's goodwill is attached to the armed forces' mail rules. The helmet is the joke. The rest is service information: wrap it well, address it correctly, choose gifts wisely, and post them between 15 September and 15 October. The parcel in Santa's hands carries a full military address, with company, unit and A.P.O. number.
A government poster that tells people how to get a parcel to a soldier overseas is a public notice in the plain sense. The contrast is with the security posters of the same war, which told civilians what not to discuss. Compare Urgent Notice, signed the same year by Army and Navy intelligence and the FBI. Another 1945 military sheet, the War Department's Something Money Can't Buy, shows the Civilian Service Award ribbons.
Sources
- FRAME object record, Christmas overseas gifts, 1945. U.S. Army and Navy Postal Services (artist Graves). Source classed as openly identified.
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, 44-PA-576, NAID 514056, retrieved by the archive 4 October 2026. Rights as recorded: public domain (U.S. government work).
