I'll Carry Mine Too! (1943), Sarra's shopper for the Office of Defense Transportation

OWI Poster No. 28, printed in 1943 for the Office of Defense Transportation, is a photograph signed Sarra. A smiling woman in a green suit carries wrapped parcels and a grocery bag while the shadows of three marching soldiers fall behind her, over the line "TRUCKS AND TIRES MUST LAST TILL VICTORY" (NAID 513837).

A shopper and three shadows

This is a photographic poster. The archive's description: a smiling woman in a green suit and hat holds wrapped parcels and a grocery bag. Behind her are the shadowed silhouettes of three helmeted soldiers on the march. The headline mixes capitals and lowercase, and one more line gives the reason.

I'LL CARRY mine too!

TRUCKS AND TIRES MUST LAST TILL VICTORY

[signature: SARRA]

[imprint: OWI Poster No. 28. Additional copies may be obtained upon request from the Division of Public Inquiries, Office of War Information, Washington, D. C.]

[imprint: THE OFFICE OF DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION]

Two offices on one sheet

The imprints name both agencies. The Office of War Information numbered the poster 28 and offered additional copies through its Division of Public Inquiries. The Office of Defense Transportation is the client. Sarra signed the photograph; the record gives no first name. FRAME files the purpose as "Mobilize or secure compliance" and the themes as home front and economy and finance.

The word "too" does the work

The archive tags transfer and plain folks. The soldiers march; she carries parcels. The small word "too" puts a civilian errand on the same line as their duty.

The sheet never says what the alternative to carrying was. The base line supplies the reason, scarce trucks and tires, and leaves the reader to work out that hauling her own shopping saves a truck trip. The appeal is personal and polite. There is no penalty, no rule, and no official telling her what to do; she volunteers in the first person.

For another 1943 transport sheet the OWI printed for the same office, see Is Your Trip Necessary?, OWI Poster No. 74, with its packed railway coach. The Army's Are You Like Benny? is about truck care. The Office of War Information hub covers the agency.