Keep 'Em Rolling! (Armoured Warfare) | 1941

Keep 'Em Rolling! (Armoured Warfare), 1941, by Leo Lionni

This striking propaganda poster employs powerful photomontage techniques to connect American industrial labour with military might. The design utilises the American flag as its structural framework, with the blue field in the upper left corner containing a black and white photograph of a welder or factory worker in protective headgear, focused intently on his task with tools in hand. The red and white stripes of the flag extend horizontally across the composition, serving as a backdrop for a formation of four M3 Stuart light tanks advancing diagonally across the poster. The tanks increase in size as they move forward, creating a sense of depth and momentum. At the bottom of the poster, the slogan "KEEP 'EM ROLLING!" appears in large tan letters, with the attribution to the "Division of Information, Office for Emergency Management" in smaller text below.

This poster was created in 1941 as part of a series commissioned by the U.S. government in the months before America's official entry into World War II. Following the passage of the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941, the United States had begun rapidly expanding its industrial production to supply war materials to Allied nations fighting against Nazi Germany, particularly Great Britain. The M3 Stuart light tanks depicted were among the first American armoured vehicles to be supplied to British forces under this programme, where they saw action in North Africa against Rommel's forces. This poster was one of four in Lionni's "Keep 'Em Rolling!" series, each following the same design format but showcasing different military equipment and industrial workers. The visual language effectively communicated to American factory workers how their manufacturing efforts directly supported the Allied war effort abroad. The tanks' diagonal arrangement suggests forward movement and progress, reinforcing the poster's message of continuous production and momentum in support of the war effort, even before the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 brought the United States officially into the conflict.

Leo Lionni (1910-1999) was a remarkably versatile artist whose career spanned graphic design, advertising, fine art, and children's book illustration. Born in Amsterdam to an Italian-Jewish father and a Belgian mother, Lionni grew up in Italy before emigrating to the United States in 1939 to escape fascism in Europe. Shortly after arriving in America, he began working at the N.W. Ayer advertising agency in Philadelphia, where his European modernist design sensibilities quickly distinguished him in American commercial art. Lionni, alongside designers like Herbert Matter and Lester Beall, was instrumental in bringing the clean asymmetry of Bauhaus design principles to American visual culture, particularly through his innovative use of photomontage in poster design. After the war, Lionni became the art director for Fortune magazine, a position he held from 1948 to 1960, creating advertisements for major clients including Olivetti typewriters and several automotive manufacturers. In the latter part of his career, Lionni achieved perhaps his greatest fame as an award-winning children's book author and illustrator, beginning with "Little Blue and Little Yellow" in 1959. He eventually created more than 40 children's books that often explored themes of identity, community, and the natural world through his distinctive visual storytelling.