Flier, 'Shall it be Food-Ship or Transport?'

Save or starve

This First World War flier was created by the British Ministry of Food and League of National Safety to advertise their rationing S.O.S. (Save or Starve) campaign which ran from 31 December 1917 until 5 January 1918. The flier features black and white image of a long file of marching troops being led by the American flag. The text directly interrogates the viewer: 'Shall it be Food-Ship or Transport?' explaining that 'Every 5,000 tons of food saved means 1,200 or 1,300 American troops for the Front.' The flier encourages the home front to 'keep to the rations' so that the war effort is supported. The reverse of the flier features images of what bread allowances men and women could eat, as well as other foods.

British and American Posters in New Zealand

This flier is part of a collection of First World War posters and fliers sent to New Zealand as examples of British wartime propaganda. From 1917-1919, the Dominion Museum (now Te Papa) collected such war material with the help of the New Zealand High Commissioner in London and the Department of Defence.

The museum intended to collect and display such objects in a planned national war museum in Wellington which never eventuated. Instead, the museum toured over 100 war posters around New Zealand in the early 1920s in the context of increasing commemoration of the war during peacetime. For many, the posters illustrated important aspects of the war and the history of New Zealand's part in the war. This commemorative function was far removed from their original function to encourage wartime contribution.